Huncker Down! (blog post for mid-October)

Over the past twenty-one years of living on the great Gulf Coast of Mexico I have seen my share of tropical storms and hurricanes. The memories of windows rattling and the sounds of winds screaming by while trees are being ever so slightly tossed from their roots and plunged through you personal property. Generally 48 hours before a level three or higher you are issued a mandatory evacuation and have to pack up and leave. Well here in Hong Kong things a little but different... We have had several Typhoon 1 and 3 signals hoisted which is equivalent to a tropical storm but close to the end of October Typhoon Megi screamed through the Philippines causing damage and was headed straight for Hong Kong. This storm was categorized as a super typhoon with winds making it a category 4 hurricane.

Here in Hong Kong you have no where to evacuate to and you do not do the usual boarding up of your home. You simply move up it the water rises and stay away from the windows. I asked my hall tutor what to do if it hits us directly. His was response was calm and simple, "Well if the windows shatter in one room you just move to the next." That was so comforting to hear... NOT! Thank goodness the power lines are under ground so the chances of us losing power is not very high. Fortunately, at the last second Megi turned before she had time to plow through Hong Kong as the largest typhoon in over the past ten years. We did experience the casual tropical storm weather as the winds picked up, making it a perfect day to go running.

Classes are beginning to pick up with presentations and such. I have this one professor who has his doctorate but seems very timid in the classroom. He usually begins and ends every sentence with "okay..." The lecture stills here in Hong Kong are very different from those back home. The professors here really like to "spoon feed" the students with exactly what they want on exams and papers. Don't get me wrong, this is nice but aren't we in college? Also, it is very common for students not to worry about printing out powerpoint slides or notes because every teacher provides them for you. I am still trying to get used to the whole mid-term and final exam idea ONLY. However, I can't wait to get back to those amazing nursing exams (coughing with sarcasm.)