The Beijing Beat: #1

Daily life in China is full of interesting cultural curiosities, oddities, and plain old whatchyacallits. They are there every day to see if you open your eyes. Sometimes, they just happen to you. Some are worthy of a rich description, but others I just want to tell you guys in a few short blurbs. That is why I have decided to post time to time a list of things that I witness or happen to me in my day to day scene that stop me in my tracks on pure absurdity, confounder, and awesomeness.

The past few weeks…

1. Walked into a Wal-Mart (familiar right?), saw a live turtle get its head and limbs cut off and dissected(not!)
2. Ate mule, pig and chicken liver, and a decent club sandwich (hey, a good sandwich is not easy to come by!)
3. While at karaoke… after a good hour of singing patriotic Chinese songs, there was a request for me to sing  American Rap. I performed Eminem’s Lose Yourself in front of my boss and coworkers. I am never being invited out to karaoke again…ever…
4. Ran the pool table for over 2 hours with the largest, friendliest, pool sharking South African diplomat I have ever met. *Big-ups Jeffrey!*(seriously though, we are talking well over 3 bills… but man, what a player)
5. One night in a small restaurant… talked for hours with a Chinese man who knew nothing but the Blues.

JohnyG

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Beijing, round 二!

Beijing!

If you are privy to the post below this one, you know I am now situated in Beijing (and with that, goes the integrity of my [previous] blog title…). Its only been a month, but its one that will not be forgotten easily. Upon arriving, I was greeted by a mutual contact, who helped me find my internship in the first place. Honestly, without his help I would have had a month long headache. Professor Liu, is a part time teacher at 人民大学 (People’s University) and full-time saint. Like I said, he took care of me from the very beginning. He picked me up from the airport (which was only the first time we met!), let me stay in his university apartment for a week, fed me, and helped me find an apartment. So for all the self-less help, big-ups to 刘老师 (Liu Laoshi).

Looking back, it seems the first month progressed weekly, so I’ll break it down for you.

第一个星期

I arrive in Beijing, and spend most time either with Professor Liu, or checking out the sights. Living on campus is fun, since I can use their facilities, food is dirt cheap, and there are plenty of people my age around.

第二个星期

Work starts. I am working at a Chinese Management Consulting firm. I am the only foreigner, and as much as I’d like to think my Chinese has improved, its obvious I could not survive as an actual employee in a Chinese office. The language limitations strangle my opportunities for helping them out. However, I can still edit their English web page! On top of that, I can compare it to the Chinese one at the same time. So, in essence I am actually getting paid to study Chinese in an office setting! Not so bad. Also at this time, I need to start moving out into my own apartment. With the help of Professor Liu, I find a place for about $150 USD a month. Move.

第三个星期

Work continues, may it be slowly. My flatmates are two Chinese about my age.

Me at the Birthday Dinner w/ my Original Roommates

They are recent grads who are working on their own start-up company. They are super-friendly with helping me settle in, and in line with typical Chinese culture, treat me out to dinner at any chance they get. In fact, on the first night of living their, I was invited to attend one of their friends birthday parties. The birthday girl was from 新疆 (Xinjiang) and we ate Uighur food. Delicious! And what a great group of friends to fall into. Unfortunately as the week goes on, and I return to my grimy apartment day after day, I realize I have been ignoring a feeling of loneliness that I have had for a little bit now. Even with meeting hospitable and friendly Chinese people, there is still the void of relating with people from your own culture that needs a fill. So in this third week, I am starting to feel like this whole China trip has run its course. Maybe its time to head

新疆人 People from Xinjiang don't always look Chinese!

home. On top of that, I find out the desk in my room is a cockroach nest. I spend multiple nights in a  row killing 10+ roaches each night… Now, I knew when I moved in, I wasn’t moving into the Belmont, Fairview, or even the Lowell Housing Authority. I draw the line when I start having phantom visions of cockroaches though. I can only react to so many black specs of dirt a day before I call it quits!

No comment...

