大家好﹗我們再次通信了﹗我猜你們是剛學好 “飯館”和“買東西”這兩課吧。那我就談談我在香港消費的過程吧。

如果不管牌子的話﹐其實這裡的衣服非常便宜﹐尤其是在旺角的小店裡。可是因為這裡的服飾﹐特別是女生的﹐受韓國和日本時裝的影響﹐所以一般來自美國的人(像我一樣)會覺得服裝設計有一點兒太誇張。雖然我覺得大部份的衣服是較漂亮的﹐可是我覺得現在流行的花邊(喱士)﹐閃爍和貼身直腳牛仔褲不適合我的風格。而且這裡很多小商店不讓顧客試身﹐所以如果難得有合眼緣的﹑看得順眼的都不敢買﹐因為一來怕尺碼不適合﹐二來怕穿上身後會不好看。我對衣服雖然沒有什麼大的要求﹐不管是名牌不名牌﹐可是我覺得衣服一定要穿得舒服﹐質量要好和適合我個人風格。我也重視衣服的價格﹐特別因為我現在在外國留學﹐沒什麼收入﹐要量入為出。因此﹐雖然香港是個購物天堂﹐可是我去不起大商場裡的名牌店或大商店。我要省錢到中國內地或其他亞太地區旅行。

幸好香港的飲食也不太貴﹐尤其是在學校的食堂裡。學校食堂比外面的餐廳便宜﹐3塊美元就包飲品﹐一碟菜和一大碗飯。其實味道也不錯﹐可是味精多﹐菜單選擇也很少﹐素菜也不多﹐可以很快就吃厭。因此﹐很多時候我就拿ISEP每月給我的2611港元到超級市場去買不同的糧食。

Hello everyone again! I'm guessing that you've just finished learning the two chapters on "Restaurant" and "Shopping," so I'm going to go ahead and talk about my expenditures in Hong Kong.

If you don't care much about the brand, clothes here are actually really cheap, especially in the little shops located in Mongkok. But because the styles here, especially for women's clothing, are highly influenced by the fashion in Korea and Japan, the typical American (like me) will think that

the styles are a bit too outrageous. Even though I find that, for the most part, the clothes here are rather pretty and chic, I don't think that the recent trends of lace, glitter, and tight straight-leg jeans fit my style. Besides, a lot of the stores here don't allow fitting, so even if on a rare occasion I do find something that catches my eye, I don't dare to buy it, for I'm afraid that 1) the size doesn't fit and 2) it doesn't look good on me. Although I don't have too much of a criteria when it comes to clothing, regardless of brand, clothes must be comfortable, must have good material, and must suit my personality and style. In addition, I pay attention to

the price. Especially now that I'm an exchange student studying abroad without much of an income, I need to watch my spending. Thus, although Hong Kong is considered a shopping paradise, unfortunately, I cannot afford to go to those brand name stores and big retail stores in shopping malls. I need to save money to travel to China and other Asian Pacific countries.

Fortunately, the food in Hong Kong is also relatively inexpensive, especially in the school "canteens." The canteens are cheap compared to restaurants off campus; just $3 and you'll get a drink, a main dish, and a large bowl of rice. The taste is actually not bad, either, but there tends to be a

lot of MSG, not a lot of selections to choose from the menu, and very little vegetables. You get tired of the food quickly. Hence, most of the time I spend the monthly ISEP stipend of 2611 HKD at supermarkets to buy different kinds of food.