Hong Kong life and more

Hey everyone! Sorry that I didn't post a blog since the first week of school....as you might know I am a pretty busy man...hahaha

Besides from school I traveled a lot. The places I traveled are so far Macau (2 times), Shenzhen, an island from Hong Kong, and Thailand (which I am going on Thursday). I also will travel to Guangzhou next week! In today's blog I will talk about the places I visited so far and the academic life I encountered so far....

First I will start with my academic life. I really never seen so many students who are studying so much for their classes! I am really surprised! I thought I am a hard working students but compared to them I am nothing. For example my roommate (I have two roommates) he studies way too much! On some days he goes to class from 8:30am and studies until 2 o'clock in the morning. That is insane! Well for him I think he is used to this kind of "life." On the other hand I am studying a lot but not as much as him. Besides attending classes I mostly spend either my time in the library or spend the time with my friends. I really have a library life! After class I usually have a 2 hour break and go eat something and then go to the library and study or vice versa. That is pretty much my daily life on campus. My classes are getting tougher and tougher. I feel like I actually have to become like my roommate...which is defintely not what I want.

I seperate the week into two parts. The first part which is from Monday to Thursday is my academic life. The second part which is from Thursday (after my class) to Sunday is my leisure/travel/hanging out with friends life! The second part is the best part from studying abroad in Hong Kong!!! That will lead to my travel experiences.

Like I already said I have been to Macau twice. Macau as you might know is the city where you can legally gamble. There are so many casinos and hotels. It is an island off from Hong Kong and is really close from HK. I went there twice because at first I went with my brother and friends from Germany. The second time I went with my friends who I met at CUHK. Both visits were awesome!! Despite the casinos Macau is a beautiful city itself. Also Macau's bakery is very popular! I tried some of their bakery and it was delicious! I never ate such good egg tarts in my life! Of course I went to the casinos and of course I lost money...:( But besides loosing money it was a fun experience to gamble. Now I am talking about the island of Hong Kong.

I don't really remember the name of the island but it was really close to Hong Kong. The trip was a volunteering thing and I think it was 2-3 weeks ago. It was to play with kids during the (pre) Mid-Autumn festival and have mooncakes. We went to the island where the school of the kids was. What I realized on the island they don't have any vehicles...just bicycles. I thought that was pretty cool. Once we arrived on the island we went sightseeing first and then we had dinner at the school. After the dinner we played with the kids and ate mooncakes. Unfortunately on that night I got sick...and I believe the source was from the mooncakes but that is not for sure...the ironic part is that I extra paid for the trip to have mooncakes and I got sick from it! That is very unfortunate! However it was a nice day with the kids and my friends on the island! Okay the island story is over; now let me talk about Shenzhen.

Just last week I came back from Shenzhen which is only 30 minutes away from my university! Shenzhen is in Mainland China btw. The city Shenzhen is very popular (so far I heard) for massages and has a lot of theme parks. I was there for four days and had a great time there. Although I didn't buy anything I had the opportunity to eat "Mainland China's" food. I also had the opportunity to eat my native food which is Hakka(Kejia) food. It was my first time to see so many people on the streets and in the buses! I was literally shocked by that! The people from Shenzhen and Hong Kong act really differently but I won't really go into details. The massage which I had on my last day was an unforgettable experience! I think I stayed there for more than 5 hours! Although the massage was only for 90 minutes I made myself really comfortable there. They had so many stuff. I swam, went to the sauna, watched a movie, and was in a jacuzzi. It was like paradise!

Okay enough from my travel life....actually this week as I already mentioned I am going to Thailand for 4 days and the next week after that I am going to Guangzhou for three days! Hopefully I will write a blog as soon as possible! As you might realize I am quiet a busy guy now. hahaha Anyways see you guys soon!

One week of school (DONE)

Hi everyone!

It is been awhile that I posted a blog of my Hong Kong Trip....my excuse would be that I was busy throughout the time. (HEHEHE)

So school started last Monday ago...if someone would ask how the first week of mine went I would say it went pretty good. The classes that I chose are interesting and challenging; especially for Putonghua (Mandarin). I realized that I have to put A LOT of effort in Chinese Characters. That is going to be the biggest challenge of my Hong Kong studies! Understanding is not that hard for me but reading is.

Besides the Chinese class the business related classes are interesting and a little different then from the business classes at UNCG. I realized that a lot of the business classes have group projects that counts for 20-30 percent of your grade. Also they don't have 2-3 exam throughout the semester but only have one midterm and one final exam. Sometimes the final exam counts for 50 percent of your grade!

Well that is all for my blog today! I will try to keep you posted asap.... greetings from Hong Kong!

Germany - my old home

On Monday I left the States to see my brother, friends, and teachers in Germany. Surprisingly the flights to Germany were not really bad. Actually it was fairly good. Well there was one thing....I had to rush to my plane once because if I wouldn't I would probably miss the plane. HAHA

Once I arrived to Hamburg I recognized so many stuff. Although I just got saw the "exit" of the airport. My brother and one of my friends picked me up from the airport and it was really nice to see them again after 3 years. On my way to my brother's place I saw so many stuff that I still remember from 3 years ago. It was nostalgia pure!

That is all for now. I will keep yall posted what I will do in Germany and also and of course tell you what I will experience in Hong Kong. After all Hong Kong is the place I am suppose to talk about. HEHE

The journey is beginning shortly

So yesterday and today I bought the tickets to Hamburg and Hong Kong. For those who don't know yet I am actually going to visit my brother and friends in Germany before I go to Hong Kong. So first I will go to Hamburg and spend some time there. Afterwards I will go from Hamburg to Hong Kong. Because of the side stop the "ticket expense" is pretty high. Well there is always a price for enjoyment right? Anyways I feel like I am closer to my awesome adventure! =)

First Blog

Hi everyone, I am Andrew and I am a student from UNCG. I am going to study abroad in Hong Kong for the Fall 2011. Since I have never been to China nor Hong Kong before I am really excited. Via the blog I will post my latest updates of my study abroad such as news what I am going to do (eg. traveling) or upload some pictures etc. That is my first blog and I am not really sure how this works so any suggestions or tips let me know! Well since I don't have much to say now I will just leave you with this. =)