Counting Down the Hours!!

My mom and grandmother are coming today!!! Their plane gets in at 5:05 so that's about 2.5 hours from now! Time goes sooo slowly when you are looking forward to something. I CANNOT wait to see them. Plus I can't believe they will actually be on Hong Kong. I just can't imagine either one of them here.

I was really worried that they wouldn't get here because of the super typhoon Megi that is approaching Hong Kong.
For those who don't know... hurricanes and typhoons are the SAME thing.
Hurricane is the term used for the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Oceans. Here are some other terms for what we in the United States call hurricanes.
Typhoon: Western Pacific Ocean
Severe Cyclonic Storm: North Indian Ocean
Tropical Cyclone: South and Southwest Indian Ocean
Severe Tropical Cyclone: Southwest Pacific Ocean and Southeast Indian Ocean
The reason Megi was called a super typhoon when it hit the Philippines is: "Megi was deemed a super typhoon when its maximum sustained winds surpassed the threshold of 150 mph late Saturday night (U.S. time). In fact, Megi's top sustained winds maxed out at an astounding 180 mph." <= That's at least a Category 5 hurricane!!

Right now, there is a Typhoon Signal Number 3. Its overcast and a bit windy, but nothing exciting.
Update on Megi from Weather.com

"As of 11pm EDT Wednesday Typhoon Megi (Juan in the Philippines) was located about 290 miles to the southeast of Hong Kong with top winds of 115 mph and was moving to the north at 7 mph.

Megi is forecast to continue a slow northward movement for at least through Thursday. A slight turn back to the north-northwest or northwest is possible Friday. Megi is forecast to reach the southern coast of China over 200 miles to the northeast of Honk Kong Friday evening Eastern Daylight Time.

Megi is forecast to steadily weaken as it moves toward China. At landfall wind speeds are projected to be between 65 and 75 mph" 

So, it looks like they will land safely and we will have time to get to the hotel before the rains start. However, the typhoon totally ruins our plans for the weekend. Look's like I need to figure out a back up plan. There's not as many exciting things to do when its raining though...

This week has been pretty uneventful. I didn't want to spend a lot of money so I ate a lot of dinners made with the help of the microwave. I did find out that I got into a pretty competitive program that my school offers at Oxford over the summer. I had expressed interest in it to my adviser and he really encouraged me to apply. So I did, not expecting to get in because we study politics and religion (subjects I have pretty much zero background in), but by some miracle I was accepted! I am very very excited, but also a bit nervous. 

Here is a description that the professor in charge sent me: 

"The program lasts for approximately eight days, from the third week of June to the first week of July. We reside at a beautiful college of Oxford University, and have seminars in the morning led by Oxford professors; lunch is open; then tutorials (one on one work with professors) in the afternoon; then time dedicated to research at the renown (and sumptuously beautiful) Bodleian library. We take our breakfast and dinner at the college. Side trips will be arranged to Statfrod upon Avon and Blenheim palace, and we will most likely be meeting with the MP who negotiated the Northern Ireland peace process, in parliament in London.

The program will be fundamentally unlike a tourist experience. Rather, the objective is to take our best students and immerse them in the life of the mind at Oxford. Also, a critical component of the experience is that plenty of time will be spent on mentoring participants on how to achieve admission to top graduate programs, including at Oxford and similar institutions.

The seminars will explore general topics at the intersection of religion and politics, and we are open to a student with a comparative view, that is, someone who might be interested in comparing how things have developed in non-Western countries with respect to the general question of how religion and politics relate. We look for high-achieving students with at least some degree of interest in exploring the general topic of religion and political and cultural affairs."

Today is Congregation Day (graduation day) so there are no classes. Generally I also love it when classes are canceled, but today happened to be the day I only have one class and it is my favorite one: my drawing tutorial in the art studio. So because I didn't get to go to drawing class, I practiced in my sketchbook.

I guess I should clean my room and get dressed so I can head to the airport. I am so excited to see them. 

Also, I have officially finished half of my study abroad semester. I only have about 9 weeks left here. That sounds like so much yet also so little time. While I love the experience, I cannot wait to go home.