Coming to the fourteenth episode of “Copy Yuan Mi Ming”, this time it is about when I was in Form 5. After the summer vacation in 1997, I went to the United States to study. At that time, I had to give up a lot of things in Hong Kong because I was making a lot of movies. I shot three movies and a lot of commercials. I started to know people in the film industry. The director would cast me and so on… In the end, I decided to go to school. I remember that it was late to start school. Because I applied for a green card and tried to become a permanent resident of the United States, but the green card was approved late. It was too late to get there, and all orientations had been passed. I went to Boston to find my sister, and she drove me to the middle school. My middle school is in Massachusetts, near Vermont, on the west side, very remote, called Northfield. Mount Hermon is also in the League of New England Prep School. At that time, I was not particularly good at reading, and I was OK at sports (it depends on the kind of sports). Soon after my sister saw me off, she returned to Hong Kong, leaving me alone in high school. Fortunately, the summer vacation for F.3 that year had already arrived, and I was studying in Northfield Mount Hermon. School, I stayed there for more than a month and already met a Taiwanese friend. Her name is Minnie. Her Chinese name is very interesting. Her surname is Zhan and her name is Minnie (and my name is Miming). We were very much in tune with her at that time, so of course I immediately chose to be with Minni. I live in the same dormitory as e. I hope to adapt quickly…but in fact it is very difficult to adapt because my English is not good. Many people chat with me and I can’t understand it well. I can’t communicate well with other people. The classes are okay, Science, Math, For Econ, it is relatively easy to study for AP, since I have already studied half of it for the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination, so there is no big problem. But generally speaking, when it comes to dormitory wardens having school meetings, I have no idea what they are talking about and it’s hard to concentrate. It’s even worse when I go to English Hall, especially the American History ones. It’s a nightmare🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
Extremely difficult to adapt to campus life
I still remember that it was September, and the weather was already very cold. I was very afraid of the cold, and the clothes I wore were not warm at all. Those Japanese girls are used to the four distinct seasons in Japan, and they know how to dress warmly in winter without wearing too much. Hong Kong girls like me don’t understand. Wear Max. The Mara coat with an extended boot was beautiful but not warm at all. Velvet wasn’t popular at that time. Anyway, I didn’t feel warm wearing anything. I was exposed to the cold every day. The school had two campuses, one at Northfield and the other at Mount Hermon, about 8 to 10 minutes apart by bus. The dormitory I lived in was in Northfield, but all my classes were in Mount Hermon, and I also practiced volleyball at Mount Hermon. Hermon, I have to take several buses back and forth every day. I am a “homebody” myself and really want to stay in the dormitory, but it backfires (as mentioned above, all the orientation was finished when I arrived), so I started later than others in all aspects. What worries me most is that I will not be able to enter the Volleyball Team. Volleyball is Fall. Semester started playing, and they had already decided who was Varsity and who was Junior Varsity. I didn’t care. I just went to the volleyball court and played. The big coach arranged for me to play in Junior Varsity at the beginning, and he was really nice. He paid attention to me. After seeing me playing for about ten minutes, he came over to me and said, “You don’t belong here.” He said that I should be in Varsity, not Junior. Varsity is a great inspiration to me!
In the new campus life, I face the death of my beloved dog, and I can’t express my sadness…
Adjusting to campus life was hard, so I focused most of my attention on my favorite sport – volleyball. I have been practicing for many years from middle school 1 to 5. When I came to the United States, I was lucky enough to be able to enter Varsity and play with very good teammates. The foreign girls and European girls had very good skills. I practiced for three hours every day, Monday to Saturday… Usually there are games on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I practice for three hours on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Sometimes I have to run 10km before practicing, then practice after running, and continue playing… until I die. I am very tired every day, but also very happy. The things I was most unaccustomed to during college were friends, English, and the weather. I also got a dog (Lucky) when I was five or six years old. When I left Hong Kong, I was almost seventeen years old. The dog was also very old. It passed away not long after I went to the United States, which was a big blow to me😭😭😭 When I left Hong Kong, I was already reluctant to leave it, thinking that once I left, I would never be able to see it again. However, I only went to the United States within two weeks, and he passed away… I was very unhappy, and I had to go to the counselor (similar to a psychologist) there to help me, but I wasn’t very good at expressing myself in language. I just felt very sad, so they couldn’t help me much, and I had to rely on myself. How can we rely on ourselves? Just find a boyfriend quickly and have someone to rely on! Is it useful? It’s better than nothing… I found a Hong Kong boy to take classes with me, sit with me on the bus, pick me up after practice, and eat with me. With someone by his side, my life has been a smooth transition.
