I have officially started my #1 mission for this year: traveling around Asia. I spent Saturday and Sunday in Macau - also know as Las Vegas of Asia. Gambling is illegal everywhere else in China so a loooot of rich Chinese businesmen pop to Macau for a weekend. There was also a lot of pretty girls looking for rich husbands (no, I was not one of them, even though I was sort of hoping to bump into Donald Trump...) The ferry from Hong Kong only takes an hour and HK residents don't need a visa to get there so it's a rather cheap and hassle-free weekend destination. I bet 99.9% of exchange students make at least one trip to Macau during their stay in Hong Kong. I went with 4 other girls: Kirsi (from Finland), Sammie (from Canada), Megha and Lan (both from USA).
Macau has the world's largest and longest. Largest Casino, I mean. And longest Bungee jump. These were our only actual plans for the weekend, besides that we were pretty clueless and unorganised... We didn't even know if Macau had different money than Hong Kong! Turns out that it has but it doesn't matter because most places accept also (or in some cases, only) HK dollars. Macau money also looks weird so we ended up calling it Barbie Money... :P
Saturday evening, after checking into the hotel (which was well nice and only 18e/£12 per person per night) we started looking for some food. Macau, an ex-Portugese colony, is known for its Portugese restaurants, so we wanted to try some of that, in order to have a break from Chinese food. However, this was easier said than done... our hotel was near the city centre, but turns out it was pretty much the centre of where the locals live, not where the casinos/restaurants/tourists/taxis are, so it kinda felt like being in the middle of nowhere. Luckily, after wandering aimlessly for a while, we managed to find an amazing Thai restaurant, and even got to sample some Portugese wine there.
Our next (and main) destination was the Venetian - the world's largest casino. And it was pretty WOW. Difficult to describe - go and see it youself! ;) It is huge, all right, but that's not the coolest part. The whole building itself is amazing, marble and gold and mirrors and pretty things everywhere. Basically a huge palace. And the coolest thing: it has a fake Venice inside. On the second floor. Really. A fake sky, fake Italian buildings, canals and gondolas and everything ...well not quite everything yet, some of it is still under construction. It should be finished in November, I'm definately going back to see it! I mean, the real Venice is sinking and smells bad anyway so this may be as good as it gets ;)
Since we were at a casino, the obvious thing to do was to gamble. None of us are huge gamblers so we mainly focused on the slot machines, which were kinda crap. They had like a gazillion buttons and we had no idea how to play, and if we won we didn't know how and why it happened, so basically they just took our money. It was dead cheap and lot of fun so didn't really matter even if we lost! I wanted to do some actual gambling, so decided to go for Blackjack. I changed some money, obviously expecting to lose it all, but instead I won 700 HKD (70e/£50)! That was soooo cool, I hit blackjack twice in a row (apparently the odds of that happening are veeeery small) and the others on the table started betting with me. I was 'the lucky one' of the table! :) That was so much fun, I wasn't even in it for the money but it was great, I can understand why some peopl get addicted to gambling. Luckily, my friends were sensible and made me stop when I started losing so I didn't lose all my winnings (which is what usually happens....) I bought a round of cocktails for my friends and saved the rest of the money for the Bungee jumping.
We had planned to go clubbing later but when we were about to leave the Casino, it was already 3am so we just headed back to no-mans-land for some late-night snacks and sleep. Hong Kong has amazing clubbing scene anyways, no need to go somewhere else for that!
On Sunday we had planned to go Bungee jumping (none of us had never done it but we were eager to try, after all it is world's longest, who would say no to that...).However, earlier in the morning I got a text from my friend Diana, who was gonna come and join us for the day, that there was no space on the ferries back to HK after 3 pm... That meant we had to go to the ferry terminal first thing on Sunday. The lady who I spoke was extremely confusing: at first there was no space letf, then there was space at 5pm, then there wasn't, then there was space at 4pm if we paid extra... in the end, we managed to get tickets for the 3.50pm ferry, without having to pay the extra (Super Class) fee. At that point, it was 1.30 so we only had time to go back to town to get some food (portugese this time!). We're definately gonna go back for the bungee jump though! It's something I've always wanted to do. Not everyone was so excited about it though: Lan mumbled something about wanting to check the death rates of Bungee jumping... well, Macau is all about gambling, right? ;)
So I had a really good time, but I have to say Macau wasn't as amazing/colorful/shiny/Vegas-like as I had expected, but that was at least partly due to the location of our hotel. On the other hand, a friend of ours said that it's best to go there with no expectations at all and it'll be great, and I see what she means. Also, I guess if you stay in a fancy 5-star hotel and only leave your room to go to the fancy casino next door, you'd have a very different experience.