St. Patrick Day

I will make a special entry for this day. For this is the day where everything I have told you so far, will no longer apply. I forgot to mention that besides the blatant filth of my apartment, the location was actually really cool. I would go days with being the only foreigner (which is kinda neat), lots of good Chinese food, and a 5 minute walk to one of Beijing’s worst business plans, but best pizza house… The Kros Nest! Fortunately, The Kros Nest takes its pizza seriously, and its purely American holidays even more so. They had an entire week of 10 kuai ($1.5 USD) Guinness. Amidst my loneliness on longing for familiarity (this should tell you how easy I was able to get along in Hong Kong as I spent 6 months ther and never felt this feeling so strongly… its been 1 month in Beijing)  I donned my finest greens and headed over. It just so happened that it was a Tuesday, and those who know in Beijing, know that every Tuesday at 6pm SHARP the Kros Nest opens a new keg of Tsingtao, and serves it up free until its dry. Try and tell me there is no God! As I sat there eating my pizza, enjoying my Guinness and finally reading “On the Road,” I started a conversation with the table of foreigners across from me. Turns out they were a bunch of Americans taking part in their culture too. The night took off from there and ended in me waking up sleeping cabby’s for a ride home from a house party. Since then, I’ve broken into the foreigner scene here, and boy is it a good time.

第四个星期

In my fourth week, with my loneliness vanquished, I moved to a new apartment. Just a bit more each month than the previous, but no cockroaches, and… 24 hr hot water, which you would learn is not a right, but a privilege here in China. The new location is in the middle of a couple universities as well, so there is a small night life here. Needless to say, I’m no longer the token foreigner in the neighborhood. In exchange, I get convenience, western dining options, and easy subway access. Oh yea, and cleanliness!

…the present

Everything in Beijing has been worth it so far. Even the down moments. I can truly say I love it here. From what I can see, the city has a unique way of bringing people (mostly talking about foreigners here) together. It’s not uncommon to run into the same people in different places from time to time. This makes networking (the lifeblood of business in China) so intuitive.

These past two weeks have taught me that no matter how dedicated I want to be to becoming fluent in the language, I can’t ostracize the ex-pat community and expect to get along just fine. Because,hey… it feels good when you can relate.

Gone are the feelings of wishing the months would pass faster than an angry Chinese woman on a motorized three wheeler! Beijing has decided to take care of me, and I’m glad. Don’t fret though. Nothing could change how excited I am to “see the faces that remember my own.”

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Harbin (哈尔滨)

On January 2nd, Ed, Momo, and I left Hong Kong for Harbin. Harbin is located in Heilong Jiang (黑龙江) Province in northeast China. From Harbin, it only takes a half hour to reach to the Russian border and cross into the Siberian. Also of mention is that only a short distance to the east lies North Korea. China, Russia, and North Korea… needless to say there were no strong displays of being an American.

Harbin is a town that has seen its fair share of industrialization over the past 30 years. The people there are quite friendly, and speak with a fairly thick accent. Even Momo (a Chinese native) had to ask for cab drivers and waitresses to repeat themselves. Weather-wise, Harbin enjoys temperate summers, and bitterly cold winters. While we were there, the temperature varied from -5 C to -15 C (23 F to 5 F). The only real reason to visit this city under such horrid conditions is to take part in its annual ice festival. Across the entire city, ice sculptures ranging from simple lamp posts, to famous faces, to castles are constructed for winter revelers’ enjoyment. The festival is a month long, and at the end people are encouraged to destroy the structures themselves. Also worthwhile seeing is the tiger park just north of the main city. This was really wild. I’ll describe it all in detail below.

We touched down in Harbin, and the cold could be felt immediately. It penetrated the airport easily, and we would soon find that it didn’t think much of hotel walls either (or maybe the hotels just didn’t think much in the way of heaters). We took the 30 minute cab ride into town and arrived at our hotel to find chains around the door. We had arrived later than expected, and our room had been resold. Luckily, our cab driver was a friendly fellow, and he was more than happy to drive us around and recommend a few other places to stay. Unfortunately, his recommendation was a pit. As we were in a rush to get a bed, we quickly paid for the first vacant hotel. Never again. The room was in the

Ed and Momo sticking it out in the Horror Hotel

basement. The only form of heat was in two miniature heat fans that had the same effect as throwing a pebble to the ocean. The bathroom smelt like a dog kennel. There was a window in our room that looked out to the hallway, and the strangest thing of all was a bizarre black trail from the door to the bathroom. It looked like a scene out of a horror movie. We made it through the night, and went back to our original hotel in the morning to find much better rooms. Clean, heating, and a decent bathroom. On with the fun.

