Sunday, April 17th
I thought I should write one more blog before I leave to Beijing. The past few weeks have been very strenuous with all the presentations and stuff. All in all, I have been doing very good grade wise here. I received perfect scores on my Business-to-Business presentation as well as my Global Marketing presentation. For the mid term in business to business I received the 2nd highest grade in the class but with the perfect score (which was the only one given) I am pretty sure I am top in the class. Representing America! As for the other classes I positive I have an A in each one except for the entrepreneurship class (we had a group project which received a B on, in fact everyone in the class received the exact same grade, so I am curious about what the teacher was thinking)
As a last little trip before we leave for Beijing (tomorrow) we decided to go on a hike this weekend. We were certainly not prepared because we did not bring nearly enough water or any food because we thought it was going to be an easy trail, although it was difficult, it was a lot of fun.
The hike comprised of us walking to a series of waterfalls called, Ng Tung Chai Falls. We didn't know that it was a hike to the very top of a mountain though a path that only consisted of a bunch of jagged rocks that was only about 3 feet wide with a steep drop the whole way down. After hiking up to two smaller waterfalls we finally made it to the top.
April 4th
We started the week off nicely by celebrating our friends (Laura) birthday. They took a couple of us to a really nice restaurant, even though it was price pretty well for where it was located. The place was called The Backyard. It was a rooftop restaurant attached to the Langham Place Hotel. This place even used ipads for the menus so that’s something. Then on Wed. we had another interesting item on our agenda. It was the Soon Hall Singing Contest. It was composed of many of the locals on the 14th floor but also was made up of us foreigners (Chris, Greg, Ricardo and I). This was actually the first time foreigners had ever participated in the singing contest. The song that we had to learn was called Xiao Xiao Xiaoniao (or small small small bird), which we added our own moves to. This song is basically about when you feel like a small bird trapped in a cage and all you want to do is be free. All of the moves we made to go with the song were learned the night before and most other teams put weeks of practice some over a month. The funny thing was we ended up winning the contest for best floor.
During the weekend we ended up going hiking and camping to enjoy one of the last weekends we had before all the projects and presentations were due. So early on Saturday morning we left to get to the Sai Kung Peninsula where we would hike to our camping destination at Tai Wan beach. After half way to the beach there was a point in the path that split up, one way was another 45 minute walk on a paved path and the other was a 4 hour hike over the top of the highest mountain in the area.
Needless to say I had a lot of thing in my book bag and I was in no mood to walk another 4 hours. So as most of us took the 45 min trail we learned that it was a bit longer. Since the girls needed to stop so much (no offense but with all the stops it added another 30 min easy to our time) it was kind of funny because Bjorn (one of our friends that was leading us to the spot) kept saying just 10 more mins, 30 minutes later we hear, just 10 more minutes. Finally we get to the beach and go to a small village to pick up some tents and other supplies. It felt great to sit on the beach and relax in such a beautiful area. As it got darker we made a large fire and all sat around it eating and drinking. Needless to say to was a long but fun night.
When I woke up there was only about four others awake. It was amazing to wake up and look out of the tent and you’re right on the sand next the ocean. To start my day I went for a swim in the ocean, which was cold but felt great since it was really warm out. After the swim we decided to go up to the village and rent a few surfboards since Ryan (the Australian) knows how to surf and was going to teach us. After getting the boards we decided to start trying to surf but it took awhile to learn, not to mention the waves were not that great. After spending a lot of time in the water and the fact that most had left already, we decided to pack our things and head back.
For this hike we took a different path that one of the girls said was fast and easy, however she was wrong and it ended up being pretty grueling. We seemed to always be climbing up and since the sun was out in full force it was extremely hot. Eventually we made it to the bus station at the end of the trail (had to wait for a few busses because the Chinese do not believe in lines, they will get in front of you even if you have been standing there before they came) and made it home after a few bus rides and of course, the MTR.
With so much school working coming up we will see when my next post is. Talk to you soon
March 27th
Since the last post a few more things have happened. On March 17th it was the Germans birthday (Chris) so the floor got him a cake and threw him a surprise party in the lounge. The surprise came while Chris was taking a nap, all the guys in the floor rushed into his room and picked him up and carried him out and into the lounge (that’s a strange way to be woken up). After the Happy Birthday song we ate the chocolate cake with chopsticks(that’s a first) in a first come first serve manner haha. After the party we went to a local restaurant called Mr. Wong’s. Mr. Wong like us because we go they’re so often and he gives us a great deal, all you can eat and all you can drink (beer) for $40HK, which is around $5 USD. After a few hours of eating and drinking and having a blast we went to an Irish Pub since it was St. Patrick’s Day, We stayed there for a while but not to long as it was a Thursday.
Last week Clay, Greg and I went to the most famous tailor in Hong Kong (Sam's Tailor) to get suits and shirts for our trip to Beijing. This guy has made suits for everyone, from Bill Clinton and George Bush to Pavarotti, Michael Jackson, Bruce Willis, Price Henry and Prince William, and many more. Since I love suits, this was like heaven to me.
I also cooked for the floor, since there was over 20 people I made spaghetti and meatballs from scratch. Although it took hours to make it turned out great.
This weekend was Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, which is a huge deal in Hong Kong. People from all over the world were out drinking in their crazy costumes. It was very interesting to see how serious people took it.
Another weekend, Senny, Clay, Greg, and I went to a very interesting place. It was called Noah's Arc. I was an amusement park/zoo/museum based off of, you guessed it Noah's Arc. We took a ferry to get there but I was actually very interesting and one of those things you can say you've been to. Since our semester is half over we are doing some more site seeing. I'll keep you posted
Peak Tram March 13
with school and midterms going on, blogging hasn’t been my top concern but I will fill you in on what’s been happening. Friday night a lot of exchange students went on the peak tram in central to go up to Victoria Peak. It’s the highest point in Hong Kong. We went there at the begging of our semester here but this is the first time we went at night. We stayed there for a while and got some food at a Thai restaurant. After, we went to Billy Boozer to relax for our trip the next day.
On Saturday a small group of us exchange students went to Peng Chau Island. Its a small village about 45 min from the harbor. We walked around for a while and climbed some rocks to get better views. While some continued to climb the rocks the rest of use went up to the tallest point of the island called finger hill, which had a very impressive view of the whole island. It was truly a nice day for this because it was a clear warm day so it made it just that much better
Also I was involved in the hall sports. I was the goalkeeper for the team which was split up, team A and Team B, since we hade so many people. It was a great game however we lost in goal shoot out since we had tied in the match 2-2. Although we lost it was a blast. I also bought my plan ticket to Beijing with Greg and Clay as well as the other BG students. I’m really excited for this trip, Great Wall and the Forbidden City.
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