Jan 3 - Yay!! I turned 21 and got to fly all the way to HK by myself!! So the day started off well, quick flight to SF and drinks with my sister Kyra then time to board the plan in my nice and comfy clothes in my nice and comfy aisle seat. Well my seat partners were a couple who were clearly taller than I was and wanted to change seats with me. I was not really willing to give up my aisle seat for which turned out to be an 18 hour flight (3 hours worth of delays including mechanical issues and being over fueled). Eventually the couple gave up and turned out to be really knowledgeable about the area in which I needed to get to (Kowloon).
Jan 4 - Landed in HK 3 hours late trying to find Sean and Andrew (2 boys from my school) very worried. I was the one with the hotel reservations which would have left them w/o a room for the night. Eventually we gathered everyone's luggage and took the Airport Express (mtr) to Kowloon. We got off and took the elevator numerous times trying to find a shuttle to the hotel..which our hotel didn't actually have. So we rode in a taxi and saw the bright lights any big city would have. It was beautiful (and humid to say the least). We arrived at our hotel and went out for Thai food.
Jan 5 - Took a taxi to the school and checked in at City University of Hong Kong. After unpacking the 3 of us walked more than ever to get an Octopus card (like an Oyster card in London) and a sim card. By 5 at night all was taken care of and we were ready for our first night out with the exchange students. We went to Ikea where we had our real first shopping experience changing HK dollars to US dollars in choosing which pillows/blankets to purchase. After this excursion our day was finished with HOT POT cooking. This entails taking raw food (everything from live crawling shrimp or raw beef to plain old vegetables to fish intestines) and sticking it in a pot of boiling water. Then of course you eat it. The bok choi was good :) After returning to the res (residence) some of us went to a local close by bar where we all got a taste of what drinks would be on the menus at bars in HK.
Met my roommate as well on Monday. She is a local student from a town outside of Beijing. She chose to live with an exchange student. She would love to study abroad in America, Canada, or France. She is also very amusing and curious about everything. She has told me that she likes to listen to my voice, which took me a while to understand and eventually she said "you should be a tv reporter because I like the way your voice is." Today (Sunday) we were speaking about colleges and masters programs and after I said something about how each school admissions program is different due to different requirements, she exclaimed," you are actually very thin." I thought for sure she meant a different word for thin since the comment was totally not on topic. But no, for sure she meant that most Americans are "fat" and I was thin and in shape. Her mind just travels and its very unusual for any local student to feel this comfortable asking me this many questions, but its very fun!!
Jan 6 - 9 - I participated in more orientation programs to help me get acquainted with the university and business school. Throughout that time I trained many local dishes and discovered some tasty ones and some not so tasty ones. During these days the exchange program led us to:
- watch the light show
- watch the horse race at Happy Valley Jockey Club
- took the Star Ferry across to Hong Kong Island
- went clubbing at Wan Chai (aka Red Light District but there are many "western clubs")
- tried some bargaining and bought a coat (its actually winter in HK which means its FREEZING, something my parents did not prepare me for)
- ate McDonalds
- ate Ben and Jerrys
- got lost on the MTR from the big group
- looked at night market and decided America overpriced goods
- found out people got sick from McDonalds
- tried a salted Chinese pancake
- met with the US Consulate (who gave us food :D )
- had lunch with the dean, who ended up not coming...but still paid :)
- listened to a lecture about the police force in HK
- learned about extracurricular activities on campus
- travelled and got lost and Lan Kwai Fang (got sick and went home so still have yet to experience clubbing there but from what I could see, its more western than western could be)
- went grocery shopping
- ...I'm sure there are more, but that's a good enough list for you guys to see
To view pictures from my trip to Cheung Chau Island click the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2557600&l=55b78&id=6844049
Jan 11 - Chill out day before school starts. Learned how to use the laundry machines and tonight we plan to order pizza. I will let you know how that goes. :) Hope all is well back in the US or wherever your travels are taking you!!
No comments:
Post a Comment