Right, that was a lot of text about my 24 hours in Macau! Now, other news briefly...
-I have now started my tutoring job. Very fun but challenging. The girl I'm tutoring, Claudia, is very very smart so I actually have to work hard and prepare a lot of material for the lessons. She's really really sweet, and so is her mother so I'm sure it's gonna be great. And they money is quite good :P
-There was a MASSIVE water fight outside my hall a few days ago. It was between two nearby Halls, Ricci Hall and Lady Ho Tung Hall. Years and years ago, the boys from Ricci Hall stole a kong from the in LHT, so now every year they re-enact it. This is how it goes: the Ricci boys come marching, wearing suits, chanting their hall song, trying to get through the wall of LHT girls who are armed with hundreds and hudreds of water balloons. Eventually, a couple of the boys get through, get lifted up on a table and steal the kong. Result: a lot of wet local students, some broken bones and twisted ankles (yes, I'm serious) and a bucnh of hysterical foreigners who've never seen anything like that before.
-It's still pretty hot here, even though it's becoming more bearable. I heard from my Mum that it's getting chilly in Finland, probably not so warm in the UK either... mwahahahaha!
-A lot of fun stuff has been planned for the rest of the week, stay tuned! :)
Monday, September 17, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
BUSY BUSY BUSY!
Heh I'm feeling some pressure now; a lot of people have complained that I'm not updating my blog often enough! That means that people are actually reading it which is great :)
Rite, a lot has happened again. The Unit-O that I explained about earlier has been crazy but fun so far! On friday we had a Beach Party in Deepwater Bay. It was a lot of fun! We barbequed and played silly games like Dodgeball (polttpallo in finnish) and they were like 'wowww amazing' when I told them I'd played before (well not in like 10 yrs but still!). Seems that some things really are global :) Yesterday we played basketball against another Unit. I got to play and was actually pretty good - I think the boys in my unit have newly found respect for me! Tonight we're gonna cook together and I'll be in charge of making pancakes (at home I am officially known as the pancake meister so this task is indeed perfect for me).
All in all, it has been another hectic week - everyone stays up late and sleeps late as well so I'm often not up until like 10, the in Uni til about 5, perhaps try to do some work, go for dinner with friends, then Hall activities for the rest of the evening... so haven't slept much in the last week but thanks to the (cheap) Starbucks on campus, I've managed make it through my lectures ok! :)
I'm starting my tutoring job today, exciting times!
Rite, a lot has happened again. The Unit-O that I explained about earlier has been crazy but fun so far! On friday we had a Beach Party in Deepwater Bay. It was a lot of fun! We barbequed and played silly games like Dodgeball (polttpallo in finnish) and they were like 'wowww amazing' when I told them I'd played before (well not in like 10 yrs but still!). Seems that some things really are global :) Yesterday we played basketball against another Unit. I got to play and was actually pretty good - I think the boys in my unit have newly found respect for me! Tonight we're gonna cook together and I'll be in charge of making pancakes (at home I am officially known as the pancake meister so this task is indeed perfect for me).
All in all, it has been another hectic week - everyone stays up late and sleeps late as well so I'm often not up until like 10, the in Uni til about 5, perhaps try to do some work, go for dinner with friends, then Hall activities for the rest of the evening... so haven't slept much in the last week but thanks to the (cheap) Starbucks on campus, I've managed make it through my lectures ok! :)
Luckily the weekend was quite chilled. On saturday I pretty much just slept, did my laundry & tidied my (half of the) room and fun things like that :P On Sunday I went up to Victoria Peak (highest point of Hong Kong) with some other exchange students. The view from there is great, even though apparently it's even better when it's dark so I'll have to go again some evening. There's even a Madame Tussaud's wax museum up there which I have to say was a lot more fun than the one in London! You can dress up and do silly things, so obviously a lot of embarrassing / funny photos were taken :D
I have met a few Finnish people here which is nice; not that I ever purposefully aim to hang out just with Finnish people but it's nice to speak Finnish occasionally. Also a random thing happened: there's a professor in HKU who has studied Finnish and translates Finnish literature to Chinese! Anyway, he's been trying to find Finnish people and hence started randomly talking to me in the library. He told me about FBC (Finnish Business Counsil) which is basically a network of Finnish people living in Hong Kong. They are arranging a Cray Fish Party (rapujuhlat) which basically means eating a little crayfish, some bread and drinking a lot of shots. It'll happen later this month and apparently everyone is welcome so me and the other Finnish kids are probably gonna go. It's an old Finnish tradition - not very common everywhere but quite popular in the coast where I'm from . I haven't been to a crayfish party since moving to England, and couple of the other Finnish exchange students have never been so it should be a lot of fun!
