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.
Friday, August 31, 2007
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! :)
Friday, August 24, 2007
SHOPPING AND GETTING LOST
The last couple of days I’ve actually had time to go shopping and exploring the city. Unfortunately, by shopping I mean trying desperately find basic necessities such as sheets, towels, plates, cutlery etc, and by exploring I mean running around for 45 minutes trying to find the right bus back to Uni… Well it wasn’t quite that bad actually! The Uni and accommodation are really close to city centre: the bus from here to city centre takes about 10 minutes and the buses run pretty much all the time. The public transport is quite convenient, aside of buses there’s the underground a.k.a Mass Transit Railway a.k.a. MTR, trams which are slow and not airconditioned, but the cheapest option (not that anything here is particularly expensive). Oh and they are the only double-decker trams in the world! Also taxis are dead cheap here. Funnily enough, in my shopping/exploring/getting badly lost -trip today I managed to use all of the transport methods mentioned above…
There are not many exchange students in HKU yet, we weren’t actually given any specific date to arrive so people sort of keep appearing whenever. I was here quite early because wanted to get to know the places a bit before Uni starts and all the crazyness and busyness kicks in. My hall is still very quiet so to have some company I met up with a German girl called Diana yesterday. She needed help getting a sim card which I already had, and I needed help finding stuff for my room, which she had already done so we decided to combine our knowledge for a highly successful shopping trip!
LOST IN TRANSLATION…
At this point, it might be worth mentioning that despite English being the other official language of Hong Kong and the main language used in HKU, most things still happen in Cantonese and there are many people who actually don’t understand a word of English (including most bus drivers, taxi drivers, people at my Hall’s reception and some University staff), and even those who speak English prefer to use Cantonese (for example most of my flatmates). It doesn’t bother me, but has made me reconsider if I should start learning Cantonese instead of continuing Mandarin (for those who don’t know, they are the main types of Chinese and despite being written approximately same, are spoken completely differently). If I did do Cantonese, it would sort of mean my studying of Mandarin would be sort of wasted, and also Cantonese is more difficult… but it would be soooo useful here, I would love to be able to go to a restaurant and order food in Cantonese, especially when I’ll have people from home visiting me. Well I still have a couple of weeks to decide my courses… any advice will be welcome! :)
The rest of the weekend will hopefully contain more exploring of the city, so the numerous questions ‘So what’s Hong Kong like?’ will finally be answered. The best word at the moment seems to be: overwhelming. But definately in a good way :)
There are not many exchange students in HKU yet, we weren’t actually given any specific date to arrive so people sort of keep appearing whenever. I was here quite early because wanted to get to know the places a bit before Uni starts and all the crazyness and busyness kicks in. My hall is still very quiet so to have some company I met up with a German girl called Diana yesterday. She needed help getting a sim card which I already had, and I needed help finding stuff for my room, which she had already done so we decided to combine our knowledge for a highly successful shopping trip!
LOST IN TRANSLATION…
At this point, it might be worth mentioning that despite English being the other official language of Hong Kong and the main language used in HKU, most things still happen in Cantonese and there are many people who actually don’t understand a word of English (including most bus drivers, taxi drivers, people at my Hall’s reception and some University staff), and even those who speak English prefer to use Cantonese (for example most of my flatmates). It doesn’t bother me, but has made me reconsider if I should start learning Cantonese instead of continuing Mandarin (for those who don’t know, they are the main types of Chinese and despite being written approximately same, are spoken completely differently). If I did do Cantonese, it would sort of mean my studying of Mandarin would be sort of wasted, and also Cantonese is more difficult… but it would be soooo useful here, I would love to be able to go to a restaurant and order food in Cantonese, especially when I’ll have people from home visiting me. Well I still have a couple of weeks to decide my courses… any advice will be welcome! :)
The rest of the weekend will hopefully contain more exploring of the city, so the numerous questions ‘So what’s Hong Kong like?’ will finally be answered. The best word at the moment seems to be: overwhelming. But definately in a good way :)
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
ARRIVAL
Yesterday evening, after a looong flight (nearly 12 hrs) and two crappy aeroplane meals, I finally arrived to my new home for the next 12 months! Everything went quite smoothly; HKU arranges a ‘buddy program’ which means that a local student will come and meet you at the airport and help you with all sorts of matters in the first couple of days. I was met at the airport by my buddy Ming, who then took me to my Hall (accommodation) to register. I got a chance to meet some of my new flatmates (only local students so far, I'm the first exchange student on this floor) who all seem extremely nice! Despite being jetlagged and tired from traveling and the temperature, I ended up going out for a meal with some of them later in the evening, for my first taste of authentic Chinese food. Great it was! Also since I didn't quite understand what we actually ordered (all happened in Chinese), than made it even more interesting... Haven't met my roommate yet though, apparently she's traveling until the end of the week.
Today, my first actual day here, mostly involved getting registered at Uni, getting a new phone number, opening a bank account etc extremely-boring-but-want-to-get-this-out-of-way things. My buddy Ming was helping me a lot with that and showed me around the campus, which I find very confusing. It’s very compact but sort of works in many different levels: you may get on a lift and get off at bottom floor but actually end up being at the top floor of another building… I don’t trust the lifts anymore. I’m sure they are actually a port to another universe or something. However, in this heat and humidity, walking up several flights of stairs is not very tempting either... The campus seems ok though, one thing that makes me really happy is that there’s a dead cheap Starbucks! It's already cheap as it is - and students get 30% off the listed prices. Can't complain!
