I have arrived in Hong Kong!  Safely.  Soundly.  And the most foreign feeling of all: independently.  I came here 2 days before residence move-in so I was living in a relative’s empty apartment but now I am at the dorm.

It doesn’t look much different from Canada eh?

 

Anyway, here are some random things I’ve noticed over the past 4 days:

– Cooking for 1 is hard.  Not to mention I can’t cook.  Because I had to buy just enough groceries to last me 2 days but not leave anything behind, I ended up make 3 dishes of pretty much the same thing in different forms.  A failed Omurice that just became rice on an omelet, cantonese tomato fried egg (with green peppers) and everything put together to make fried rice.

(I didn’t only eat 3 meals in two days, my uncle bought me lunch)

Why did I cook at all?  Just to experience this aspect of independent living.

– Living alone is shocking lonely the first night.  After dinner I just sat there looking at my dishes and empty room thinking wow… so this is what it is like… it kinda sucks. Even if I’m not talking, it’s nice to know someone is there.  Note to self: get roommate if I move out.

 

– WiFi is extremely easy to find in HK.  Starbucks, McDonalds, the library, the park, the bus… yes.  The bus. =o

– I’ve been taking UBC’s course registration system and way finding website for granted.  I wish it was like that here.  You don’t know what you have until it’s gone right?

– Hong Kong is not the same city in the day time as it is in the night time.  That has got to be one of the most lovable things about this place.  That and the fact things are super cheap and there is no tax or tipping customs.

– Two things I was looking forward to about exchanging here: 1) escaping the gloomy rainy winter in Vancouver and 2) not having the walk that hill I walk every morning to get to the skytrain.  I wish I checked the topography of this place so I could know what I was getting myself into.  I didn’t know this area was so mountainous, it’s a good recipe with the 30+ degree weather and 85% humidity.  Good there there was a shuttle bus for luggage.  Here is a picture of the view from my room:

Those large apartments are not dorms, just rich neighbours. Check out their pool…

No joke.

– About living on campus: so far it feels like living in an apartment near school with a perpetual mini clubs day with 1 booth in the lobby.  My roommate hasn’t moved in yet.  So I guess more on this later.  Hong Kong is so hot and I am too cheap to spend too much on AC, I really only come here to sleep and use my computer.

– First tastes of how school here is likely to be very different:  There was a welcoming ceremony yesterday and they gave us graduation style robe/gowns to wear as we put our right hands up and took a pledge.  That was the 1st time I felt extremely foreign here.  The 2nd time was when I was ordering food at a local restaurant but I couldn’t because the menu was Chinese only and the only word I could read was cow.

 

I notice I haven’t mentioned much about the city life yet.  I don’t know why but I don’t really know what to say about it yet…

I also notice I don’t have a picture of the actual school yet either haha.  I’ll try to get one.

 

Ok I have to grab some breakfast and prepare before more orientation.  I’ll try to make a more organized, and less full of random everything under the sun post next time.  Let me know if there is anything you’d like me to talk about about going on exchange or Hong Kong.  Or if you have any recommendations of stuff I should check out!