I have met a few Finnish people here which is nice; not that I ever purposefully aim to hang out just with Finnish people but it's nice to speak Finnish occasionally. Also a random thing happened: there's a professor in HKU who has studied Finnish and translates Finnish literature to Chinese! Anyway, he's been trying to find Finnish people and hence started randomly talking to me in the library. He told me about FBC (Finnish Business Counsil) which is basically a network of Finnish people living in Hong Kong. They are arranging a Cray Fish Party (rapujuhlat) which basically means eating a little crayfish, some bread and drinking a lot of shots. It'll happen later this month and apparently everyone is welcome so me and the other Finnish kids are probably gonna go. It's an old Finnish tradition - not very common everywhere but quite popular in the coast where I'm from . I haven't been to a crayfish party since moving to England, and couple of the other Finnish exchange students have never been so it should be a lot of fun!
I'm starting my tutoring job today, exciting times!
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
THE PROS AND CONS OF HALL LIFE
I have to admit, it's kinda nice living in a university accommodation again. Well, it can get pretty noisy and the kitchen is tiny, but on the other hand the common areas (kitchen and bathroom) get cleaned everyday by the Hall staff! I don't even have to buy toilet paper or take the rubbish out (not further than the kitchen anyways...) So it definately has it's advantages! :) Apparently my Hall is most wanted by the local students and hence very difficult to get in; when I tell some of them where I live they are like 'Ooooooooh I'm so jealous'. I get that from some exchange students as well, apparently some of the older halls are pretty nasty (bugs in the showers etc). So far I've only seen some of the newer halls so far so I don't think my place is THAT special, hmmm perhaps I need to visit some of the older ones so I can really appreciate where I live :)
A drawback is the many compulsory activities. HKU believes in Hall Education, which means that a Hall is more than just a residence. Living in a Hall provides the individual a chance to fully develop as a person, and is seen as complementing the education that students receive in classes. It's not too bad in mine; Starr Hall a pretty new hall and hence has less established traditions compared to some older Halls. At the moment, we have something called Unit-O, which pretty much means playing games, cooking together, wearing matching outfits etc with ppl on my floor and the floor below, in order for us to get to know eachother & bond. It sounds like fun but takes place every evening from 7pm til late for two weeks so I kind of won't be able to socialise a lot at the moment... I don't think it'll be too bad if I miss some of the events because the hall 'rules' are not so strict on exchange students. However, tonight's activity is kinda compulsory, and annoyingly some of the exchange ppl I know are going to a Jazz Club later which sounds like a lot of fun but I think I may have to give it a miss if I don't want to be forever frowned upon by my flatmates...
Oh and I have a job! Someone from the international office e-mailed me and asked if I was interested in tutoring her colleague's daughter so I went to see her today and looks like I've got the job! Yay! This is the first time someone actually offered me a job without me having to apply. Kind of like being headhunted! And they pay 150 HK dollars per hour (about 15 euros/£10) which is good money anyway, but especially here! :)
I can finally think something negative to say about my life here. The gym at the university. It is free and apparently really nice, but everyone has to take a course to obtain the membership. The English-speaking gym course is every other week and only takes 20 ppl at time, so 40 exchange students can join it per month. And there's something like 700 of us here. HKU was advertising free gym facilities but what's the point if only a minority of people can join it. Looks like I'll have to look for somewhere else for a gym, at the moment it's way too hot to go running and I'm already feeling anxious due to lack of proper excercise!
