Subways, and Buildings, and Chinese, Oh My!

So my wonderful roommate Sydnie convinced me to start a blog about my adventures in China. I'm not really a diary or blog person, but because she asked nicely (read: threatened me), I decided to go ahead and do one. I was supposed to write during my first week in Hong Kong, but lo and behold, using a Chinese network makes things like BlogSpot appear in Chinese. Luckily I just found out how to change the language to English so we are back on board. Because I missed the first week, I will give everyone a recap on what happened.

Saturday,  June 4

I arrived in Hong Kong sometime around 7:20 am with my flying partner Tyler. Customs was easy and because English is one of the official languages, it was on almost every sign. So far, no luck in practicing what little Chinese I know. The taxi was easy enough to find, though it had to be a green one because that's the color that goes to the New Territories (where my school is). For those of you that don't know, the New Territories are north of the main island of Hong Kong. Actually, I'm about three subway stops away from mainland China!!!

The rest of the day was uneventful, but that night the first group of students in the program took us out to two clubs to go dancing in Central, the main part of the city. The DJ played mostly American music, but it was fun none the less for my first clubbing experience. Besides that, the second club was on the 28th floor of the building, providing excellent views of the skyline.

Sunday

I went to Ikea and bought bedding and other dorm items. Honestly, that was about it. Not the most daring day in the world, but completely necessary. Besides, the Ikea is only 2 metro stops away from the university.

I suppose I can also talk about the mall closest to me in Sha Tin (it's a block away from Ikea). It's crazy big. That's pretty much the only way to describe it. Actually, all of the malls here are crazy big. The Sha Tin mall is really three malls in one with skyways connecting them. The entire 1st and 7th floors are dedicated to food and there is a food court besides that. The shopping is great because there is a Zara for all of you out there who appreciate European fashion.  I've personally been coming to appreciate Asian fashion which, to my never ending delight, includes many cute dresses. I could get used to shopping here.

Monday

Today was the Dragon Boat Festival in Hong Kong, which is a holiday that warrants people a day off from school or work to watch crew teams race each other down rivers. It was interesting, though I have yet to learn of the cultural significance of the holiday. A large group of IBCE students went down to the river in Sha Tin to watch some of the race. Unfortunately, another classmate and I got separated from the group, However, we did find this great Thai restaurant in the mall with some of the best curry ever! Definitely worth getting lost for. We then went to get frozen yogurt. Easily one of the yummiest days ever.

Tuesday

Class started today. I have a morning class every day that goes from 9:30am to 12:00pm and on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday there is an afternoon class from 2:30 to 4:15. The classes so far have been nice and I really enjoy them. I know most of the vocabulary right now, but we are mostly working on tones, an essential part of the Chinese language. Afterall, it would be awful to accidently call someone's mother a horse (they're the same sound but different tones).

Wednesday

More class! And some homework. We did get out today though and went to this restaurant owned by a Mr. Wang. It's all you can eat and drink for $40 HKD which is about $5 USD. Some of the other students went bar hopping afterwards, but I went back to the dorm to chill out.

Thursday

I think I went to Mong Kok, a big open air street market, on this day, but I can't really remember. I did go sometime this week though. Oh! but I was also tired of Chinese food so I went to this really nice Italian restaurant and ordered a grilled chicken, vegetables, and mashed potatoes. Finally, a meal that I would eat at home. I'm thinking of making this a weekly thing.

Friday

I can't remember!!! Is it bad that I can't remember? I think I went to Tai Po, another open air market that mostly for food. Then I went to the mall and finally got a phone and a sim card so people can call me. I don't know how I survived that long without a cell phone.

Saturday

This was by far the best day. First, I went to church in Happy Valley, located on the main island of Hong Kong. It's a really nice and kinda ritzy area. The church service was great and everyone was so kind. Afterwards, I went to a church member's house for lunch. She was also hosting a group of five Malaysian nurses who were stopping in Hong Kong for a while before heading off to mainland China for a mission conference. The lunch was delicious and the after lunch nap was even better. When we woke up two hours later, we all decided to take a walk to Central (this is about a two hour walk) where we got to see all of the main buildings. We hardly ever walked on street level, because the skyscrapers in Hong Kong are all connected by walkways in the air. We also visited several parks, all beautiful with their Chinese water features and plants. At the end of the night, went across the bay by ferry to see this laser light show timed to music that the City of Hong Kong puts on every night. What a thing to spend money on! However, it did offer an amazing view of the skyline of Central. After that, we went to this mall that had every designer store you could possibly imagine, with people actually carrying bags from these stores. And not little bags either. They were huge bags, multiple bags that proved that they clearly just spent $1000 USD on clothing. I did get to eat at this great Japanese place in the food court though. Let me tell you, the food courts in Hong Kong malls are so much better than the food courts in American malls. Even though it's all Asian food, the Japanese, Indian, Korean, and Vietnamese places are all really good. Finally, I went back to my dorm and slept very, very well.

Sunday

Today I went to a mall in Mong Kok to go shopping at H&M, one of my favorite stores every. The H&Ms in Asia have so many more things than the ones in America, including really, really cute dresses. And this one was three stories so there were many, many, really, really cute dresses. Two of my classmates went with me and we all decided to eat at the food court there. I decided to try Korean stone pot rice which was basically rice, beef, vegetables, and egg in a really hot stone pot. It was FANTASTIC!!!!! That was basically it for Sunday.

Monday

I went to my morning class and then signed up for a gym membership, which was nearly impossible to do without a Hong Kong based credit card, but I did it. Muhahaha!!!!!!

Tuesday

And now there's today. I went to class and now I'm about to leave for the gym. I'll let you guys know how it is. Hopefully I can take a kickboxing class there so that I can vent some of my adjustment and social frustrations from this move. Oh yeah, and tomorrow's my birthday!!! I'm going to party it up Hong Kong style!