The ice festival was not a let down in the slightest. The first night we walked around taking in what we thought was the main attractions of the ice festival. The main street was interspersed with sculptures of famous art works, musical instruments, famous faces, and more. Along the way, we encountered store after store of Russian commodities. Caviar, matroskas,

Its no Elton John, but its still pretty cool...

sturgeon, and of course vodka were all for sale. I wouldn’t bet the house on the legitimacy of the goods, but they were reasonable priced for what they were. As we arrived at the end of the street, one fo the larger ice sculptures we had seen came into view. When we got to it, we were able to see the other side. It was an ice slide that slid you down onto the frozen river at the bottom of the bank. What a great ride it was, but little did we know that this slide would be nothing compared to what we were to encounter in the coming days.

In the next few days we spent our time exploring more of the city streets, eating chuan (串) or chuar (串儿) as it is said in the local accent. Basically, it is meat on a stick, the Chinese kebab. The most common is lamb. The beef is also delicious. The blend of spices is just right, and the warm meat in the freezing cold helps too. Another tasty snack is the sweet potato. I believe it is baked, and served whole with the skin. The aroma carries, and you can smell the sweetness from a distance. Its also a good snack to help fight off the cold.

We continued taking in the festival sights and ventured to a few designated theme park areas where we would find ice and snow sculptures beyond our imaginations. Its probably better to have a look at the pictures taken. The sheer scale of these things was incredible. We had to step out of the cold during one of these parks, and we entered the

I swear I was dancing with a beautiful Russian GIRL right before this. If only Ed had taken the photo properly!!

performance tent. While warming up, we were treated to a Russian dance troupe who performed traditional Russian numbers. And as you will see from pictures, they called upon yours truly for some help up on stage.

Ice Castles Ligting up at Dusk

As mentioned, we visited a tiger park. This place was your basic drive-thru safari, except for the little parts that reminded you that you were in China, not the States. So now your thinking, “well what do you mean John?” And there is really no need to dazzle this one up, because frankly its just crazy. So as you end your tour, you are allowed to walk above the tiger cages on a walk way. And on this walk way, about half way through, you come across a sweet old lady. She was kindly sitting down with a smile on her face, and crates of chicken next to her. Behind this sweet old lady was a price list. And on this price list was the cost you would have to pay if you wanted to feed these chickens to the tigers! But why stop at chickens?! Also on the list (menu) were ducks, “precious

Yes thats a tiger inches away. Yes if you put your finger on the fence it will be eaten. Yes this is China

pearl chicken” (I dont know the translation), an cows. Yes, you can purchase a cow and offer it to the tigers. Incredible. Luckily enough, a crazy Russian guy in our group bought a chicken, which we video taped. I’ll work on getting it up online asap.

So that about wraps up Harbin. I hope you enjoy the pictures. Also, let others know that there has been and will be new posts coming! Thanks!

JohnyG

再见哈尔滨

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*Knock* *Knock* Anyone there?…

I hope so.

好久不说 (Long time no talk). October came and went, and with it it took the wind out of my sails a bit. Over the course of the month I saw some great performances, battled midterms, and dealt with the beginning stages of homesickness. All which contributed to my absence my blog space here. I apologize for any neglect felt. It was unintentional. But, as November is upon us, things are looking up. Now is the time to reestablish some composure.

Midterms were a doozy. Classes are scaled, and I was not prepared for the intensity of the exams here. Even after preparing the material, the sheer scope-time duration of the exam is a challenge. Needless to say the next month will see more emphasis on studies.

On the leisure side of October, I enjoyed a pair of performances. One by the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. They played three Prokofiev pieces. The last being Peter and the Wolf, which was played alongside a viewing of a newly animated short of the famous orchestra piece. I went with a couple friends from school, and it was a great time. I was invited to the second performance by my roommate. It was titled 雪山飞狐 (Snow Fox), and was a modern ballet interpretation of a famous Chinese novel written by Jin Yong. Although ballet isn’t exactly my cup of tea, it was easy to appreciate the efforts put forth in the choreography and set design.

