I arrived in Hong Kong on January 25th, 2010. With hope filled in my eyes and a sense of familiarity. I had been here before for a week. I visited HK for a week in October when The Moore School of Business sent me for Citi Bank Business Case Competition that hosted 21 International schools. Melbourne won the tournament and walked away leaving the other 20 schools in question of their analysis. But none the less, I was back and it was good to be back.
I walked the familiar terminal and after some asking around found my way to the red taxi stand. I remember researching before my first visit about the transportation system in the city. There are Green, Red and Blue taxis, each designated for their respected regions. I knew which one I needed and without asking again I told the driver in English, "Clear Water Bay" and started to help in load my luggage in the trunk.
"I need to buy an electric convertor before we go to Clear Water Bay please", I said, looking at the cabbie in his review mirror. He didn't understand what I was asking for. He spoke broken English but it was good enough for a cabbie. I struggled to explain what I needed and suddenly pulled out the electric cord for my laptop and showed him my pin, "Aahh!" he signed. We stopped at the local lamps and fans shop in a little market area off of the highway. I jumped out and jumped right back in with two convertors. I was excited to see my new apartment.
The ride was pleasant and I was hungry. I was biting away at a shrimp and corn wheat sandwich that I picked up at the 711 at the airport along with a cell phone recharge voucher. I had a good feeling about this. It felt right.
I enjoyed a hot shower and slipped into the bare mattress without sheets under a blanket that I took home from my flight from HK to Tokyo in October. That blanket had served me well and it became special to me, even more. But it was much colder and I knew I needed a real blanket, food, milk and other necessities. The next day I made my way to a nearby restaurant. I feasted away at a chicken in white garlic sauce with rice and watched Chinese soap opera on a television from the 90's hung high on the wall. I had to go to Hang Hau, a nearby shopping plaza village. I cabbed it back with three huge grocery bags and a large bill. I stocked up the kitchen and fixed myself a satisfying ramen noodle and soup meal for dinner. I needed to feed myself a satisfying meal after an alright lunch and no dinner the night before.
I was getting into shape. Slowly and steadily. The next morning I made my way to 1 University Road, to the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The vast hills and the deep valley's that dove into the ocean one after another made up a magnificent landscape. I had fallen in love with those mountains and promised to return. I was good to see myself keep the promise. I served my soul well to see them still stand tall and guard the coast of the university and the villages that found their abode in them.
After registration and some frustration with bureaucracy I started walking around to the familiar places, the library, the café, the lunch hall… UST and most locals refer to the University was a very western and diverse university for its kind in its region. I saw several exchange students walking around. You can tell an American apart from the Europeans. This has become easy in the past few years after my visit to Europe.
They International students office arranged a tour for the exchange students, The China Cultural Tour, our tour guide was a short and a funny medical student who was here from Beijing and did tours part time. He enjoyed what he did and it was easy to tell….
(Will be updated periodically…)
