School work...and rain.

It's been a few days since you've heard from me. Nothing too exciting has happened...that's why. I've gotten much more focused on my studies. When I worked full time and attended classes part time, it was really difficult to fully dedicate myself to school. Now that I'm doing this exchange program and taking a break from working, I promised myself I would put much more effort into my classes. So that's what I've been doing the last couple of days. I've been reading like mad and researching economics concepts because I've forgotten them all.

It has also been raining constantly. Wednesday and Thursday, it rained non-stop. Friday, it rained intermittently.  All this rain made me realize I need a new umbrella...a bigger one. Everyone is carrying around the big, Mary Poppins-style umbrellas, which I have at home. Aunt Nancy gave me it for Christmas, but I didn't bring it because it was a pain to pack. Doh! Some have asked me about the weather. Well, April in Hong Kong is pretty mild (22C/72F). The humidity is still at a reasonable level, but supposedly in May, June, July, it is unbearable. I'll have to do a comparison of HK humidity to DC humidity. In April, it does rain quite a bit though. Today, however the clouds finally cleared and the sun showed itself.

Below is picture of a pretty typical day in Hong Kong in April...overcast in the morning. Usually, it clears up toward the afternoon. It's actually pretty similar to San Diego's morning marine layer.

Justin

1 Buddha, 2 Buddha, 3 Buddha...

Today is Ryan's last day in Hong Kong. We got some lunch and then went in search of Temple of the 10,000 Buddhas. The temple is located in Sha Tin, which is part of the New Territories of Hong Kong. Why are they called New Territories? Because they became part of Hong Kong in 1899 instead of 1841...so not really that new. We had to take the MTR (subway) to a rail line. Hong Kong honestly has one of the best public transportation systems I've ever seen. The stations are clean, the trains are on time and you can get pretty much anywhere. Other cities need to learn from Hong Kong's mass transit system. Once we finally arrived to Sha Tin, we found the entrance of the 10,000 Buddhas. You have to walk up this really steep path, which is lined with dozens of life-sized golden statues of Buddha's followers. It was drizzling the whole time. Because it was a Tuesday afternoon, there was no one around. At the top of the steep hill lined with gold statues, there are several temples and pavilions, filled with Buddha statues. There is also a simple vegetarian restaurant at the top as well, where we had some spring rolls, Japanese noodles and tea. In actuality, there are more than 10,000 Buddhas in the entire complex, but who's counting. I've included a bunch of pictures below. Honestly, the pictures don't do the temple justice. If you ever have a chance to visit Hong Kong, add this little excursion to your must-see list.

Justin

Nice ending to a full day.

For some reason, I couldn't sleep at all last night. Ryan and I purposely went to bed around 11 pm so I could get up at 6:30 am for my class feeling rested. I was so tired, but I just couldn't stay asleep. I don't normally have problems sleeping, evident by all the naps I take (the Zielke way). On second thought, maybe that means I have problems sleeping. Regardless, I got up feeling tired and headed off to school.

After class, I had lunch with a few of my classmates, Jo, Susanne and Kriya, at the restaurant on campus. Jo is from the LA and went to University of Southern California for her MBA. Kriya is from South Africa and studied at the University of Cape Town for her MBA. Susanne is from Norway and is a full time MBA student at HKUST. The on-campus restaurant serves dim sum (a Hong Kong staple food) and it was pretty good, although the service was a bit frazzled. What amazed me was how cheap the food was. Compared to the restaurants in Central HK, my portion of the bill was only about $6 US dollars. I need to start eating on campus whenever I'm there in order to save money.

After lunch, I had some errands to run on campus. I didn't get a proper tour when I first arrived so I didn't know where anything was. First, I went in search of a photobooth that could take passport pictures for a mainland travel China visa. After wandering for at least a half hour, I found the photobooth. Of course, it was out of order, but now I know where it is. I also picked up my Econ course-packet in the MBA office and went to the IT center because my computer wouldn't connect to the wi-fi network. Luckily, after some troubleshooting, they were able to fix the issue. From my wandering, I also learned there are a ton of amenities on campus, including a large cafeteria, a student co-op, a McDonalds, a pool and even a grocery store. 

Late in the afternoon, I headed home. It had rained when I was at school and resumed raining again once I reached home. Perfect weather for a nap. Ryan and I slept for about an hour, then made dinner. We went with Italian and made rigatoni noodles with green peppers and small Asian mushrooms, all in a marinara sauce. The food was good considering my kitchen is pretty limited. The rain finally stopped so Ryan and I decided to go for a walk. We weaved in and out of the SoHo and Mid-levels neighborhoods, basically doing a big loop. The weather was cool and very few people were out. It was refreshing to see and one of my favorite experiences so far.

Justin

Frustrating class schedule change.

Today, we got up really late because we didn't get in until 5 am. I know, bad Justin. I woke up both tired and with a splitting headache. Luckily, I got to talk to Aaron on Skype for a bit. It was good to talk to see him in my hung over state, but I was only cheered up for a moment. Midway through our Skype session, I received some bad news from the Masters Program Office at the University of Maryland. The class that I thoroughly enjoyed, Politics and Socioeconomic Environment in China, which is on Wednesday evenings in Central with all the other exchange students, will not transfer back to UMD. The course is pass/fail and for this reason, UMD will not accept it. This means I need to drop the class and take a different class or I'll be one class short of graduating. The deadline to add/drop is Monday.