Peter and the Wolf

Snow Fox

One of the Streets in Lan Kwai Fang on a Normal Evening

Halloween was a lot of fun here. Comparing it to an American experience of the holiday, the main differences are that while children here dress up, trick or treating in the traditional sense of going street to street is not the norm. Most everyone lives in large apartment buildings, so if any trick or treating were to be done, it would be floor to floor. For adults, the must go place for party-goers is Lan Kwai Fong. It is the part of town that on non-holidays is an absolute zoo, so you can only imagine what Halloween brings out of people. The  third option that both children and adults can enjoy (and what I did) is Ocean Park. An wildlife themed amusement park that gets a makeover for the holiday. There were lots of haunted houses, and live characters walking around (which I have to say did a fantastic job of playing their parts and legitimately scaring people). It was a really fun time, and different from the usual dress up and drink routine.

Through the NU functions hosted here, I met a a girl by the name of Clarice who was originally born here in HK, goes to NU, and is now working her co-op for my Uncle Pat at Wellington. She was nice enough to give me a tour of a few different areas. We started in 湾仔 (Wan Chai) for dim sum. We ate at one of the only places still using a charcoal oven here in Hong Kong. The 叉烧饭 (roasted pork) was delicious! After finishing our meal, we browsed the nearby market where I picked up some small gifts to send home for the holidays. Clarice was good at giving me some background on all the different goods for sale, and helped me bargain. We stopped for a snack at a 卤水饿鸟 (poached goose in soy sauce) canteen. It had a nice taste, but it is served at a cooler than expected temperature.We ended our day in 天后 (Tin Hau) where we had some Chinese dessert.

Me eating 杨枝甘露!

One of the dishes we had was absolutely deliscious. I wish I could send it home for everyone to try. Its called 杨枝甘露 (Yang Zhi Gan Lu) and is a Mango and Papaya based desert using mango concentrate as well as sago pearls. The concentrate sits below layer of milk from concentrate. It is served chilled. Stir it before eating, and enjoy!

That about does her for October. I’m in the process of getting post cards out to people. If you want to receive one, let me know! Also, I’ll post my address in case others are looking for it.

John Gallagher

908L New Hall

HKUST

Clear Water Bay

Kowloon

Hong Kong

JohnyG

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Happy October

Hello Fans and Hello to Friends,

Today is October 1st, also known as National Day here in China. No classes (woo!) and fireworks tonight. This past weekend, delicious dinners was the theme.

First, Northeastern was in town. The dean of the business school, along with members from the co-op department were showing face and trying to work out some new connections with other schools in China and the pacific region. OK, I said “delicious dinners,” but… “unique” may be a more accurate word for this particular experience. I think the amount of food we were served was out of kindness, but I am still full a whole 4 days later, which makes me think that someone had their laughs at watching the foreigners stomach a full 12!!! courses of strange and exotic foods. Honestly, at halftime I looked at Dean Fletcher who was to my right and giving me the look of a beaten champion, “how many more sea creatures we’ve never heard of or seen before can we possibly eat?” She could hardly muster a look at the menu to see for herself. As each course came out, more and more was left on the plate, till eventually the waiters were setting and cleaning untouched food. But in the end, who can complain too much about overfeeding… Thank you Northeastern.

Your's Truly Front and Center

Per the Dean’s request, we were asked to make reservations at a a “nice” restaurant for a dinner Monday evening. I don’t think we disappointed. We booked a dinner fro 10 at the Mandarin Grill & Bar at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Mandarin Oriental Hotels have been at the forefront of luxury since 1963 (the Boston location on Boylston Street should be finished soon I think), and the dinner we were treated to showed us why. From the first beer served in a chalice fit for a king to entrees articulated and presented ever so carefully, throughout the night the table simply dazzled. I enjoyed the finest piece of meat ever to touch my palate where flavors danced away. There is much to say about the entire dinner, but please take a look at some of the photos from that night. Again… Thank you Northeastern.

Looking forward, this week is moving along quicker than expected, and tonight I will attend the National Day fireworks with my host family. Midterms aren’t too far away either, so some studying will be on the menu as well. This weekend I am heading out on the open waters on a junk boat. Expect some great photos.