A drawback is the many compulsory activities. HKU believes in Hall Education, which means that a Hall is more than just a residence. Living in a Hall provides the individual a chance to fully develop as a person, and is seen as complementing the education that students receive in classes. It's not too bad in mine; Starr Hall a pretty new hall and hence has less established traditions compared to some older Halls. At the moment, we have something called Unit-O, which pretty much means playing games, cooking together, wearing matching outfits etc with ppl on my floor and the floor below, in order for us to get to know eachother & bond. It sounds like fun but takes place every evening from 7pm til late for two weeks so I kind of won't be able to socialise a lot at the moment... I don't think it'll be too bad if I miss some of the events because the hall 'rules' are not so strict on exchange students. However, tonight's activity is kinda compulsory, and annoyingly some of the exchange ppl I know are going to a Jazz Club later which sounds like a lot of fun but I think I may have to give it a miss if I don't want to be forever frowned upon by my flatmates...
Oh and I have a job! Someone from the international office e-mailed me and asked if I was interested in tutoring her colleague's daughter so I went to see her today and looks like I've got the job! Yay! This is the first time someone actually offered me a job without me having to apply. Kind of like being headhunted! And they pay 150 HK dollars per hour (about 15 euros/£10) which is good money anyway, but especially here! :)
I can finally think something negative to say about my life here. The gym at the university. It is free and apparently really nice, but everyone has to take a course to obtain the membership. The English-speaking gym course is every other week and only takes 20 ppl at time, so 40 exchange students can join it per month. And there's something like 700 of us here. HKU was advertising free gym facilities but what's the point if only a minority of people can join it. Looks like I'll have to look for somewhere else for a gym, at the moment it's way too hot to go running and I'm already feeling anxious due to lack of proper excercise!
Monday, September 3, 2007
MEXICO MEETS KOREA
Right, Uni has officially started. It was very exciting. For the first 20 minutes. Now I'm bored and waiting for the next holiday. Oh and everyone here gets a Reading Week! Except I'm gonna call it Travel Week :)
My course (business) is very international. Through my Korean friend Ted, I met a couple of other Koreans who are fulltime students on our course. We all went for luch together to Soho. It was so cool, we took a taxi there and back (as I said earlier, taxis are such a bargain here) and had Mexican food. A slightly different experience from the typical 'crappy-sandwich-and-a-bottle-of-coke' kinda luch that I'm used to in Birmingham. It's crazy that with the same money I spend in England I can live very very very nicely here...
I recently found out that the area where we live is very up-and-coming, it's close to city centre and an MTR station is planned to be opened here in 2012. Hence the house prices and rent are constantly increasing. And we pay absolutely nothing to stay here. Pretty cool! :)
The weekend was a lot of fun! Went for dinner and some drinks with other exchange ppl on friday. The international office had arranged two tours on sat & sun: one on Hong Kong island and another one in Kowloon and New territories. The latter one was actually quite rubbish and I didn't really see much, but it was a good chance to meet new people though.
I have taken dozens of photos already, will put them up soon! At the moment, if anyone's interested to have a closer look at what Hong Kong looks like, I found these links for some amazing pics:
http://www.pbase.com/accl/hongkongdowntown
http://www.pbase.com/accl/hong_kong
I have to admit these links is my cunning plan to get more people to visit me here :P
I have finally decided to continue with Mandarin instead of starting Cantonese... After having spoken to a lot of locals, it seems to be the best option. It is more widely spoken, and also becoming more widely used in Hong Kong as well. So if I was to come here for work some time later, Mandarin would be more desired than Cantonese. Not that I'm planning ahead or anything... ;)
My course (business) is very international. Through my Korean friend Ted, I met a couple of other Koreans who are fulltime students on our course. We all went for luch together to Soho. It was so cool, we took a taxi there and back (as I said earlier, taxis are such a bargain here) and had Mexican food. A slightly different experience from the typical 'crappy-sandwich-and-a-bottle-of-coke' kinda luch that I'm used to in Birmingham. It's crazy that with the same money I spend in England I can live very very very nicely here...
I recently found out that the area where we live is very up-and-coming, it's close to city centre and an MTR station is planned to be opened here in 2012. Hence the house prices and rent are constantly increasing. And we pay absolutely nothing to stay here. Pretty cool! :)
The weekend was a lot of fun! Went for dinner and some drinks with other exchange ppl on friday. The international office had arranged two tours on sat & sun: one on Hong Kong island and another one in Kowloon and New territories. The latter one was actually quite rubbish and I didn't really see much, but it was a good chance to meet new people though.
