Departure

In 12 hours, I’ll be flying back to America. Eekk! I’m excited. My bags are just about packed, minus the last minute things, my ticket is printed, and my alarm is set for 4am (don’t worry- I have 3 alarms set- I will not sleep through them!). I think I’m ready.

When I booked my flight back in June, Orbitz told me my trip was 127 days and 128 nights. When I thought of it in those terms, day and night, it didn’t seem like a long time; 4 months seemed longer. And now, I can’t decide whether or not it seems like I just got here, or if I’ve been here forever. Looking back, I’ve done a lot. Thankfully I kept this blog because otherwise I am sure I wouldn’t remember half of my experiences. I completed everything that was on my “Things to Do in Hong Kong” list; I traveled to Thailand, Vietnam and Macau; explored as much of Hong Kong as possible and took 5 classes! I am very happy with my semester abroad; I was challenged and pushed outside of my comfort zone; I’ve learned to appreciate America more than ever before, but I’ve also gained a respect and understanding not only of Hong Kong but of many other South Asian countries. I’ve tried so many different types of food and have learned how to cook various dishes in a microwave.

 My List

About 3 or 4 weeks ago, I started making a list of things that I would be ‘Taking’ from Hong Kong and ‘Leaving’ in Hong Kong. To share a few (it’s been much easier to decide what I’m leaving rather than taking, but that’s not really important as I am sure ‘Taking’ list will grow once I’m back in America)…

I will be taking my chopstick skills, a greater appreciation for the American education system (the Hong Kong education system is a completely different story- basically only a certain amount of students can continue on after a certain point, and each year that number gets smaller and smaller)

I will be leaving the shower technique (you go to the shower fully dressed, leave the flip flops outside the shower, strip inside the shower stall, hang your clothes over this bar or in a bag, shower, put clothes back on. At the beginning of the semester I just about died from heat stroke doing this, so to avoid this, I timed my showers so my roommate wouldn’t be in the room); the discussion procedures (class discussions are more of a Q&A session rather than ‘discussion’ and the local students rarely talk, so there wasn’t a lot of communication within the classes), and the acceptability of spitting/burping/nose picking in public (it’s just nasty. I’m sorry. I’ve been on the MTR and see people picking their nose with their fingers, no tissues, or people hacking up mucus on the street. Not my cup of tea). I will also be leaving the bugs. Literally, the bugs here have attacked me. Anytime I’m outside, I get about 4 new bug bits. My calves are covered in bug bites.

The bathroom and showers

There are many things though that I wish I could take: the MTR system (literally, it can get you anywhere in Hong Kong; it’s so easy, accessible and cheap. I will surely miss it.), the money (sure, the exchange rate was great, but the smallest bill they use is $10, they have a $1, $2, and $5 coin, as well as $0.10, $0.20 and $0.50 coin. Things only cost $7.90 or $8.00, not $7.99 or $7.49, it’s so much easier to deal with money without having to worry about those little cents). I wish I could take some of the food back (dim sum, this green bean and minced meat meal, the fruit desert I wrote about earlier, all so delicious and can’t be found in the States). The final thing I wish I could take is the cleanliness of Hong Kong (I am pretty sure the cleaning people collect the trash on our floor at least 4 times a day; everyday, there is a lady sweeping the leaves off the path to our hostel; the elevator and escalator handrails are disinfected at least 4 times a day. It’s crazy, but it’s so clean).

Packing...

It’s been a great semester and I am thankful for every moment over the past 4 months.

Also, I'll leave you with a comparision of the weather here in HK, Hull and Geneva...

I am going to freeze.

Macau

Wednesday morning, Lex, Kat, Anna, Anna’s friend, Mimi from Taiwan and I traveled to Macau for the day. We were supposed to leave campus at 8:30, but my old habits kicked in and I didn’t wake up until 8:38, so we got a later start. Oops.

We took a boat called TurboJet from Central to Macau, which took about an hour. When we arrived in Macau, the weather was not great- cold and rainy. And it lasted all day, so it put a damper on our day, but we made the best of the day.

We explored Macau Fisherman’s Wharf, where there were these huge replicas of famous world sites, like a Roman amphitheater, a volcano, and a smaller Forbidden City. We then hopped on a bus and headed to the Portuguese side of Macau.

{Macau used to be a Portuguese colony until 1999 and is now a Special Administrative Region of China, like Hong Kong. The official languages of Macau are Cantonese and Portuguese, but many of the signs are in Portuguese, Mandarin and English and a lot of the local people speak Mandarin.}

While in the Portuguese side, we explored the St. Paul’s Ruins, as well a church, which I forget the name of…

We grabbed lunch at Pizza Hut before heading to another section of Macau, to the casinos!

Macau is known for it’s casinos and gambling; it’s nicknamed the Las Vegas of Asia, and many Chinese people go to Macau to gamble (90% of Macau’s visitors are from China!).

We were able to take a free bus service that one of the hotels/casinos offered, called ‘The City of Dreams.” The bus played music and each seat had its own mini TV, which played commercials about the casino, to get you, excited to gamble and what not (it was Macau's Party Bus).

When we arrived at “The City of Dreams” we walked around for a little bit, ended up in the lobby of the Hard Rock Hotel, before deciding to head over to the Venetian, or the world’s largest casino. At 546,000 square feet, 3,400 slot machines and over 800 game tables, the Venetian holds the title of the largest casino in the world. In addition, to the casino, there are hundreds of high-end shops, as well as three canals where visitors can go for a gondola ride! It was insane!!

The gondola driver singing!

We all took a chance at the slot machines- only Mimi walked away winning. We were interested in possibly checking out playing Black Jack or some other card game, but when we were informed you had to pay $300HKD to get in, we decided against it. Haha.