And yes, it is hot. Very hot. And humid. This is apparently the warmest it gets (thank goodness!); October should already be a lot cooler. Luckily everything is airconditioned: buses, taxis, lecture rooms, shops, the underground, our rooms (we have to pay for it though but it’s only like 10p an hour so not too bad). I tend to shower about 3 times a day and will probably run out of clean clothes under a week. Luckily there's a laundry room right above us.
REACHING FOR THE STARS: MY NEW HOME
Right, the accommodation. It was one of my biggest worries, but so far more pros than cons. The best thing first: the accommodation village is on a hill AND my flat is the top floor of a 23-storey building AND my room is facing the sea, so the view from my window is pretty amazing! There will be lots of photos later I promise! There’s 22 people altogether on the floor which is quite a lot but luckily there’s lots of showers and toilets. Kitchen however is quite tiny so I’m probably not gonna do much cooking, especially since food on campus, and sushi at the supermarket is very cheap so may just stick to those. I mean, you can get a nice Chinese meal for something like £1 at the Uni cafeteria! Also, as long as it stays this effing hot, I really don’t want to spend any time in front of a hot pan… perhaps when I get bored of rice and noodles I’m gonna make some good old Pasta Bolognese!
The name of my hall is Starr Hall, and since we are the top floor, our flat is called Stargazers. It's only girls on this flat, girl and boy floors alternate. We form a Unit with the boys on floor 22 and apparently there are a lot of Unit events, such as cooking together, which sounds like fun, even though the idea of over 40 people simultaneously cooking in our tiny kitchen seems somehow incomprehensible...
All the rooms are shared which is something I’m not used to so I was a bit worried… but like I said, still haven’t met my roommate, Mio, so can't say much of that experience yet. I’ve been spying on her bookshelf and seems that she knows Spanis, wants to improve her English and likes cartoons – including the Moomins! So can’t be too bad of a person ;)
Oh and I have to say that the people here are superfriendly! Only about half of the people in the flat are around now (Uni doesn’t actually even start until September 3rd) but the ones I’ve met are really nice and very eager to know more about me. All in all, everything ok so far! :)
Yesterday evening, after a looong flight (nearly 12 hrs) and two crappy aeroplane meals, I finally arrived to my new home for the next 12 months! Everything went quite smoothly; HKU arranges a ‘buddy program’ which means that a local student will come and meet you at the airport and help you with all sorts of matters in the first couple of days. I was met at the airport by my buddy Ming, who then took me to my Hall (accommodation) to register. I got a chance to meet some of my new flatmates (only local students so far, I'm the first exchange student on this floor) who all seem extremely nice! Despite being jetlagged and tired from traveling and the temperature, I ended up going out for a meal with some of them later in the evening, for my first taste of authentic Chinese food. Great it was! Also since I didn't quite understand what we actually ordered (all happened in Chinese), than made it even more interesting... Haven't met my roommate yet though, apparently she's traveling until the end of the week.
Today, my first actual day here, mostly involved getting registered at Uni, getting a new phone number, opening a bank account etc extremely-boring-but-want-to-get-this-out-of-way things. My buddy Ming was helping me a lot with that and showed me around the campus, which I find very confusing. It’s very compact but sort of works in many different levels: you may get on a lift and get off at bottom floor but actually end up being at the top floor of another building… I don’t trust the lifts anymore. I’m sure they are actually a port to another universe or something. However, in this heat and humidity, walking up several flights of stairs is not very tempting either... The campus seems ok though, one thing that makes me really happy is that there’s a dead cheap Starbucks! It's already cheap as it is - and students get 30% off the listed prices. Can't complain!
And yes, it is hot. Very hot. And humid. This is apparently the warmest it gets (thank goodness!); October should already be a lot cooler. Luckily everything is airconditioned: buses, taxis, lecture rooms, shops, the underground, our rooms (we have to pay for it though but it’s only like 10p an hour so not too bad). I tend to shower about 3 times a day and will probably run out of clean clothes under a week. Luckily there's a laundry room right above us.
REACHING FOR THE STARS: MY NEW HOME
Right, the accommodation. It was one of my biggest worries, but so far more pros than cons. The best thing first: the accommodation village is on a hill AND my flat is the top floor of a 23-storey building AND my room is facing the sea, so the view from my window is pretty amazing! There will be lots of photos later I promise! There’s 22 people altogether on the floor which is quite a lot but luckily there’s lots of showers and toilets. Kitchen however is quite tiny so I’m probably not gonna do much cooking, especially since food on campus, and sushi at the supermarket is very cheap so may just stick to those. I mean, you can get a nice Chinese meal for something like £1 at the Uni cafeteria! Also, as long as it stays this effing hot, I really don’t want to spend any time in front of a hot pan… perhaps when I get bored of rice and noodles I’m gonna make some good old Pasta Bolognese!
The name of my hall is Starr Hall, and since we are the top floor, our flat is called Stargazers. It's only girls on this flat, girl and boy floors alternate. We form a Unit with the boys on floor 22 and apparently there are a lot of Unit events, such as cooking together, which sounds like fun, even though the idea of over 40 people simultaneously cooking in our tiny kitchen seems somehow incomprehensible...
All the rooms are shared which is something I’m not used to so I was a bit worried… but like I said, still haven’t met my roommate, Mio, so can't say much of that experience yet. I’ve been spying on her bookshelf and seems that she knows Spanis, wants to improve her English and likes cartoons – including the Moomins! So can’t be too bad of a person ;)
Oh and I have to say that the people here are superfriendly! Only about half of the people in the flat are around now (Uni doesn’t actually even start until September 3rd) but the ones I’ve met are really nice and very eager to know more about me. All in all, everything ok so far! :)
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