I have taken dozens of photos already, will put them up soon! At the moment, if anyone's interested to have a closer look at what Hong Kong looks like, I found these links for some amazing pics:
http://www.pbase.com/accl/hongkongdowntown
http://www.pbase.com/accl/hong_kong
I have to admit these links is my cunning plan to get more people to visit me here :P
I have finally decided to continue with Mandarin instead of starting Cantonese... After having spoken to a lot of locals, it seems to be the best option. It is more widely spoken, and also becoming more widely used in Hong Kong as well. So if I was to come here for work some time later, Mandarin would be more desired than Cantonese. Not that I'm planning ahead or anything... ;)
Friday, August 31, 2007
FRIENDS, FUN AND FREE FOOD
Pretty much all exchange students have arrived by now which is all fun and games! It's so easy to get to know people – just go and say hello to any slightly confused looking Caucasian person and you're quite likely to make a new friend. I'm very happy that it's not like Fresher's week where you meet hundreds of people and never see 97% them again; the exchange student community is after all quite small and tight and you'll be guaranteed to meet the people again soon.
For those who don't already know, shopping in Hong Kong is great! The city centre can be pretty expensive with fancy malls and designer shops, but there also lots of great markets filled with student-budget friendly bargains. It's pretty much hit and miss whether you'll find something of reasonable quality (my new wallet broke after 3 days) but it's fun to wonder around anyway. One thing I really like about Hong Kong is that the sellers are not too pushy at all; very different from example Turkey and Thailand.
It's funny to notice that because everything is so cheap, the definition of 'expensive' has radically changed. Here, paying 100 HK$ for a meal seems sooooo expensive, even though it's only about 10 euros (£7) which in European standards really isn't a lot. On the other hand, on a couple of my shopping trips I've ended up spending loads, just because 'everything is so cheap',but in the end of the day I'd spent something like 50 euros on stuff I didn't actually need or want...
I've been out partying a couple of times now, nothing hard-core yet, just to see what sort of places there are. I had heard about 'club 7-11' which is not really an actual club but a chain of convenience stores (called 7-11) from where you can buy alcohol and drink it on the street. Very fun, very studenty, very cheap! And when wandering in the middle of the road with a can of beer, you'll inevitably bumb into people you know (or sort of recognise from some event earlier but at 1 a.m. it doesn't make any difference). The most famous/popular party areas are Lan Kwai Fong (LKF) and Wan Chai, anyone visiting Hong Kong will most likely spend an evening or two there. It's very turisty though, the local students don't really go clubbing so it's mostly local businessmen, expats, exchange students and tourists who fill up the places.
There was an orientation for international students earlier today, which mostly included talks about cultural adjustement and stuff. And we got free lunch which is always good! Oh and the FBE (Faculty of Business and economics) also hosted a welcome talk, which was all about 'you are in one of the best Business Schools in the world, you are so lucky to be here, this is the right place at the right time'. But there was free lunch again so can't complain...
I'm really starting to find my way around the city already. Hong Kong is very compact; and the city centre is quite narrow, located between the sea and mountains, making it easy to figure out where you are. Also because of the compactness, it doesn't take very long to go anywhere. Apparently a 40-minute commute is considered long!
So far my time here has felt like a vacation. It's been great, but I'm sort of looking forward to classes starting on Monday and really getting into the life here. It hasn't hit me yet that I'm actually going to be LIVING here, not just visiting. I'm very glad I'm staying here for a whole year! Seems that most exchange students are here only for a semester which is a bit of a shame.
For those who don't already know, shopping in Hong Kong is great! The city centre can be pretty expensive with fancy malls and designer shops, but there also lots of great markets filled with student-budget friendly bargains. It's pretty much hit and miss whether you'll find something of reasonable quality (my new wallet broke after 3 days) but it's fun to wonder around anyway. One thing I really like about Hong Kong is that the sellers are not too pushy at all; very different from example Turkey and Thailand.
It's funny to notice that because everything is so cheap, the definition of 'expensive' has radically changed. Here, paying 100 HK$ for a meal seems sooooo expensive, even though it's only about 10 euros (£7) which in European standards really isn't a lot. On the other hand, on a couple of my shopping trips I've ended up spending loads, just because 'everything is so cheap',but in the end of the day I'd spent something like 50 euros on stuff I didn't actually need or want...
