Arrival to 香港 Hong Kong, Lingnan UniversityTuesday, August 20, 2013
The 27 hours of travel time did seem like a long time, but the excitement of coming to a new school, having new peers, meeting other exchange students, and having the time of my life was reminding me that 27 hours is not long for four months! 1) The real fun began when I arrived to Los Angeles, another student (Frankie) from the same school, Washington and Jefferson College, was already in LA waiting for me because we had the same flight to Hong Kong. Little did I know that if Frankie was not there to help me I would of still been in the US. I had no idea that there was a different terminal for just International flights, you had to go outside, go through security, and then I went to an elevator to the 5th floor to go to the One World Alliance Club. Frankie was texting me to direct me where to go, earlier in the day Frankie was completely lost and an experienced traveling Hong Kong man escorted him around the airport. His name was Rick Man, but we called him Mr. Man. He helped Frankie and invited him to the first class club where they had free refreshments/food and showers available. I felt like royalty when I showed up to this lounge area, my name was written down under Mr. Man's request and we were allowed to eat/drink whatever we wanted. We were in the lounge for about 3 hours until our flight. Once we left the lounge we got in line for a shuttle that took us to our plane. Everyone just enters the plane all at once with no group numbers which was a little chaoatic. Once we all 3 of us got on the plane it was nap time for me! 2) Plane ride to Hong Kong was a total of about 14 hours, I flew on Cathay Pacific Airlines and they had great meals, I had chicken, white rice and vegetables. There also was a good egg salad with salmon and a roll with butter. For breakfast I had eggs with spinach potatoes and salsa for flavor. I had the window seat coming in so I got a nice view from the sky arriving into Hong Kong. The best part of flying into the Hong Kong was how nice the flight attendants were, they kept checking on us and made sure everyone was happy. 3) The Hong Kong International Airport is very modern. Customs was a piece of cake to get through and getting my baggage was easy. The only difficult part was waiting patiently for the Lingnan shuttle to arrive at noon, when our flight arrived at 6:30 AM. My first purchase in Hong Kong was a glorious blueberry muffin for 20 HKD at starbucks, of course I went there because I am American haha but believe me I will have time to try different cuisine in HK. 4) Meeting some of the other Lingnan Exchange students was great, all very outgoing I met Greg, So, Joffery from France/ Joonas from Finland/ Taryn from California/ and another student from Russia! We all hit it off right away and we have a great staff helping us adjust. Overall: I've had a great experience coming into Hong Kong and only wish for more experiences. My first day here was a bit difficult and I had my moment of doubt when I was not sure if I could handle this lifestyle for 4 months but I feel better now after my nice 5 hour nap and met my amazing roommate who is from Hong Kong. I hope to become great friends with her and others in my Hostel and other native Hong Kong citizens! By the way my first meal/chinese restaurant experience was interesting. Angel (roommate) and I sat down with a random couple at their table while they were eating because the restaurant was packed. That was quite interesting to say the least, but my first meal was a noodle soup with mushrooms and spices with hot water. Later on we went to a market for a late night snack with the International group where there were live squid, fried, then you roll it on a sauce and eat off a stick! I will be posting daily, and sending out pictures of my days once I get the hang of things in HK!Great first day! Now off to bed since it is already 4:30 in the morning here! |
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