Trying out the slot machines!

Mimi, Anna and Kat playing a game

We wandered around the casino and hotel for quite sometime, avoiding the nasty weather outside. We grabbed a late dinner before taking the shuttle back to the ferry pier for our 9pm boat ride back to Hong Kong.

The Venetian at night

Well, the boat ride back to Hong Kong is a story in itself. It should be noted, that when I was younger, boat rides (and subways for that matter) scared me. My mom says that after I saw Titanic, boatrides were never easy for me. Somehow I got over that (e.g. Antarctica). But Tuesday night, I watched the Titanic trailer on Youtube for some reason and Wednesday night, I saw my life flash before my eyes about 5 times.

Heading home, the water between Macau and Hong Kong was so rough; the TurboJet was going a million (okay, I exaggerate) miles per hour and the boat was rocking from side to side. People were throwing up all around us, and I thought I was going to die. It was raining and you could hear the waves crashing against the boat as the boat rocked from side to side. The entire time I was thinking, “Okay, how do I get to a lifeboat,” “do I take my purse or do I leave it?” “Does China even have a coast guard?” It was insane. I was so glad to be back on land and will never get on a boat in that type of weather again.

Although Macau would have been better on a nicer day, it was still fun to explore the old Portuguese colony! 

Stanley Market: Now and Then

Four years ago when I traveled to China with People to People, my delegation was scheduled to spend 2 or 3 days in Hong Kong. Due to a lovely typhoon though, we had less than 24 hours, and of those 24 hours, we had to sleep and leave China for good. So we only got to see Victoria Peak and Stanley Market.

Last Saturday, I went back to Stanley Market with Kat and Lex. We took the MTR to Causeway Bay and then hopped on a minibus to get to Stanley. When we first arrived, I was taken aback. The first thing I said was “Wow. They’ve definitely done some reconstruction since 2006.” Of course, this was before I noticed that I was not in the same area of Stanley when I arrived in 2006.

We strolled along a promenade before choosing a little seafood place for lunch, where we all feasted on fish and chips. And then we made our way to the market. And I realized I was where I was when I came in 2006 when I saw the Haagen Dazs ice cream store where I stopped for ice cream with a few friends from my delegation.

Stanley Market in 2006:

Stanley Market in 2010:

Lex, Kat and I strolled along the little shops, purchased a few gifts and goodies. This market sells a lot of different ‘souvenir’ type items. Unlike Ladies’ Market, which focuses around clothing’s and purses, Stanley has a lot of tourist things- like the “I Love HK” shirt I brought back in 2006, or pictures/names with Chinese calligraphy. And Stanley wasn’t too crazy. Although the main aisle was small, we weren’t breathing down each other’s neck.

It was great to actually explore and walk around Stanley; there were many Westerners so in addition to reminding me of my experience with People to People, I was reminded of home. J

Farewell Reception and the Weather

Last Monday night, OMIP hosted a Farwell Reception for all Inbound Exchange students. It provided a good opportunity to see a lot of the local and other international students once more before going our separate ways (even though I still have two weeks left). I am surprised at how many international students I don’t see. The first few weeks, I saw these kids multiple times a day, and now I’m lucky if I see them once every two weeks. School makes our lives so complicated.

A few students shared pictures and videos as well as speeches about their time here at Lingnan. It was great to hear other students’ experiences.

Lex, Kat and I at the Farewell Reception

In addition, OMIP does this cool thing called “Gold Books.” Each school it has a partnership with has a book and exchange students are encouraged to share their experiences and comments in the book. So Anna, Tim and I all shared our experiences and placed them in HWS’ Gold Book.

It’s been cooling down here, but by cooling down, I mean it’s still 70 degrees, but to the local students, and many internationals, it’s freezing. And okay, today it was around 60 and I was a little cold, but still, it’s NOTHING compared to winter in Geneva. So at the reception, I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and the Vice President of Academic Affairs (?) comes over and starts talking with us. He was taken aback by the fact that I was in shorts still, and asked where I was from. “Boston” I replied. He just laughed.

Just today (Wednesday, December 8) I have seen so many winter coats. It’s ridiculous. I seriously wonder what the exchange students think when they come to HWS. 

Tai O

Yesterday, Lex and I went on an adventure to a little fishing village on Lantau Island called Tai O. I had heard about Tai O from a fellow Heron who spent a semester here last year. She said it was best to go later in the afternoon, around sunset, so that’s what we did. We grabbed a quick lunch by school and then started the 2-hour journey to Tai O; an hour on the MTR and then another hour on a bus. It wasn’t too bad, but it made for a long day. The bus ride went up/around/down/all over the mountains on Lantau; the roads are extremely small and the bus was a coach bus so the ride was a bit bumpy and crazy. It was quite the experience.

We arrived in Tai O around 4pm and spent our time wandering around the village. Tai O is famous for its stilt houses because the villagers don’t feel safe on the ground. We passed numerous shops selling dried fish; one even had a huge dried shark!

Various people were offering 20-minute boat tours, which brought you around the houses and then out into the open water to look for the famous pink dolphins in the surrounding area, so Lex and I decided to go on one. We went at the perfect time as well because the sun was just starting to set so I got some nice shots of the sunset. 

After the boat ride, we wandered around some more before it got dark and then headed back to campus.

Earthquake!

Friday afternoon, I was sitting the canteen eating lunch and working on a paper when I felt my first earthquake! You could hear the bowls and utensils clatter for a moment but nothing really happened. I looked around wondering what happened- figuring somebody dropped something somewhere, but nobody was really paying attention or doing anything.

Lo and behold just an hour or so later I received an email from the school informing me that there was an earthquake with a magnitude of 2.8, so it wasn't too big. But it was still and earthquake!! Haha.

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