Recent Escapades

I finally realized that I am here in Hong Kong for a LONG while...I'm not a tourist anymore. There are so many random things I have done throughout the city recently, so I guess I'll just write about a few.

First, I have an amazing "buddy" from Hong Kong. Her name is Christine. The University that I am going to assigns every exchange student with a local student ... to help us get around and to provide us with a friend right off the bat. Well, my buddy is the best. First of all, she is a Christian, so she helped me find an English speaking church here. She also went all the way out to the airport when I arrived in to help me find my way back (it is about an hour ride out there). She has also taken me to get 'dim sum' (their morning/afternoon tea meal), and it was SO good. Everything on the 'dim sum' menus is in Cantonese, so it is hard to go unless you have a local with you. It was her birthday a few days ago, so we are going out to celebrate this week.

Right now is "promotion period" for all the clubs and organizations at HKUST. Honestly, it is the CRAZIEST thing I have ever seen. All the organizations have a 'nominated cabinet' (or their new executive board), but these nominated students aren't running against anyone for their positions. But they have spent the last 2 weeks (they have one more to go) promoting themselves to get votes. Now, I was wondering why they would need to promote themselves if no one is running against them, but I guess this promotion period is also like a form of 'hazing' from the old exec board to the new one. The nominated cabinet members don't really get to sleep; they don't go to class; and they have to spend all day in our atrium screaming and promoting their club. They even make up these stomp dances, a plethora of free stuff, and make huge booths/banners to grab people's attention. Students will sit in the atrium all night staking out a spot for their club for the next day. Then every day at 1:30pm, all the clubs start yelling (as loudly as they can) and doing their stomp dances. The nominated cabinet that has done the best job of promoting is Fourster (or the executive board of my dorm..Hall IV! They are the ones in the green pants in the video) They wear green (our hall color) costumes every day, do the residents of Hall IV's laundry, and throw us 'Pub Nights' with free drinks.


I also go to the horse races every Wednesday with a bunch of the exchange students(see picture on left). I have only bet on one horse in the first race I attended (See picture to right: horse 6 for only US$1.25), and he lost so I have given up betting. I guess the strategy of betting on my favorite number or on the horse jockey with the nicest outfit does cut it. But the people in Hong Kong love the races...everyone is so intense about them. When the horses run by the area you are standing, insanity ensues. (For my UVa. peeps...this is unlike Foxfields: people actually see horses). Because I have retired from my betting career, I cheer for the horses that my friends bet on (maybe they will pay for my dinner later on?). From what I gather, the HK Jockey Club pretty much runs the city. From all the bets they get every week, they make a ridiculous amount of money.

Also, I am getting in to the swing of things with school. I have my first paper, test, and presentation this week. Although Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is knows as "The University of Stress and Tension" or "The University of Suicide and Terror" by the local students here, many of the exchange students like to call it "The University of Sightseeing and Tourism." I am hoping my view of the school is right in the middle (I'm not trying to commit suicide because I am so overworked, but I also want to learn something for the tuition I am paying!). The curve on the classes is supposed to be terrible. We hear rumors about an exchange student last semester who got an 89 in a class, but ended up getting a C from the curve. Well, I have to get a C or above to 'pass,' so I'll have to figure out how to end up on the high end of the curve...we'll see!

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My Long Weekend in the Philippines

I just got back from the Puerto Galera in the Philippines with about 20 other exchange students from my university... I left early Friday morning and came back late Monday night. It was SO much fun. We got really cheap tickets, so including the flight I only spent about US$175 on the whole weekend (gosh, I love Asia!). We thought we were going to stay at a really crappy place because we booked it at a hostel website, and it only cost us US$5 per person per night. But when we got there the place was great. Our room had a kitchen, its own bathroom, and really comfortable beds. We were pretty spoiled.

Basically we just hung out around town the whole weekend. It wasn't extremely touristy, so we got to get a good feel for the local people too. Puerto Galera is a very small beach town, and so the pace of life there is SOOOOO chill...the Americans on the trip had a hard time getting use to waiting an hour for eggs and toast!

During the days we did some pretty fun stuff. The first full day, about 10 of us rented a private boat that took us around to a bunch of the isolated beaches and took us snorkeling to see the clams and coral. The boat only cost each of us about US$7 for the whole day. The next day we went kayaking around the mountain islands. I think I enjoyed that the most since I love to kayak and I love beautiful scenery.

