Dragon Fruit

I have a new obsession while in Hong Kong. The fruit is called Dragon Fruit and it tastes a little bit like a Kiwi but less sour and slightly sweeter. It is a delightful morning snack and tastes really good when it is cold! Yummmmmm

(The inside kind of looks like someone really pale that hasn't shaved their leg lately... lucky I don't think of this while I am eating it but I thought I would share my observation)

In other news I visited Clear Water Bay Beach yesterday and it was really beautiful! To my dismay I discovered that Hong Kong has a past of large numbers of shark attacks which was the most depressing piece of information I had heard in quite some time! Luckily, they put up nets in the water and when you are swimming you swim within the nets. Since the installation of the "Shark Nets" in 1995 there have been no reported shark attacks within the parameters of the nets...Whew, I can sleep at night!

Home away from home

I think it is safe to say that I am am finally settled in here at HKUST. Last night I finally got some good sleep, 8 1/2 hours to be exact, and I didn't wake up at all through the night (this is a big deal). On Friday I had orientation and met all of the other international exchange students that are also business students. There are 198 of us! The orientation was extremely useful but I am a little worried about how hard the classes are going to be. I think it will be a very good experience I just hope it does not crush my GPA! They use a complete curve scale here, so the top 10% get A's, next 15% get B's and so on. The problem is that all of the Asians are so darn smart that you could get like a 95% on a test and get a B or a C depending on how the other students perform... oh boy!. I have to keep in mind though that I am taking Marketing classes which is my major and the subject I really enjoy! If I work hard during the week I know I will do just fine. Just being among the caliber or students here is an honor, many of the Business exchange students from the USA are from UPenn and Boston College, needless to say I think I am among some of the brightest students!

After orientation I opened up a bank account so that I can withdraw money for the next 4 months while avoiding fees from by bank in the US. This will really add up over time. Friday night I went to downtown Hong Kong with some friends to Lang Kwai Fong which is the main club area of Hong Kong. There are so many awesome clubs and we had a blast all night and got home around 4:30. It is really nice that public transportation is very inexpensive here so we were able to take a taxi to and from the club for 200HK which is about 30 dollars! We can put 5 people in each cab so we only paid 6 dollars per person round trip! We also have to option to take the MTR which is their metro system and is very easy to use. I used it yesterday alone for the first time and didn't get lost! yay!

Saturday was my favorite day so far! All 198 Business exchange students met with their buddies for brunch at the University and then we all headed to Hong Kong by Charter buses. Every time I hang out with my Buddy Joyce, I like her more and more (I am not sure if I mentioned this but since it is an exchange program, she will be coming to OSU to study from January to June, this way I will be her buddy when she comes to the states and can help her just as she did me). We have already talked about what we want to do when she comes to the states and she is getting really excited.

We started out our trip by going to Stanley market. Everyone split up and had 4 hours to get lunch and shop at the market. We ate a traditional Hong Kong lunch and I liked everything! Even the weird pickled onion specialty that Joyce describes as having a "special taste" that I would not like haha. Regardless of what she said I told her I wanted to try it, and what do you know I ate like 4 more. The main specialty at the restaurant was a Hong Kong dumpling so we tried many variations.

Here is a picture of the group dining for lunch, everyone with their buddy.

I am starting to get better with my chopsticks and although on campus they offer forks I refuse to use them!
Also, when the waitress poured me tea, I responded mh-goi which means thank you in Cantonese, but Joyce informed me that there is a hand motion that means thank you when they pour your tea. Here it is (you just tap your middle finger by your cup).There were beautiful views from Stanley Market and it reminded me a bit of the South of France. This picture is of my friend Jona, Sonny, Joyce and Me. (Sonny is also a local student and when I said he was cute, he told me "no one has ever called me cute before" haha)

I bought an original painting at Stanley market for 500Hk which is 65 American dollars. It is an original oil based painting from a local artist and is absolutely beautiful. It is 3 X 4 and I imagine it will inspire an entire room of for decoration someday when have my own place. I wanted to wait and maybe come back another time, but I kept going back to it and fell in love the first time I saw it, and for only 65 dollars I couldn't pass it up because in the states it would have been like 1000!

After Stanley Market shopping and eating we got back on the bus and went to Victoria Peak, which has a beautiful view of Hong Kong. Victoria Peak is the view of Hong Kong saw when looking into going there, and helped make the decision for me that I had to go! I can not wait to go again at night sometime too!