On such short notice, I had to pick up a Saturday class, which had already been approved by UMD. This threw off my whole schedule though. Instead of classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, I now have a class on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. As you can imagine, I was thoroughly pissed off. This limits my ability to travel throughout the semester unless I skip classes. It also means that I have to go to main campus (which takes an hour by train/bus) for all three classes. In the grand scheme, this change to my schedule isn't a big deal, but it really threw me off. I am pretty easy going unless I have something set in my head and you try to change it. Then, I get really pissy. Also, this sudden changed is paired with being tired and hung over- my coping skills are definitely lacking right now. Tomorrow, I'll be okay, but right now, it's best to stay out of my way.

The Saturday class started at 2:30 pm so I zoomed off to main campus. Luckily, I made it to my new class just in time. The class is called Rational/Irrational Thinking in Management. It involves a lot of psychological theory, which ties in nicely in nicely with my undergraduated degree in psychology. The class ended up being really interesting but it I still would have preferred my old schedule.

Justin

Go To Big Buddha

This morning, Ryan and I got up and took the ferry from Hong Kong Island to Lantau Island. We met up with Ryan's aunt (Lerma), who now lives on Lantau Island, but has lived in Hong Kong for over 20 years. Aunt Lerma is quite a character - energetic, full of spirit and talkative. All the personality traits I love in a person. The three of us took a 40-minute bus ride up to see the Big Buddha, called Tian Tan. It is the largest seated bronze Buddha in the world. It was so neat to see the Buddha, surrounded by fog. It was very tranquil...except for all the tourists. I've included a few pictures below.

After eating our free ice cream (which was part of the admission price) and browsing through the souveniar shops, we took the bus back to Lerma's house. We were able to meet Lerma's soon-to-be-husband and see how local Hong Kongers really live. Ryan and Lerma were able to catch up and I was able to hear all about Ryan's family and living in the Philipines. It made me really want to visit the Philippines with a local...especially Ryan and Aunt Lerma. After finishing a bottle of wine, we took a taxi back to Mui Wo and ate at a small Turkish restaurant. I had the falafel, which was authentic and amazingly good. After finishing our meals and saying our goodbyes, Ryand I took the ferry back to Hong Kong island. Overall, it was a fun excursion and thanks to Aunt Lerma for showing us around.

PS...Ryan and Aunt Lerma gave me a Filipino nickname. It is "Budoy", which means young brother.

Justin

Getting busier. And Ryan comes to visit.

It's been awhile since my last post because it's been a busy week. Wednesday, I had my two other classes, China in the Global Economy and Political and Socioeconomic Environment in China. Both were really interesting, especially the latter, which basically discussed history and politics of China. After class, a couple of the other exchange students and I went out to a bar in Wan Chai. Back in the old days, Wan Chai housed all the strip clubs and brothels. Now, they have been replaced by bars and restaurants, however, there are still a few bars of the darker variety there. Not surprisingly, I ended up drinking too much and cabbing home well past midnight. Luckily, I don't have class on Thursdays.

On Thursday, I spent most of the day cleaning my apartment and getting ready for Ryan to come to visit. Ryan and I met in San Diego about 6 years ago when he was a traveling nurse. He bounced from city to city, but now resides in San Francisco. He works in pediatrics at Lucille Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University. He also grew up the in the Phillapines, but his family moved to Chicago when he was 10. I was really excited for Ryan to come visit so we could explore Hong Kong together. Plus, he's a great houseguest.

I picked up Ryan at the airport and we took the train back to Central Hong Kong. We went out for dinner in the SoHo area (which is close to my apt). The weather was warmer so we sat at a table which allowed us to watch all the people passing by. Hong Kong is so multicultural so the people-watching is fantastic. After pizza and calimari, we headed back to my apartment and discovered there is a bar on the second floor of my building. I had no clue! Keep in mind, I'm using the term "bar" loosely. Picture an apartment, which someone converted into a bar. It was definitely not a legal drinking establishment. The place was small and all of the patrons were local. Most were smoking, drinking and playing darts. And the best part...to get in, you have to ring the doorbell to enter. After having a cheap drink at my new study spot (j/k), we ventured out to a club. The music at the club was good, but it was empty. That didn't stop us from befriending the only other people at the club. It was a group of americans from San Francisco who all worked at Gap, Inc. They were in Hong Kong to meet with their suppliers. The picture below is of me, Ryan and our new Gap friend, Kimmie.

Justin

First Day of School

Classes started today. It was a bit of a rush getting out this morning. Today's class was at 9 am on the main campus, which is located far outside the city (similar to how College Park is far from downtown DC) In total, it takes about an hour away by subway, then bus. Also, I hadn't been to campus yet so I had planned to get up early. Of course, I got up late. I made it to school in good time, but finding the classroom was difficult. There are a series of lifts (elevators) placed all over campus and they are all numbered. The goal is to find the correct lift number, which will take you to the correct floor and the correct classroom. I'm not sure who designed the school this way, but hopefully they are no longer designing buildings. I did make it to the correct classroom only five minutes after class had started, but I would have preferred to be early.  Below are a couple of pictures of the HKUST. I couldn't get a good picture of the main circle so I pulled one from the internet. The latter is a picture of the school's overlook of Clearwater Bay.

This morning's class is called Applied Strategic Thinking. It is taught by Chris Doran, a professional with 15 years experience in applied strategic thinking, particularly for major multinational companies. Specifically, the course will teach how to think strategically and will provide plenty of opportunities to apply what we've learned in a team environment. So far, the course was pretty interesting. I'll some good tidbits when they come along.

Justin