Saturday, April 9, 2011

A Letter to Myself

The study abroad office at BW has requested that all students studying abroad write a letter to themselves about their fears, excitement, goals, ect for their abroad experience. Upon returning, we will receive our letters to see how we have changed/grown.

I just finished writing my letter! Tomorrow is the mandatory meeting where we will talk about our study abroad experiences in depth. I am pretty excited to learn more about what to expect and how to prepare. Also, I will meet the other BW students who are going to Hong Kong for the first time.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Bizarre Foods: Hong Kong Edition!

About a month ago, I watched Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern (Travel Channel) with Ashley while we ate Americanized Chinese take-out. =)

Anyway, it was well-worth watching and it made me even more excited to go to Hong Kong.

The show started with Andrew Zimmern visiting a CMD (Chinese Medicine Doctor) and getting a health evaluation. The doctor told him that Chinese people believe that food is for the health of the body, mind, and soul. The doctor also had some discouraging news.....Andrew should not eat any fried food at all while in Hong Kong....and drink an interesting tea blend daily meant to cleanse one's body.

This tea blend consisted of dried worms, insects, shells, and bark to name a few. Needless to say, this was not Andrew's favorite beverage, so he didn't stick with the doctor's orders too long....Not with the tea, and certainly not with the fried food...Naturally.

Andrew tried a wide variety of foods; some that looked pretty gross, like turtle shell jelly and preserved eggs....yuck. But one food looked particularly tasty..snake soup!! When he was in Sham Shui Po, Kowloon, he went to a restaurant where they specialized in snake type meals, appetizers, ect. Hopefully, I can go to that place or a place similar to that! I think it would be an adventure in a half!

And all the fried food he tried looked AMAZING! Like the Hong Kong Waffle...apparently made of tapioca flour...hmm!

Oh, and in Hong Kong, apparently, there are a ton of places along the pier where you can pick out freshly caught (and still alive) sea critters to buy. After you buy them, you can take them to virtually any restaurant and have them prepared to your liking!!! That may be one of the most exciting things I have ever heard!