Peace,

JohnyG

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Buddha, Baseball, and the Moon

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the delayed post. Had too much fun this weekend! I visited an enormous Buddha, went to my cousin Ethan’s baseball scrimmage, attended an ex-pat cookout, and celebrated the Chinese holiday 中秋节 (mid-Autumn Festival) in Sai Kung (西贡). Ill try to let my words do  the weekend justice, but it will be a challenge.

On Friday, we went to Lan Tau Island on the western side of Hong Kong to visit the big Buddha over there.

Cable Cars to reach Lan Tau Island and the Great Buddha

My buddy Gon planned the whole trip, and it was a success. We rode the metro as far as we could and transferred onto the cable cars to carry us across the water and over the hills to the remote “village” of the Buddha. There, treasures of spirituality awaited. We watched a couple films on Prince Siddhartha’s (read: Buddha) awakening and his will to break free from worldly pleasures, only to be bombarded with worldly pleasures to commemorate our “non-awakening” on the way out of the films. As we only nearly escaped temptation, we continued our way to the Buddha to have an up-close and personal encounter. We climbed the stairs of Nirvana to the top. Absorbed as much enlightenment as we could, said “thank you” and carried on. The “Path of Wisdom” called for our footsteps, and boy did we answer. Almost deceived by its appearance, the group almost dared not to go further on, but with reluctance, we pushed on. Who can say no to wisdom, right? As you will see in the pictures, we ventured and found wisdom. We climbed wisdom.

Upon the Path of Wisdom

We breathed it in. Its hard to say if I feel any different, but at least I know the reason if I start to.

Ethan and I at the Game

Ethan’s baseball scrimmage was set on a baseball field that I will call the “Urban Sandlot.” Except, the Sandlot made up for its shoddiness with character, while this field did it with infrastructure. Seriously, as you looked towards the outfield, there were highway ramps being built behind it. To the first base side of the field stood a water pumping station! More evidence supporting the population density here? I suppose. Either way, the kids still took to the field well, and Ethan stood his ground playing second base. The good guys didn’t manage a “W” but hey, its still preseason here.

One of the families from the team held a cookout afterwards. It was a great occasion for meeting some new interesting people over a few Sam Adams. The men and children took a little hike down the hillside from the flat to the breakwater. Ethan found a crab, and Johnny (my cousin) and I found a bee’s nest (not everyone is so fortunate). We managed to escape with only one sting, but it STUNG! Fortunately, twas’ nothing a few burgers and dogs couldn’t cure.

As that part of the night ended, I joined a local friend for the mid-Autumn festivities. We made some new friends who invited us to their restaurant for some ma jiang, BBQ, and beer. The cast of characters we reveled with were really quite lively. They were all in their mid 20’s and ranged from a semi-pro wake boarder high school grad with no English to a young business professional whose major client was Abercrombie & Fitch, to a 50 year old man they called the King of Fish (鱼王). He also spoke not a word of English, but we got along just great. It was too much fun interacting with everyone, playing their games, and trying to speak

The King of Fish (鱼王) and I

their language (and failing).

So that was this weekend in brief. I am going to start updating more than once a week, so look out for surprise posts. Gotta keep you guys on your feet.

*Note: If you are seeing random squares or foreign symbols in the text, it may be because your computer does not have Chinese text installed on it. This is the first week I am using Chinese characters in the post. I thought it’d add some flavor to it. If you care not to see them, then ignore. If you are interested and can’t see them, follow the link below for instructions on enabling Chinese text. Also, I have linked an on-line Chinese-English dictionary that you can copy and paste characters into to get a quick translation.

Adding Chinese Characters

Chinese-English Dictionary

*Also: more pictures up on Flickr. I think its up to 4-5 sets of photos now.

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Dust Settles as Wind Prepares

Hello Everyone,

Before I start this week, I have to say my thanks for all the great comments you left. Its exciting to hear from you and to see some reactions.

This past week has been a mixture of finding my place as well as making sure I keep stumbling on the new and interesting.

It started with the beginning of classes. Here’s a quick run down: Chinese Language and Writing– the structure of Chinese Language taught in broken English by a Chinese professor to a class full of Chinese students and me. Mandarin Class – fairly straightforward, easier than back in the States. Org Behavior – we watch Charlie Chaplin films. Macro – Indian professor who passed on a warning to the current exchange students from the prior exchange students to not take this class because we will fail… Oh, and if you don’t get to class at least 20 minutes early you will be standing or sitting on the floor. Books here are a joy to buy. Back home business students can expect to spend anywhere between 150-300 USD for a semester of classes. Here I bought all my books for about 80 USD! AND they are the same exact versions as in the US!

