Luckily, sleeping helped a bit because I woke up this morning not feeling quite as down in the dumps as the day before. I pumped myself up on Emergen-C and Dayquil and then headed to the plaza to meet Michelle (a classmate from the UK) so that we could go into Central together to meet our Hong Kong's Heritage Class. The classes this week were canceled in light of this field trip. We met at St. John's Cathedral (an Anglican church).
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| The chair marked by the British Royal Arms where the governor used to sit. |
Right next to the church is the current Supreme Court Building, originally the French Mission. Next to the building is the grave of a 22 year old British soldier who fell in battle against the Japanese during the Sino-Japanese War (World War II). Normally all soldiers were removed to the military burial ground, but since this soldier fell on holy ground, he was left there and a tomb stone (same as all the other stones used to mark the burial sites of fallen soldiers) marks the spot he fell.
We left this area and walked to Hong Kong Park where we visited Flagstaff House, home of the Tea Ware Museum and the oldest surviving residential building in Hong Kong. Since I had already been there, I didn't take any pictures. We walked through Chater Garden (an area marking the start of the major Chater Reclamations taking place in the late 1800s) to the old Supreme Court, which is now the home of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. On the building, one can see repairs from the damage of Japanese bombs.
Next our class crowded onto the tram and rode it a few stops. We got off and walked through what used to be Central Market, but now looks like nothing more than a pedestrian walkway. Our professor told us a story about how there used to be gutters where the guts from killed animals in the market were thrown and washed away. He said one time he was there with his son when his son was eight years old and something surprised his son who then stepped back and fell into the gutters full of animal guts. Laughing, our professor claimed that all he could see of his son was his nose. Dripping in guts, he was pulled out and hosed down. I bet that was not his favorite place to go after experiencing that.
Leaving the "market" we took section of what is the world's longest covered escalator. Today it is used as a way to commute to work. When we were getting onto the escalator our professor stopped to get a poppy pin from a man handing them out. Two days ago, November 11 was Remembrance Day in the UK (also Veterans Day in the US) and, as my classmate Michelle explained to me, they wear the poppy pins in remembrance of the soldiers who have sacrificed their lives for their countries. The day is observed on November 11th in order to recall the end of World War I at the passing of the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. The next year, poppies bloomed in the fields where some of the bloodiest battles of the war occured in Flanders. Its popularity as a symbol for this day grew with the publication of the poem "In Flanders Fields" (a poem thought to have been written by John McCrae in 1915).
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Getting off the escalator, we walked through some markets, including the streets where all the wholesale Chinese medicine supplies for the world are kept (according to my professor). I saw a variety of rather interesting things being sold such as swallows nests, dried lizards, deer penises, deer sinews, dried shrimp, huge varieties of beans, and many many other unidentifiable items. After walking through the markets, my professor released us and we all went in separate directions to continue the rest of our days.
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| Hard to see in the photograph, but the place where it slops down hill used to be the edge of the land and then beyond that was the ocean. |
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| Swallow Nests |
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| Lizards |
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| Deer Sinews |
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| Sausages and behind them salted fish |
I walked to the MTR with two other classmates, Peter and Iris. Iris was going in a separate direction so Peter and I rode on the MTR together. We chatted until he got off at his stop to head home. He's a third year psychology student and is taking the heritage course because he's interested in history. I read for the rest of my ride back to Siu Hong and made my way back to my hostel. Exhausted, I collapsed in bed and watched Eat Pray Love online. It was a good movie and I recommend it to those who like those kinds of movies. It's not something I would watch again, but it was worth watching.
Now I am still really tired and have a pounding headache. Although I know I have work that needs to be done, I am going to eat some dinner, watch another movie or read, and then go to sleep. I am so tired. I hate being sick. It's not fun. I need to be better by the middle of this week because Megan is coming!!
Oh and on November 11th, I officially passed my three month mark of being away from home in a foreign country. One month left. I can't wait.
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