HKUST - The First Days

It's been a full week since I've arrived at HKUST so I figured it's about time I shared the wealth.

After being met at the airport by some nice HKUST students, about 20 of us who arrived that Wednesday morning (including my good buddy Michael Ruah) boarded a coach bus and headed over to the UST. It was (and is) hot and humid, but the view was (and is) spectacular.
Located on a steep hill on the coast of Clear Water Bay, the university is afforded a panoramic view of mountainous islands and ocean from both the main buildings (which have partially open walls) and most of the dorms. We even got a beautiful beach 20 minutes away (went on Monday).

Most fun has been meeting the people. It's kinda a rewind to freshman year: anytime you see a white guy or gal (or a Chinese kid speaking perfect English) it's permissable to introduce yourself and start chatting. But this time 'round people aren't just from Nebraska, Michigan, and Texas, but also Germany, Sweden, and Spain. Meeting Europeans though does have a downside - I have proven myself to be a complete American when it comes to knowing geography (like when I was surprised that Slovakia still existed upon meeting a kid from there last night). And being Jewish can mix things up a bit too: A couple days ago, my new good friend Sebastian (from Frankfurt) noticed I was wearing my Jew-Black alliance t-shirt. Guessing (correctly) that I wasn't black, he asked hesitantly, "So, you're Jewish?" and then, "What do you think about Germans?" (Later on I got to ask what he thought of Hitler.)

Meeting local students works a bit differently. Contrary to what we expected, not only do they have a lot of trouble with English, but they also have very poor Mandarin. Still, Brian and I tend to lead off with the classic
"wu shu mei gua ren" (I am american) - at which point they start smiling

, "wu chway shwa idiar Putonghua" (I speak a little Mandarin) - Now they're sometimes impressed, sometimes laughing, sometimes confused

and "wu Putonghua shwa da boo how" (I speak Mandarin poorly) - shake their heads vigorously and give thumbs up or say "hen how, hen how" (very good, very good)

with girls we sometimes add "ni hen mei" or "ni hen pial lian" (you are very beautiful). Works every time.

As for exploring the city, so far I've been to Stanley Market and Victoria Peak, both popular tourist destinations, as well as parts of central Hong Kong (including the bars of Lan Kwai Fong), Victoria harbor, the night market, and Macao for a day (won $50 Hong Kong). Most fun though was my first Karaoke bar experience. For 3 hours we (14 students, including 4 locals) ate, drank, played, and sang. For those of you who are curious, there are embarrassing videos of me singing "pump it" and soulja boy" up on facebook. I even sung some of the Mandarin songs we played (though I can't read any Mandarin characters) and fooled several people for a good 40 seconds before they realized I was just making random "chi chai wong tu" sounds (not videoed).

Food here is amazing. Not only do I get Chinese food (which I love) every day, It's also usually been less than $3 (U.S.) per meal with surprisingly large portions. In Macao we had a "hot pot" meal, which meant that they put boiling pots (each with a spicy and clear section) around the table, and then we ordered raw food which we cooked ourselves so it was constantly hot and freshly made. And trust me, you do not want to hear which new kinds of food I tried that day.

I think that's 'nuff for now, but stay tuned for next week's post - Nech does Taiwan