cantaloupeVs honeydew melon? Can’t tell the difference
Pictured above: The school tradition of workjob is still preserved today 👆🏻
This school is famous for something called Work Job, which requires students to do housework. They can do Kitchen, Dorm Cleaning, Classroom Cleaning, and Librarian. There are many choices, but I don’t like going out, so I chose a job in the dormitory. There happened to be a kitchen in the dormitory, so I chose Kitchen. How did I know that I would have to get up at 5 or 6 in the morning! My job was to cut honeydew melons and cantaloupe melons in the unheated kitchen, and the weather was very cold. It would be a big deal if there happened to be no honeydew melons in our refrigerator. We had to go to another dormitory early in the morning in the cold weather to get honeydew melons and cantaloupe melons. At that time, I couldn’t even tell the difference between honeydew melons and cantaloupe melons in English. When people asked me what I wanted, I answered melon. Obviously cantaloupe melon is not melon (Editor’s note: honeydew melon is muskmelon) The whole thing was wrong ~ Fortunately, we didn’t have to fry eggs, it was even harder, there was oil fume… and we would scold the chef, saying that we didn’t cut well. After cutting, I would go back to the room and listen to Cantonese or Mandarin songs to balance my mood before changing clothes and catching the bus to another campus. I didn’t adapt well throughout the semester and missed my friends in Hong Kong very much. I often had to buy phone cards (doing movies, modeling) All the money I earned was used to buy phone cards) and I called back to Hong Kong. I was very homesick and couldn’t stop eating. I felt cold and unhappy. I often went to snack bars to eat sandwiches, grilled cheese and ham to socialize. I ate until I was very fat. When I returned to Hong Kong, I couldn’t put on any shirt or pants. I was already unhappy. Adding on the weight made me even more unhappy. Looking back, I felt very suffering.
It’s a bit embarrassing to say, my primitive moment😅
The last thing I’m not used to is that I’m not very good at using computers. In 1997, people started to use the Internet in Hong Kong. I read Apple Daily and the like. Because I was a boarder, I didn’t have much access to computers and the Internet. Fortunately, I learned typing first. If I couldn’t type, my classmates might think I was primitive (laughing). Fortunately, I can type and log in to email⋯⋯intranet Those friends who didn’t know how to make new acquaintances taught me that they didn’t even recognize the three buttons in the upper right corner of the window! But children learn things very quickly, and computers are easier to deal with. You have to use the intranet to submit homework. The whole thing is a painful experience.
It should be easy to adapt to studying abroad nowadays, right?
I don’t have many opportunities to go out to Boston to play on the weekends. I have to play volleyball on Saturdays, and either home games or going to other schools (I have to sit for more than two hours when I go to other schools). Then I play games in the afternoon. I recall that I was very busy and didn’t have time to go to the city. Only when I returned to Hong Kong during the holidays did I have the opportunity to go shopping. Now studying abroad is completely different! And Whatsapp is not difficult or expensive to communicate with friends, and it must be easier to adapt. Today’s children are already good at English, and they must understand it on TV, radio, and in class.
In terms of culture, I was sleeping with an American girl at that time. Later, I couldn’t bear that she was very unruly and couldn’t communicate with her. She must be from the south, and I couldn’t understand her English. Later, I moved to a Korean girl, and our cultures were similar, so it was easier to adapt. The most profound thing I remember about studying abroad is playing volleyball, because it was hard work but also very satisfying. There was a team that was very good. Before I entered the junior year, they had an undefeated record of 40 games. Of course, they couldn’t maintain it later, and they couldn’t win all the time.
The weather was really tough. It was freezing and snowy and I had to walk down a hill to take the bus. The bus was as cold as ice. I had to go to and from class before the chairs in the classroom were warm. I only felt warm when I took a shower and slept! I don’t think it will happen now. Heattech Uniqlo has done a much better job of keeping warm, even pantyhose and shoes can keep warm.
Looking back, I was really stupid at that time. If I wasn’t in the sports team on weekends, I would go to a town, and there were no programs. I would eat at Subway but didn’t buy much. I would go to shopping malls like Macy’s as an excursion to buy some clothes. Alas, those two years were really hard. It would be better to go to the trails in the Spring semester. I am familiar with them. I guess that’s it!
