Made in Macau

Aaah! So cute!              As I mentioned last week, I went on a hike in Coloane last Sunday. It started near the panda exhibit and would go all the way up to the A-Ma temple and statue. Yes, you read that right. Pandas. We spent a good amount of time gushing over them and, of course, taking plenty of pictures. Well, I probably did the most, since my group comprised of my two local friends, Natasha and Vanessa, who have been there a few times, and my fellow exchange student Margarida, who went to see them the week before. We saw some other animals after that (more pictures are in this album here .) We wanted a picture with them, but you can hardly see them. Had to point 😄              Now that I had my fill of adorable animals, we were ready to begin our walk up to the temple. The hike wasn't very long and the weather was pretty nice, despite the smog. The only thing that made this hike difficult was how uphill it was! Even before we started the hike properly, we had t

The preparations!               I must say that this week has been a lot more fun-filled than last. Some students in our dorm invited us to a Hot Pot, which is a very popular dinner style. You just buy a bunch of stuff, cook it in a boiling pot, and eat while you cook other things. It was so so good, and we ended up spending the entire night buying food, preparing them, cooking, and eating! Well to be honest, I was just a bit uncomfortable because Hugo, one of the local students, bought squid to put in the pot, and I'm a little squeamish about that kind of food (at least when it's not fried.) It didn't help that the squid was essentially taking a bath with all the food I wanted to eat, but I guess I'm a bit of a baby. As for the rest of the week overall , I went out a lot (and spent a lot of money 😅 😓 ) and was able to hang out with some people that I either haven't been able to see for a while and/or haven't gotten much of a chance to in the past. It all

            Unfortunately I could no longer think of this trip as a vacation because, as the term "study abroad" implies, it was time to study. Well, as much as one has to during syllabus week. At UMAC, there is an add/drop period during the first week of the semester, so the classes act as if this is like a trial run for the students and it made for a chill week overall. One of my first classes was Cinema Studies, and as the only exchange student in the class, I think my teacher asked me a dozen questions about my thoughts on the film industry in the first lesson. Good thing I'm pretty open and talkative, especially since it seems like everyone in this class fears for their lives every time they are asked a question. Although apparently this class will be anything but interesting as the teacher proclaimed ten times in the first class that the films we will be watching will be long and boring and to not get too excited. However, I did see Psycho on the syllabus, so I'

            Hello again! I've begun to settle into my new life here at UMAC, but there were a few things on arrival that were a little... concerning. (1) My bathroom is gross. I think it should be doused in fuel, set aflame, and rebuilt from the ground up. Luckily, there are mops and brooms around the toilet, they are just so old and dirty that I wonder how they could possibly clean anything! The mirror, the sink, the floors, the toilet, and the shower look like they haven't been touched by Mr. Clean in years! Speaking of the shower, until a few days ago, you could magically transform the shower into a bath! Because the drains didn't work! Lovely. (2) My bed is not the most comfortable.  At first, I thought the problem would be that I didn't have a pillow or bedding the first night due to thinking some would be provided. I was wrong, so I took my airplane pillow and put my folded sweatshirt on top and slept on that. Luckily, I brought a blanket with me, and I was a

            In the few weeks of my winter vacation before my flight on New Year’s morning, I spent a lot of effort organizing my packing list, packing my bags, and weighing them over and over again. Despite all of this preparation, the day of departure for my study abroad still came very quickly and kind of left me sitting in my room on New Year’s Eve thinking: Wow, I won’t be back in this house until late May, and Oh jeez, I packed too much in my suitcase. After a last minute scramble to keep my suitcase from exceeding the weight limit and my overhead suitcase and carry on from exploding with things, I was ready to go. Well my overhead and carry were still exploding, and I still had to say goodbye.             I really hate goodbyes, especially when it’s with my little sister since we are so close. After about 6 separate hug sessions, my parents and I had to get going. Once we actually left the house, I started welling up like I do, and my mom threw me a pack of Kleenex* and event