I am now in Hong Kong. I arrived the day before yesterday after 23 hours of grueling travel. I traveled from Denver to Los Angeles International Airport and then to Taipei, Taiwan before finally arriving in Hong Kong. It certainly wasn't the most comfortable trip, but I did find some movies enjoyable. I was especially moved by this Chinese documentary on young Chinese children training at Li Xiaoshuang Gymnastics School. You can watch the entire film on YouTube. It's a very sad story of the hardships the the toddlers and families go through in pining for glory in gymnastics. It was especially wrenching when I heard the kids explain why they wanted to pursue gymnastics. I will not ruin the movie for you here, but I do suggest watching this film and discussing it with friends and family.

I am presently incredibly jetlagged. My family suggested I do the following to overcome jetlag:
1) Get outside and douse yourself in natural sunlight to reset your biological clock.
And,
2) Do not eat for approximately 12 hours before you want to wake up. In other words, don't snack when you're supposed to be sleeping on your new schedule. That seemed a bit obvious since you want to start a new sleep regime.

I leave for Kaohsiung, Taiwan next Thursday. It was a good idea to come to Hong Kong first so I could adjust to the time difference, climate, people, and language.  Since the flight to Taiwan is just about 2-3 hours, I'll feel more lively that day than if I just got off a 13-23 hour flight. I'm very excited about orientation and beginning teaching English to youngsters. To my fellow Fulbrighters who will be traveling soon to Taiwan, "Bon voyage!" and I can't wait to meet y'all!

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