Reflecting upon new perspectives
I can't believe I left home almost one month ago! I've been having so much fun exploring, eating, meeting new people, and gaining new perspectives. Already, by talking to people from different countries and hearing the perspectives of my global professors, I feel that I'm beginning to develop a new understanding of where I come from. For the first time, I've been able to look at the United States and Hawaii from an outside perspective and be able to make comparisons. I've recently had a lot of complaints about the United States and I'm starting to realize that I should be a little more thankful to be a US citizen. There are many reasons I am envious of Hong Kong life, but I'm learning so much of how lucky I am to have my life back home.

Eating lots of cheap, delicious Cantonese cuisine
The cheapest meals in the area are usually Cantonese cuisine -- which I love! Usually goes for 30-50 HKD ($3.90-$6.50 USD). Foreign cuisine is also very delicious and there are many AMAZING restaurants, but it get's a little more expensive. I've tried a few and will try more, but I'm getting spoiled to the cheap prices and usually go for Canto cuisine.

*Interesting Discovery: In these restaurants, they don't give iced water or napkins. Some places will give you hot water or tea, and lukewarm water if you ask for iced water. Many will just say no if you ask for iced water. They also won't refill your glasses unless you call for them and ask. When I asked a local, he told me hot water is preferred for most and it's normal for people to bring their own tissues or napkins. I carry my own now :)

Here are some of the meals I've had and loved in this price range: (Side note: There's no tipping culture here, so eating out is great ;))

Exploring Hong Kong's Nightlife
The city doesn't sleep here. Ladies Night happens on Wednesdays and Thursdays which allows the ladies completely free drinks (usually vodka or sparkling wine) all night long. The most popular areas are Lan Kwai Fong (LKF for short) and Wan Chai on these nights. 

LKF is also most popular on the weekends and everything seems to be open into the early hours of the morning. My favorite thing about this area is there are so many hidden places! Getting to know a few local people to introduce the spots is very helpful. Each time I go, we discover new hidden places that I never would even think exist. We have met lots of people from all over the world here too.

Oh, and studying of course!

***This post has been edited as of 9/18/2017 due to course changes. Here's what my schedule will be this semester:

CHIN 9402: Chinese as a Foreign Language II (Mandarin)
STRA 3706: China's Business Environment
BUSI 3810: Legal and Ethical Environment of Global Business
GCIN 2020: New Media and Social Media

The registration process here at HKU is nothing like what I'm used to back home. I listed my course preferences on my application for admission and found out about 2 weeks before class started that I was only approved for 2 out of 4 of those preferences, both of which I'm no longer taking. Upon receiving this notification, we weren't able to make any schedule changes until the week before classes started. I enrolled in courses that I wanted and had the prerequisites for but for some unknown reason, many of them got disapproved -- a total of ten (!) to be exact. Many of my friends also got strange disapprovals for unidentified reasons. 

Anyway, I'm really happy and excited with the courses I stumbled upon! I'm mostly excited that most of these courses are not available at my home university and will help me learn about Hong Kong, China, and the globe!

It's very true that you can't judge a place without actually being there. My first glimpse of Hong Kong was better than expected.

Arriving
Because of Typhoon Hato (warning signal 10!) that hit Hong Kong on Wednesday, August 23, my flight (among many) was canceled. My 1-night layover in Seoul turned out to be 3 nights! Typhoons are very common in the Hong Kong area during the summer and early fall months. When the warning signal is 8 or above, many schools and places of work shut down; however, this is still a regular occurrence for the locals and with some patience and good fortune, I was able to make it here safely. 

As I exited the airport, I just followed the signs that said "Taxi", showed the helper the address of my flat, and was directed into a car. It was very simple and the University also suggested this method of transportation upon your arrival. Most taxis aren't as decorative as mine was (pictured above), but the ride was simple and stress-free.

Settling
Upon checking into my off-campus flat (the HK term for apartment), I met another exchange student from Amsterdam. Together, we figured out a few of the first few important elements of settling in:

1. Get a SIM card for your smartphone. There's no US service here, and I don't recommend making any calls/SMS texts anyway as international rates are expensive. Just get a HK sim card and use the data to message your friends and family through online applications like FaceBook messenger, LINE, Skype, or email. You can buy them at the airport or any 7-11 and mine was 80 HKD (10.40 USD) for a 5-day card. These are refillable, however, I've heard that you can get a 30-day card at China Mobile for not much more money. That's what I will probably do next.

2. Figure out the MTR. The Hong Kong MTR is the metro underground system for the city. It's very easy to figure it out -- just download the MTR smartphone application. Thanks to our new SIM cards^, we were able to access the app, find our way to IKEA, and get all we needed for our first night in our rooms! 

3. Don't expect too much out of your accommodations. Hong Kong is experiencing a housing shortage which is a socioeconomic problem that you'll feel directly from your room. Small living spaces are also just the way it is here, even compared to Hawaii where everything is also small and expensive. My room is roughly 7 x 10 feet (I kid you not) and consists of a bunk bed and two desks. My room is so small that our closets are in the living room and we're unable to walk into our room with our desk chairs at our desks. So, we also put those in the living room. Not all rooms are this bad and it's really not a big deal to me anyway :)