At night we went out in the town. We played lots of darts (which I am not that bad at...to my, and probably your, surprise). We also did a lot of karaoke. I sang to everything from Whitney Houston to Avril. We have all been inspired now to do lots of karaokeing while we are in Asia. So going out in the Philippines was quite an adventure (and there are way too many stories to tell here), but it was also pretty sketchy because there were so many prostitutes. It broke my heart to see these 16 year old girls being prostituted for money (and so little of it!). And it was even worse to watch these sleezy old white men take them home at night. I wanted to slap these guys back to their Mississippi trailer parks!
Anyway, the trip was an overall success...it made me want to travel around here even more!
Love From Hong Kong...

Visit to China

So I traveled to mainland China for the first time last weekend. We went to Shenzhen, which is right across the border from Hong Kong, so we took the metro there. Shenzhen is pretty small. It only really has 3 things of interest for non-locals: 1) the really cheap fake stuff 2) tailor made suits for cheap 3) the Queen Spa. I got some movies that haven't been released yet, and they are great quality (I'm about to buy the Office season 5 next!). I also got a tailored suit made for only about US$45. We'll see if it is good quality or not, but it was worth a try! Going through the mall with all the fake stuff was so intense. I traveled with mostly North Americans and Europeans, so we were targets for getting ripped off. People would come up, grab my arm, and say "You want DVD? Prada purse? Watch? Gucci Shoes?" After a few hours it was just too much to handle. I just wanted to wear a sign that said "NO, I don't want to buy anything!!!"

We originally made reservations at the cheapest place we could find (which in China means it is REALLY sketchy), but then we found out about a deal that the Queen Spa gives. Basically if you spend over US$35 at the spa, you can get their "24-hour package." This package includes a place to sleep, free fruit/ice cream/juice bars, and all their other amenities. It was AMAZING. I got a massage which put me at about $40, so I was able to spend the night there. There were also these recliner chairs with individual TVs, and you could get a massage while you watched TV. Ha...oh the age we live in. But it was a lot of fun and a nice break from the crappy dorms we are living in in Hong Kong.

My First Few Weeks...Consolidated into a Few Paragraphs

So it has been a few weeks since I got to Hong Kong, and it has been completely amazing so far. I have gone to the Peak, many temples, hiking in the hills/mountains, shopping in the markets and millions of malls, etc. It has been very fun and very tiring. But things won't stop because I think I have worked it out so that I only have classes on Tuesday/Thursday, which will be great for traveling. I have plans to go to mainland China, Thailand, Taiwan, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, and Malaysia. But Hong Kong itself is awesome. It is a beautiful mix of east and west. I live like an hour metro ride from the city, practically in paradise (like we have a beach on campus...and this picture is the view from my dorm). I live on the side of a mountain (I have to go up about 35 stories of elevators to get to class, and my ears pop every time) with a view of the sea. It is nice to be kind of far away because it is peaceful and there is no city craziness or pollution, but we are close enough to go into the city when we want to. I have seen all the typical things in Hong Kong, have gone to many interesting temples, and gone hiking in the hills/mountains of the island, so it has been an adventurous two weeks.
I also experienced the insanity that is the Chinese New Year. We went to the New Year Parade...kind of a disappointment because I couldn't see anything. Then we also went to the fireworks, which we set right in Central (the downtown Hong Kong) over the water. They were the BEST fireworks I have ever seen and lasted for 25 minutes...they really go all out for their New Year. I also got to hang out with my school assigned buddy, her name is Christine, for the New Year. I went to dinner with her family, and they helped me branch out in my eating habits. That night, I ate goose, goose tongue, shrimp (with the head still on it), and fried octopus. So that was DEFINITELY an interesting experience! The food in Hong Kong is actually pretty good if you know what to get. But the campus food, like most schools in the US, is subpar (I don't think I can eat another dish of rice and sauce for a few days). I think my favorite thing is the dim sum, which is like their afternoon tea and snack. Those snacks are always good, and OF COURSE I love the tea.

I have also met so many great people (this is a picture with some of my new friends at the horse races, where I didn't win a single bet)...most of them are exchange students because local people just started arriving back recently from the Chinese New Year with their families. I am hanging out with people from Norway, Sweden, France, etc. I am meeting people from all over the world...its crazy. My roommate is from mainland China, and I am hoping to become good friends with her.
I just started classes 2 days ago. They don't seem like they are going to be too difficult. And I am only taking three classes here, and since it is pass/fail...well, I just don't have to worry at all! This should be a semester to remember...
Loooooove from Hong Kong. - Sally