I've been out partying a couple of times now, nothing hard-core yet, just to see what sort of places there are. I had heard about 'club 7-11' which is not really an actual club but a chain of convenience stores (called 7-11) from where you can buy alcohol and drink it on the street. Very fun, very studenty, very cheap! And when wandering in the middle of the road with a can of beer, you'll inevitably bumb into people you know (or sort of recognise from some event earlier but at 1 a.m. it doesn't make any difference). The most famous/popular party areas are Lan Kwai Fong (LKF) and Wan Chai, anyone visiting Hong Kong will most likely spend an evening or two there. It's very turisty though, the local students don't really go clubbing so it's mostly local businessmen, expats, exchange students and tourists who fill up the places.
There was an orientation for international students earlier today, which mostly included talks about cultural adjustement and stuff. And we got free lunch which is always good! Oh and the FBE (Faculty of Business and economics) also hosted a welcome talk, which was all about 'you are in one of the best Business Schools in the world, you are so lucky to be here, this is the right place at the right time'. But there was free lunch again so can't complain...
I'm really starting to find my way around the city already. Hong Kong is very compact; and the city centre is quite narrow, located between the sea and mountains, making it easy to figure out where you are. Also because of the compactness, it doesn't take very long to go anywhere. Apparently a 40-minute commute is considered long!
So far my time here has felt like a vacation. It's been great, but I'm sort of looking forward to classes starting on Monday and really getting into the life here. It hasn't hit me yet that I'm actually going to be LIVING here, not just visiting. I'm very glad I'm staying here for a whole year! Seems that most exchange students are here only for a semester which is a bit of a shame.
Monday, August 27, 2007
ALL SORTS OF COMPANY...
Yay! I finally have a roommate! Mio arrived today. She is very sweet and nice, a major relief - after all I'm going to share a room with her for a whole year.
Also have met a few other exchange students by now so it doesn't feel as spookily empty here anymore. There's gonna be a couple of events arranged by the international office later this week so should meet more people there. All the exchange students I've met so far seem super confident and outgoing, but then again you wouldn't really come this far from home on your own if you very a complete social retard :)
Hmm I think I’m slowly getting used to the heat, I’ve been walking a lot outside the last couple of days and it wasn’t too bad at all. On the other hand, the day when I arrived was one of the hottest so far this summer and it has actually cooled down a bit. Still nearly 30 C though, can't complain! There's apparently some great beaches in Hong Kong, need to go and explore them at some point!
I feel like there's so much to tell but keep forgetting things! I really should carry a notebook with me all the time and write things down when they happen...
There was a massive cockroach in my room last night. It was insanely gross. I mean I grew up in the countryside, so I can deal with all sorts of bugs but that one was stupibly big with stupidly long antennas. Luckily one of my flatmates was in and rescued me (she studies biology so have no problem with pretty much anything that moves). I'll never ever leave my window open again here.
Also have met a few other exchange students by now so it doesn't feel as spookily empty here anymore. There's gonna be a couple of events arranged by the international office later this week so should meet more people there. All the exchange students I've met so far seem super confident and outgoing, but then again you wouldn't really come this far from home on your own if you very a complete social retard :)
Hmm I think I’m slowly getting used to the heat, I’ve been walking a lot outside the last couple of days and it wasn’t too bad at all. On the other hand, the day when I arrived was one of the hottest so far this summer and it has actually cooled down a bit. Still nearly 30 C though, can't complain! There's apparently some great beaches in Hong Kong, need to go and explore them at some point!
I feel like there's so much to tell but keep forgetting things! I really should carry a notebook with me all the time and write things down when they happen...
There was a massive cockroach in my room last night. It was insanely gross. I mean I grew up in the countryside, so I can deal with all sorts of bugs but that one was stupibly big with stupidly long antennas. Luckily one of my flatmates was in and rescued me (she studies biology so have no problem with pretty much anything that moves). I'll never ever leave my window open again here.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
CRAZYEXCITINGCOLORFULWONDERFUL
Only a month until my birthday… this is very random, but 2 other girls on my floor have their birthdays on the same day as me! A major party expected! :)
Have seen a bit more of Hong Kong now, and I have to say I’m liking it! It’s sort of what I expected it to be, and on the other hand it’s not. It’s hard to explain, because a city this big is not easy to describe in few words. On the other hand, there are fancy, polished business areas with brand new buildings and men in suits talking to their mobile phones. But, just around the corner there is a local food market with sellers shouting prices in Cantonese. There is crazy traffic and crowded streets, but also tranquil, green parks with exotic plants and people practising Tai Chi. Armani and Gucci shops in fancy airconditioned shopping malls, but also narrow streets filled with discount stores and street vendors. Starbucks and McDonalds right next to a Chinese tea room. It's crazy and crowded and hot and colourful and exciting and confusing and interesting and suprising (add any adjective here) ;)
It has been said East and West meets in Hong Kong, and I really agree; it’s Western enough so that I can see myself living here comfortably, but Eastern enough to be different and exciting.