The Olympics

Student Clubs or Societies are a large part of campus life, and a whole two weeks are dedicated to joining them. Most charge a membership fee and promise different services. The different types range widely, and I ended up joining a total of 4: Track & Field, Band Society (not the marching band kind), Dance Society (hip-hop), and Management Organization Society. Track has been pretty good, and I was quite surprised at the quality of the workout the coach gave us on the first day of practice. There are only two chances for competition: a Campus Run and an Inter-Collegiate XC meet. As for the others, there hasn’t been much activity yet.

Olympic Motto in Chinese in Causeway Bay (Faster, Higher, Stronger)

mmmmm... Chicken Feet

Exploring the city has been ever-eventful. Last Sunday I went to a department store by the name of SoGo in Causeway bay. Now, think “Day after Thanksgiving” and “Christmas Eve Day” at the Pheasant Lane Mall-this was busier, but without the lines. This place was 12 stories filled with everyone from families to students, and teenagers to housemaids. It was astounding the magnitude of business and people. Walking around Causeway Bay also proved to be exotic. We somehow entered an alley which had been transformed into at least quarter mile of lean-to shops for women’s clothing and odd goods. Walking through it was as if I was being ushered out of a sports stadium with no exit in sight.

Smoothie Stand in Causeway Bay

This past Friday I decided to venture a bit on my own. I got on the “light bus” from campus and made my way into a suburb of HK. I got off at what looked like a shopping center. After walking through it I realized that this was not a shopping destination, it simply existed to satisfy the needs of those who lived in the towering residential buildings above me. I could see a supermarket, hair salon, McDonald’s, Piano Store, Arcade, Playground, and other local boutiques. Granted this place was rundown, the fact remains it was constructed amidst the reality of the population. My next accidental stop took me to another shopping center which what I thought, was the shopping centers to end all shopping centers (oh, ladies, if you haven’t figured out by now, HK is a great place to go shopping… so you should come!). I had arrived at the MEGABOX – A 16 STORY, RETAIL HEAVEN, CULINARY SMORGASBORD, IMAX THEATRE WIELDING, INTERNATIONAL SIZED ICE RINK ENCLOSING monster of a building. So you all just thought, “wow, must be a pretty big deal.” Well, on the way home I ended up sitting next to the accountant for the complex who proceeds to lament about how it really doesn’t compare to a leading retail competitor not too far from it, and will most likely be out of business with the next 5 years. So here I am, and I cannot grasp this. I say to him, “you mean to tell me a 16 STORY, RETAIL HEAVEN, CULINARY SMORGASBORD, IMAX THEATRE WIELDING, INTERNATIONAL SIZED ICE RINK ENCLOSING monster of a building was built as an attempt at competing with a leading retail monster!?” He replies quite frankly “yes.” So that was that.

The Future in MegaBox

This picture took itself (inside Sogo)

The accountant got off the bus and I continued on my way. It was night, and I didn’t know exactly where I was going, just that I was on a bus that would take me to a metro station. And if anyone ever finds themselves in this or a similar unfamiliar situation I recommend the following: take out your music player of choice, turn up the volume, and play Miles Davis’ album Bitches Brew. The compositions can take hold of your world and create a new reality. For that half hour, I saw a different HK that I think most would never see.

Miles Davis Bitches Brew (1970)

In other happenings of the week:

I saw probably the scariest movie of my adult life. It is a Spanish film called REC if you can find it in the States, go see it!

I met a 15 year old boy-genius of computer science. I helped him pick out a beginner’s guitar and will casually be teaching him and my roommate all the guitar knowledge that I possess.

The next coming weeks should see increased school work, activities, and fun. Stay tuned.

*Note: If you use or know of the VoIP messaging program Skype, you can find me on it. Just search me. If you are still trying to grasp onto the idea of the internet and not sure what this is all about, you can just go here and download it. This program will allow you to talk to me and see me FOR FREE!

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Dream World

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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