This is turning into the longest blog ever and I must go, I am heading to a local beach today with some friends to enjoy the last day before our classes start (although tomorrow I only have one class and it is at 3:30pm).

The Hong of the Kong...

So yesterday was awesome! As you all saw from my previous post I could not sleep at all the night before but I was determined to stay awake all day and that I did! I went for a walk early in the morning and got a few of the necessities taken care of around campus. Jona, one of the girls I have been getting to know invited me to lunch with a big group of international students. Everyone is was so nice and just as I was about to go to Lunch 2 guys I had met the previous day, Alex from NYU and Stian from Norway, came up to me and asked if I wanted to go to Hong Kong for the day. I didn't have any definite plans for the day and quickly accepted. Amy, one of the girls I met from Canada came with us too and we stayed in Hong Kong all day- from 1:00 until about 11:00pm.

We meandered around the main island and just looked at all of the shops and absolutely enormous buildings, the biggest being the IFC (International Financial Center).

After lots of time just standing in aw at how enormous everything was, we took a fairy across Victoria Bay to Kowloon. At Kowloon we had an even better view of the city because we were looking at all of Hong Kong from across the water so we could see it all. We walked around and saw the Chinese equivalent to the "Hollywood Stars". I only knew Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan... This picture of me was also taken from Kowloon and you can see just a small portion of the Hong Kong skyline that seems to stretch for miles.

We bought tickets for the Symphony of Lights Harbor Cruise which was amazing. We went out at 7:00 on a night fairy and saw all of the beautiful buildings lit up. Then, they put on about a 30 minute light show that included light beams and lasers from the tops of the skyscrapers. I tried to take a few pictures of the beautiful views but it is so hard to get them to take, especially on a fairy when you are moving.

This picture was taken right at dusk. We sat for about an hour outside with the awesome breeze and just watched the city transform into it's famous night views.This was the travel crew: me. Alex, Stian (pronounced Stee-on) and Amy

(fun fact: Amy is from Canada and ice skated for Disney on Ice around the world for 3 years)

I got home around midnight was exhausted to say the least! I went to bed immediately but when my roommate came back at 4:00am from her night out I couldn't get back to sleep. I tossed and turned for about an hour but at 5 I decided to get up and go for a run. What a great choice- I saw the sun rise over the mountains and the bay... it was gorgeous!

I'm becoming nocturnal

So... it is 4:45 am and I am still awake, if that gives you any idea of how I am adjusting to the time change. I woke up at 6 this morning and took an afternoon nap which probably wasn't the best idea. I have decided no matter how tired I get throughout the day tomorrow NO NAPPAGE because I do not want a repeat of tonight.

Today (technically yesterday) I got a lot of the necessities taken care of during the morning and i discovered... wait for it....a Starbucks! Thank the heavens I can now truly call this place home! Many more of the international students have arrived now so I won't be meandering around along, but it was good for me to walk around and get my bearings and the campus views are awesome (see below):

This is the view from the main atrium which includes academic buildings and the library.

Joyce and I took a walk along the coast line where the track, tennis courts and pools are! Another shot from along the coast... it is hard to capture the beauty in a photograph (of the background that is haha)

In the evening my buddy, Joyce, picked me up and we went to the mall and I got a cellphone. I will mostly use it for local calls and many of the other international students have one too so we can call one another. After cellphone shopping we ate dinner at a Japanese sushi restaurant. You sat around a bar-like table and all of the food was on a conveyor belt and if you wanted it you just picked it up and kept track of your plates to know how much it cost.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am open to try just about anything when it comes to food, and that i did my friends. I tried fish eggs (and not just a taste, an entire mouthful because with chopsticks you don't really have a choice!), octopus (i got all of it down but the head which I had to spit out in my napkin because of the texture) and raw salmon. I liked all but the octopus and was glad I tried it.... but also felt relief when it was over and my stomach could rest. I am working at the chopsticks and getting a bit better but mostly I just poke things and hope it stays on the end haha. We followed our Japanese experience with a nice local desert place and i tried a local favorite: fresh mango, coconut milk and tapioca. It was really good and I was really happy Joyce took the time to show me around, i really enjoy her.

