Arrival in Hong Kong

I arrived in Hong Kong last night after a collective 20 hours on airplanes, and had a day of orientation activities, setting up bank accounts, getting ID cards, etc. First and foremost, Hong Kong is SO HOT. It is insane. And, the campus is on a giant mountain, which makes it both beautiful and incredibly exhausting to walk around.

One of the things that has surprised me the most is how little English is spoken on the campus. Many times, when I have asked for directions, the students have absolutely no idea what I am saying. An interesting habit of Chinese people that speak English is that they add the word "actually" even if they're agreeing with you. For example, I asked a girl on campus if I needed to go left to get to a building I was looking for. She responded, "Actually, yes, you will go left." Perhaps it was taught as a polite gesture for the beginning of a sentence?

A couple pictures from my first days:

My first view ever of New York City, taken from the Newark airport


Yum. On-campus canteen (student dining) My lunch consisted of a giant pile of white rice with a chopped up piece of chicken which still had the bones running through it and a bit of oily cabbage. It cost $19.5 Hong Kong Dollars, which is approximately $2.50 US. Food is VERY cheap, and a little bit sketchy.