From 8-29-07

Wow, been so busy, amazing how much can happen in just a couple days! So the room I stayed in was my actual room. My roommate still hasn’t arrived, so I have had the room to myself, it’s been kind of nice. Not that I have been here a whole lot. But it is a small space to share with someone, and so when she gets here tomorrow I hope she is cool. She is from Canada, I think that’s what the lady said at any rate. So yesterday, I woke up at like 6 am (because I had gone to bed at like 830) and showered and I went to a canteen to eat breakfast. I was the only international I think there, but I had a little bit of food, which was pretty good and cheap. Finally at 9 I was able to check in and get air conditioning! Ah, amazing. But expensive. I have to try to ration it. Hopefully when my roommate gets here she can pay the next part when we run out. Anyways, boring. Sorry. So I had to ask how to get to main campus, and then I took a bus. I met Megha there, from the US so that was nice. She helped me get on my way to the buildings I had to go to. HKU campus is big, and like a jungle. Not only are there jungle-y plants everywhere, but tall buildings with random stairways and bridges and elevators and dead ends. So it was a bit confusing, to say the least, and I had to go to several buildings to do different things. Fortunately, I saw pretty much everyone from the bus to the airport! It was nice to see them, although I still didn’t have a phone at this point so keeping in touch with everyone was tricky. I also met 2 american guys when I was lost, and they helped me find my way around. They were really cool, and their hall is somewhat close so I hope I find them again. I finally met up with my buddy too, she is really really cool! She is super nice, she is an HKU local. She took me to Causeway Bay to shop for my phone and my bedding. We met up her friend and he helped me get a good deal on my phone. Causeway Bay is a famous shopping area and very crowded, it has their Times Square which has a big screen and all the neon lights. She also got me some food from the street vendors, they eat it right off the sticks (kinda like shish ka bob). It was quite good. But I feel like I will never fully find my way around, it is hard to figure out the buses (and the drivers don’t really speak English). Everything is in English though which is good, and there are lots of people who speak at least some. All the HKU students have to since classes are in English so that’s helpful. Anyways, Hong Kong is really crowded, but it is quite clean and Westernized (at least compared to Beijing). So I got back and I was pretty exhausted. All these stairs and hills, man! I am going to have calves of steel. So this morning I discovered that Irene and Silvena from Bryn Mawr had arrived! It was nice to see them, they live in my dorm too, they are 201 and 202 and I am 203, so we all even live next door, which will be convenient! I haven’t seen them since this morning since they still have to get settled in. I met up with my friend Megha and we went and opened our bank accounts, we met some more internationals there. We went to a Malay restaurant off campus for lunch. It was pretty good and cheap, lots of food. They serve tea with the meals. Then I got my Ethernet cable, and then I went to get my shampoo and toiletry stuff. I got these huge bottles, they are Herbal Essences with Chinese, it is amusing, I will take a picture. And then we headed back to the halls, and I discovered her group of halls are just across the street from my residence, really. Then I met Justin and Remco, who are Australian and Dutch. I was excited to meet an Ozzie since I have my camp friends from there! I’d seen them in the canteen earlier and so hopefully we’ll be able to eat together in the future. They took me to their room as a visitor, it was quite an intense process. Justin had to sign me in and I had to leave an ID. I guess it is kind of nice that we don’t have a front desk, I can probably sneak people in pretty easy . They are on the 14th floor, their room is pretty similar in size, although they have bigger desks. They have been around exploring a bunch, so they know their way around somewhat, which will be helpful. Tonight they are going to Lai Kwon Fong (I think I spelled it right?), the party street for internationals. I think I am going out to dinner with my buddy, she had a project due at 5 so hopefully we can go celebrate her finish! So I am pretty happy at the moment, at least. Even though I don’t have internet in my room. Sad how reliant we all are on our phones and internet. But now I have a good amount of contacts in my phone, all the internationals are friendly/desperate to make friends so that is helpful. I haven’t met many locals but Lina and her friend are really cool so that is helpful. It is a pretty fantastic city. So far. I can’t really do much until I get my HKU card, which I can’t get until they tell me to come get it through the mail. The whole registration process is kind of a pain. But since there’s nothing else I can do, I’m just gonna chill and have fun with whatever people are willing to hang.