When I got back to UST I planned to just unpack and relax but I met a girl down the hall named Jona-pronounced yona-and she invited me out the the bar on campus so i went. It was filled with lots of international students and it was great to finally meet some other students in the same boat as me: new and excited to meet new people. We stayed at the bar for a short while and then all headed down to the beach and sat and talked. I ended up coming back around 12 because i wanted to get some sleep although that has not yet happened! It is a bit after 5 now and I think I will try to get some sleep again!

I miss you all and post comments so I know if you are reading this or if I am doing it for my own good!

Address in Hong Kong

Just in case anyone wants to send me something in Hong Kong this is the address (hint hint, nudge nudge)

Sarah Barga
Room 734
Undergraduate Hall 1
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Clear Water Bay, Kowloon
Hong Kong

Honey I'm Home... my home for 4 months that is!

Ahhhh... 4 flights, 3 layovers, 12 timezones, one disgusting weird raw fish for dinner and a mere 4 hours of combined sleeping on all flights.. I am here! I am in the computer lab and over my left shoulder I can see a combination of rolling mountains, islands and the ocean! The only way to describe the view is breathtaking... or maybe that is just the altitude haha! I have not yet gotten my internet set up in my room so until then I am using the library. As soon as I have internet in my room i will give all the details and include pictures from the trip so far!

My "buddy" Joyce picked me up at the airport and i got to HKUST at 2:00am. My roomate had already arrived and i felt horrible for waking her. Her name is Fatma (it's ok to laugh i did too). She is from Frankfurt, Germany and has great English. She seems really cool and i am sure we will get along great. She already agreed to teach me some German throughout the trip which will be fun and I am excited to learn more about her.

The campus has just about anything you could ever want and it is great to have everything so close. Right now I am busy figuring out my way around and getting everything from bank cards to classes taken care of. I have orientation on friday but until then I will just be meeting new people and hopefully exploring Hong Kong with Joyce tomorrow (she is born and raised in Hong Kong and told me she would show me all the best places to shop- bad news).

I am definitely a bit jet lag which is to be expected, but I am dealing with it really well. I woke up at 6:00 this morning on my own which never happens so I know something is a bit off haha. It was great though I went for a walk outside, wrote in my journal and read the newspaper... I am becoming an old woman already.

I can't wait to fill you all in on the excitement as in unfolds and look for many much more exciting blogs to come once I settle in and can upload photos!

I miss you all and hope everything is stellar on the other side of the world!

Sarah

Teaser...

Welcome to HKUST (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology). This is where I will be spending the next 118 days! This picture has been a constant reminder to me of how blessed I am to get to go on this trip and it looks absolutely beautiful! I am participating in a Buddy program while I am at HKUST and it is really funny because my Buddy's name is Li Pui Yan but she goes by Joyce.... yeah I don't get it either. She offered to pick me up from the airport in Hong Kong and said, "I will wait for you in a black shirt and jeans." I am sure getting to Hong Kong and picking out the Asian wearing a black shirt and jeans will be really easy! haha (I think I am going to have her hold a sign that says my last name like they do in the movies.....)





The next time I write I will be 12 time zones ahead and hopefully settling in with my roommate at HKUST. I have not heard who my roommate is yet so I am assuming I will not know until after I arrive. I requested to live with another international student, but put preference with someone not from the USA. I didn't want to go to school in Hong Kong and room with someone from OSU, I think this will be a much better option for me.





I leave Sunday morning to go to Los Angeles and will be spending one night with Jake! He is picking me up at the airport and we are having some quick Sisterly/Brotherly bonding before he takes me to the airport Monday morning. It is crazy, I leave Monday morning and do not arrive in HK until 10:00 the following night, given the time difference and layover in Tokyo.





This is the first scenic view I want to see when I get to Hong Kong:

I am told it is really romantic at night (good thing I am going to be admiring it with Joyce haha). It looks absolutely amazing though and I am really looking forward to seeing it at night!

You've come to the right spot....

If you are looking for Sarah's blogspot that is. I thought this would be a great way for me to keep up with family and friends while I am in Hong Kong, and a blogspot allows me to do much more than email would, so here I am. I leave in exactly 2 weeks and although I am completely stoked, I am also a bit nervous as it nears closer. A continent I have never been to with no one I have ever met is a little scary but I am up for the challenge. I will keep it short and sweet for now but expect very frequent updates once I make it to Hong Kong! Until then stay safe everyone and I love you all!