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!