By Kathleen
We’re finally in Hong Kong! We’ve been eagerly waiting for this moment since the beginning of Spring 2016 semester and now that the time has come, it feels incredible.
Getting to Hong Kong, however, felt like forever.
Most students departed from the states earlier to get a feel of the country or to visit relatives. I traveled with Emily, Lina and Frankie from SFO as we planned to arrive in Hong Kong on the first day of the program. We had a layover in Haneda-Tokyo International Airport for 10 hours after flying for a little over 10 hours across the Pacific. The layover itself was an experience. I tried to make myself sleep but ended up taking an hour-long nap and continued to be restless (I was excited!). So instead of trying to force myself to sleep, I took some pictures of an empty terminal.
The sun started to rise around 3:30AM in Tokyo and it was already high up in the sky an hour later. This happened in-between that time.
After the longest 10 hours of just staying in the terminal and never wandering too far from our gate, we finally boarded on to the plane to HK. It was a slow start and we experienced several turbulences during the flight due to the thunderstorms around the area, which also meant our arrival got delayed by an hour late. Stepping out of the plane, I already felt the humidity seeping through the walkway. Here’s one thing that popped in my mind as well after I stepped out of the plane: why does walking from the plane to immigration always feel like the longest power-walking trip? Immigration lines were packed but moved efficiently with airport workers directing people to make the wait almost non-existent. Then some of us had to reclaim our luggage. Everything seemed to go in order, until we had to figure out how to get to the PolyU Residence Halls. Several classmates and Professor Mauldin offered tips and suggestions through WhatsApp on how to get to the dorms. Taxi, bus, or train? So many options and all of them seemed confusing. Where was the bus stop? Do we just hail a taxi? What about the possibilities of different fees? The four of us met up with another classmate, Brenda, and we decided to take the train and then take free airport shuttle that would stop a few minutes away for walking distance from the residency halls. Thinking about it now, I don’t know why we contemplated so much about deciding which form of transportation to take.
It was exhilarating to sit in a fast-paced train (that’s much quieter and has lesser stops than BART) and see parts of Hong Kong before our eyes. The big hills were lush with different shades of green and light fog barely settled above them. High-rise buildings were paralleled along each other and each unit had at least one window AC unit sticking out, which I found to be a common theme and a blessing in Hong Kong. Some parts, like this picture below, reminded me of the port of Oakland because of its “dinosaur” cranes and had stacks upon stacks of freight containers as well as a bridge just a little further on that also reminded me of the Bay Bridge.
From airport to residence halls
Even riding on the shuttle bus was very different for us because no car on the road (not even the bus itself!) would stop and wait for the car in front of it to move. They would be centimeters away and they would both still move together. It’s incredible how there weren’t any small car accidents.
Finally, we had to walk to the residency halls. We got a little bit lost and confused with the directions but we finally made it after asking for help by different people (a tour guide at a kiosk, a guard post in one of the dorms, and a PolyU student) and after sweating so much because the humidity here is no joke.
We settled into our assigned dorms and met up for dinner. During dinner, we shared our experiences getting to Hong Kong and discussed about the book we had to read before coming here, Hong Kong Nights. As a class, we haven’t met each other since our last in-class meeting several weeks ago and finally seeing each other again in Hong Kong feels really good.
FLP Group in residence hall dining room
To end our first night in Hong Kong together as a class, we ventured to Ladies Market, a bargaining market that goes on for three to four blocks. There were shops lined around this narrow and crowded market, along with karaoke and dancing happening in the next street over. It was bustling and what more perfect way to be exposed to Hong Kong culture on the first night.
Mong Kok
Ladies at the Ladies Market in Mong Kok
Dr. Mauldin showed some of her students and Alaric an awesome deal she got at the market – cute pop-up cards!
First day of FLP Hong Kong was a success and I feel like the rest of this experience will be heartfelt and without a doubt an eye-opener for all of us.