“Wow.” That is the only word I’ve been able to utter since I stepped out of the Hong Kong airport. Upon our arrival, Edward, our mentor while in Hong Kong, welcomed us with open arms! It was so refreshing to see a friendly face in an extremely new place(bars).

Before leaving the airport, Adna, Shaela and I purchased an Octopus card. This card is used to swipe in and out of train stations, ferry and buses, and you can also pay for food at most places with your octopus card. THIS CARD IS AN ESSENTIAL! It can be reloaded at 7-elevens and at stations.

From, both, the bus and the train, the views were gorgeous. The three of us couldn’t believe that this would be our homes for the next three months.

After settling down in the dorms, we headed to the Ikea in Sha Tin to buy things we would need, such as containers, pillow, etc. After a long day (or 2 days according to Hong Kong time), we headed back to the dorms to rest.

I mean, the pictures don’t do enough justice. Hong Kong is an extremely breathtaking place.

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Day 2:

Eager and excited to try new things, we headed to lunch with professor Mark Sheldon, an alumni of IWU and a 40 year professor in international studies at CUHK, at one of the school’s canteens. Here, we finally were able to try authentic cantonese food. We had Dim Sum, roasted BBQ goose, rice, rice rolls, egg rolls and more

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Afterwards, we headed to Central Hong Kong to explore the city life. It was thrilling! The CBD is such a beautiful area in Hong Kong filled with lights, street food, bakeries, milk tea places, shops, stores and beautiful skyscrapers.

Day 3

The next day, Mark invited us to the extradition protest. The HK administration are trying to pass a law that grants police officials the right to extradite fugitives to communist China. We watched as thousands of people pass us by chanting and calling for the law to not be passed.

The MTR station filled with protestors hoping to catch the next train to Central to join the march.

It was heartwarming to see so many people fighting for the same thing. Mainlanders, people who are from China, localist and many other groups put aside their differences and marched for the same cause (America should take notes). In the beginning, police officials expected there to be only 240,000 in attendance. In the end, the total number of participants was well over 1.3 million and it went down in history as one of the largest protest since the handover of Hong Kong in 1997.

Unfortunately, the protest turned into a violent one around 2:00am. Luckily, we were safe and sleeping at this time.

Day 4

Saturday was a day of relaxation and fighting off jet lag. Around 1am, we decide to head to the star ferry to witness the famous light show that happens at 8pm every night.

In the upcoming days, we hope to visit Mongkok and the night markets and try some street food. But for now, we’re settling into our internships and the fast pace life of Hong Kong.