Sometimes spelled Taifun here in Asia, we have a small hurricane bearing down on Hong Kong today. Winds are about 40 miles per hour and there is lots of rain flying through the air in sheets.

There are a lot of glass doors around Cathay City, and because tropical storms are so common here, they bar these doors with special metal plates that come up and out of the floor below the doors. They also have metal garage door style covers that pull down over some glass doors. This city is certainly prepared for high winds and lots of wind. Maybe New Orleans could take a few hints from Hong Kong?

The bummer for me, is that today I was poised to take my first big test for Cathay. The test is over 747 systems, and I crammed a lot last night and stayed up late to prepare for today. My classmates and I showed up at 8:00 a.m. to take it, and no one was there! The storm is a “level 8” which means that local traffic should be minimized and travel in the large double decker busses should be avoided. This means that most people who work at Cathay City, the test proctor included, was not in today. Bummer! Now I have to sit on pins and needles and try and take my test tomorrow. Hopefully the storm clears soon. At least it will give me some more time to look over things and study.

In Hong Kong, typhoons occur all the time, especially in the stormy season — summer time. They aren’t a big deal unless they get to level 10. If they get that strong, it’s time to take shelter. The hotel here is really great, as it has soundproof windows (because we are so close to the airport) so we never even heard the rain and wind last night.

Now, I just have to hope the weather improves so I can get my test out of the way.