Days One and Two

Now I'm awake... So yesterday a few of us got cell phones, ethernet cords and various other one time purchse items. We were mainly in Kowloon, one of the three main areas that comprise Hong Kong SAR.

One of my experiences that was on the shadier side of things was when a guy I walked past started saying "watch" and "Rolex, Rolex" to me. I said, "Sure" but then he proceeded to lead us through to the end of the store and out to the alley way behind the store. After following for a bit we decided that our lives and belongings were more important than a Rolex knock off. I think we made the right decision.

The last place we visited on Tuesday was an area called Festival Walk, basically an enormous mall. This mall was the biggest mall I have ever seen in my life. There were about 7-8 floors, and so many escalators and stairs, etc. As one of my friends, Alex, put it, "It kind of feels like Harry Potter, where all the stairs go every which way and you never know where or which floor you're going to end up on." Crazy... And the kinds of shops and stores there, were extremely upscale: Armani Exchange, and a gazillion more I barely knew how to pronounce. There were hair stylists that would charge about USD $100-200!

After going to a grocery store called 'Taste', we trekked home on the bus, exhausted. I basically ate, blogged, emailed, and went to bed at 11:30 or mid-morning in the States.

I was fortunately able to sleep straight through from then until 6:45-7 and fell back to sleep 'til 8ish. Today was our first day of International Student Orientation. There are exchange students from Asia, Europe, US, and Australia primarily, 184 in all. First, there was an information session and then we went on a walking tour of the campus. The facilities seem to be decent and they have an incredible 9-lane track. You know I was lovin' that! The campus is pretty vertical with a few very tall buildings.

On the tour I met a girl, Christine, from Denmark and a guy, David, from Switzerland, near Zurich. David is a snowboarder and is studying Business Information Systems at a technology school in northwest Switzerland.

After lunch we'll be having our pictures taken for our Student IDs...