View from Balcony of Common Room
Dreams come in as many varieties as a Baskin and Robin’s ice cream. They can frighten you, confront you, and inspire you. Some dreams remind us that our imagination has not yet kicked the bucket while other seem so real that we have to do a check to make sure of what world we are in when we wake from them.
Here in Hong Kong I keep checking and checking, but I am now convinced this is where dreams and reality meet (for me at least). From the moment I arrived I could feel the difference. I went from riding futuristic shuttles to accessing a night view of the HK skyline that I still can not forget (thanks to my Uncle Pat) all within the first hour and a half of being here. From the 49th floor we could watch the city bustle as the last members of the workforce went home at 8:30pm and others started their nightly leisure. The best way I can describe the city at night is as if you are watching Man’s answer to the northern lights. Colors are constantly changing, and architecture takes on artistic form. We were treated to a scene that only the priveleged would ever see, and the amount of wealth visible to the eyes is quite remarkable.
We arrived on campus at night. Check-in was fun as the non-academic staff tends to not speak English and I was able to put my Chinese to the test right away. The dorms are rather modest in size, but apparently I am in the nicest building. Though, for those of you who saw my previous dorm, this is nothing to brag about. Still it gets the job done. My roommate is from Zhejiang province in mainland China. His English is quite good, and we will be able to help each other with the respective languages. There are also loads of other nationalities here ranging from Dutch to Indian to Kazakh. The locals are among some of the most helpful people I have ever encountered and have made their impression on me. For example, one student wanted to ride the metro in the complete opposite direction of his destination so that I would make no mistakes about where I was going. My roommate (though not local HK) called me in the middle of the day because he was shopping at a bedding store and noticed I had been using a sweatshirt as my pillow. When I got home, there was a pillow waiting for me. Like I said, I can’t tell if this is a dream or not. I do have to mention the mornings. I have been waking early to run, and as I mentioned we arrived here at night. On the first morning, I looked out the common room balcony to find a sunrise that could entertain the most piggish of gods. The bay was calm and the rolling island mountains in the near distance flush with green as the sun managed its way over them. My breath was taken. I think it was at this point when I knew I was in the right place.
So I do apologize to erveryone who has been waiting to hear from me. This is the first day where I havn’t got an orientation or a tour to attend. They have been wonderful to do, but combined with jetlag they are something of a drain. I hope all is well back home, as I am more than well here.
Please leave questions or requests in the comments section!
*As a side note: The JonhyG HK flickr will no longer be used. Something went wrong with th account, and I am now using Johnyg14. You will still be able to simply click on any of the linked pictures on the blog page to access JohnyG14.
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