Anyhow, there seems to be lots to do and lots to see so at least I’m not going to get bored! I’m also really happy about the location of my accommodation; it’s very close to city centre and accessible to lots of places over Hong Kong, but far enough from the crazyness and crowds.
My hall is still pretty much empty, partly because there’s still a week until uni starts, but also due to Orientation Camp (O-camp) which is pretty much a 24/7 activity for the freshmen (1st yr students). It is somehow a combination of Fresher’s week, army boot camp and the Scouts. It involves a lot of running around, dressing to matching T-shirts, team building games, group hugs, night hikes, practising the Hall song… It aims to get the new students to bond with each other and current flatmates, and to adjust quicker to the Hall life in HKU. I didn’t take part, because there was apparently no space anymore after I arrived and no-one had told me I should have signed up before coming here… however, having seen that it takes literally the whole day and most of the night (they get to sleep about 4-5 hrs a night) and lasts for 9 days, I’m sort of glad I’m not taking part because there’s so much other stuff for me to do. It does seem quite fun though, despite being a bit insane :)
So pretty much all the new students in Starr Hall are taking part (except the exchange students), and the current ones are arranging it so no-one is rarely in. Last night they had some sort of a break and I got to talk to my flatmates a bit more. They are all very sweet and said that they like me because I want to spend time with them as well, and not just with other exchange students. Awww! Oh and we watched Austin Powers together, glad to see that some jokes are funny on every continend! :)
Have seen a bit more of Hong Kong now, and I have to say I’m liking it! It’s sort of what I expected it to be, and on the other hand it’s not. It’s hard to explain, because a city this big is not easy to describe in few words. On the other hand, there are fancy, polished business areas with brand new buildings and men in suits talking to their mobile phones. But, just around the corner there is a local food market with sellers shouting prices in Cantonese. There is crazy traffic and crowded streets, but also tranquil, green parks with exotic plants and people practising Tai Chi. Armani and Gucci shops in fancy airconditioned shopping malls, but also narrow streets filled with discount stores and street vendors. Starbucks and McDonalds right next to a Chinese tea room. It's crazy and crowded and hot and colourful and exciting and confusing and interesting and suprising (add any adjective here) ;)
It has been said East and West meets in Hong Kong, and I really agree; it’s Western enough so that I can see myself living here comfortably, but Eastern enough to be different and exciting.
Anyhow, there seems to be lots to do and lots to see so at least I’m not going to get bored! I’m also really happy about the location of my accommodation; it’s very close to city centre and accessible to lots of places over Hong Kong, but far enough from the crazyness and crowds.
My hall is still pretty much empty, partly because there’s still a week until uni starts, but also due to Orientation Camp (O-camp) which is pretty much a 24/7 activity for the freshmen (1st yr students). It is somehow a combination of Fresher’s week, army boot camp and the Scouts. It involves a lot of running around, dressing to matching T-shirts, team building games, group hugs, night hikes, practising the Hall song… It aims to get the new students to bond with each other and current flatmates, and to adjust quicker to the Hall life in HKU. I didn’t take part, because there was apparently no space anymore after I arrived and no-one had told me I should have signed up before coming here… however, having seen that it takes literally the whole day and most of the night (they get to sleep about 4-5 hrs a night) and lasts for 9 days, I’m sort of glad I’m not taking part because there’s so much other stuff for me to do. It does seem quite fun though, despite being a bit insane :)
So pretty much all the new students in Starr Hall are taking part (except the exchange students), and the current ones are arranging it so no-one is rarely in. Last night they had some sort of a break and I got to talk to my flatmates a bit more. They are all very sweet and said that they like me because I want to spend time with them as well, and not just with other exchange students. Awww! Oh and we watched Austin Powers together, glad to see that some jokes are funny on every continend! :)
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