My life at CUHK

I have now been following this summer school for two weeks, which means that there is only one week left... So, this will probably be my last blog post.

These past two weeks have been pretty intense. Every weekday I have class from 9u30 to 16u30, which by itself might leave enough time for activities, but that doesn't account for the homework and the time spent studying the new material. Indeed, the usual activity after class is reviewing the new words, expressions and grammar of the day and preparing for the next day of class. Other than that, I also do a lot of sports, mostly going to the gym or going jogging outside. On an average day, I unfortunately do not have the time to go into Hong Kong city. 

For lunch, me and my classmates always eat at one of the 2 canteens close to our college. It's just a 5 minute walk to get there. The food is cheap and actually not too bad, although nothing compared to the delicious food you can find in the city. Dinner can conveniently be taken in the canteen at the lowest floor of my dorm building. Walking to and from the elevator is the only form of transport needed to get a decent meal.

So, what do I do in the weekends? Well, every saturday there is an organized activity. The first saturday, we all went to the main touristic spots in Hong Kong, such as Victoria Peak, the Avenue of Stars and Stanley. The second activity was a daytrip to Macao, the gambling paradise and ex-Portuguese colony just across the Western bay. And finally, last saturday I went to Lantau Island, which is a big island in to the southwest of Hong Kong island. It is famous for its hiking trails and for the Big Buddha statue. These trips have always been fun, but I still feel like seeing some other parts of the city by myself. Because of that, I went to explore areas such as Mong Kok, Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway Bay. Hopefully, next week I will have the time to see some less famous parts of Hong Kong. 

But... Next friday the summer school concludes with an exam. What else could I expect?
The exam is supposedly pretty tough, so I will need to prepare accordingly. Looks like this last week is going to be tense. But after that, I will enjoy a genuinely relaxing holiday at home for a week. :)

To my family members reading this: see you soon! 

The nearly as famous view on Victoria Bay from the Avenue of Stars.

The famous view on Hong Kong Central district from Victoria Peak.

Mong Kok (Kowloon) street view.

Casual lunch at the school canteen.

Me in Macao. On the background is the impressive, but hideous building of the Grand Lisboa casino.

Group picture in Macao.

Dinner party for Nanami's birthday. This picture was taken way too soon. ;)

Group picture in Macao, The Venice casino. They made the place look like the actual Venice, complete with a fake blue sky and everything. Yes, this place is indoors.

好好学习，天天向上。 Everyone is studying in the common study room. We come everyday during lunch break.

The Big Buddha on Lantau Island.

My Campus!

I have arrived at the Chinese University of Hong Kong for the Summer School programme. Here I will study Chinese (Mandarin) for three weeks. The campus is stunningly beautiful. The whole area is built on a hill, with buildings scattered through the forested hillsides. The campus is a city in the city. Everything you need to survive, such as a supermarket, canteens and even a hairdresser, you can find within the campus. A few pictures can illustrate this...

My dorm room. Nice and spacious.

My roommate: Ming Pan. He is a Cantonese native who lives in Sydney.

This is the view from our dorm room.

Here we are taking a tour around the campus. Note: very sweaty.

The main campus, with fancy entrance.

Yes, there is even a swimming pool.

The gym at my hostel. I just have to take the elevator down 7 stories to get there. Time to start working out again!

Fully equipped washing room.

Bathroom on the 6th floor.

On the orientation day, those who wanted to had the opportunity to take a test to determine their level in Chinese. Because I felt my Chinese had improved a lot since I first came to China, I took the test. According to the teacher, my speaking is good enough for the level 2 class, but my reading and writing is only at the of the level 1 - upper class. That makes sense, since I have only been practicing Chinese through speaking with locals. My reading and writing did not improve by a lot. With this feedback, she offered me the choice. I could start in the lower class and go up one level if I felt that I could handle it, or I could start in the higher class and drop a level if it were to hard. I chose to start in the higher class. Tomorrow I'll find out if I can handle it!


P.S.: The weather in Hong Kong is not very pleasant. It is too damn hot and humid here for me. I am pretty much permanently sweating while I'm outside. Good thing there is AC everywhere.

A little bit like heaven on earth.

As I had been recommended to me by both locals and other travelers, I visited the county of Hualien (花莲) in the east of Taiwan. After a good first experience with couch surfing with Kenneth in Taipei, I decided to look for a host in Hualien. Through couchsurfing.com I got in touch with Dylan. He is an extremely nice guy, who takes a very active role as a host. Not only did he offer me a place to stay for the night, but he also accompanied me to see many places in the county, such as the Taroko Gorge. He also invited me to join him and his friends to the night market and to a personal birthday party. Then there's so many other things he helped me with, too many to write about... So Dylan, if you're reading this... Thank you so much! And to the other people reading this, I can gladly recommend you try couch surfing, be it as a host or as a guest. You will find that it will bring you unforgettable experiences that you otherwise would never have had.

Strike a pose.

My turn.

My host Dylan on the right with his best friend Harung on the left.

Coming to Hualien has made me understand why Taiwan used to be known in the West as Isla Formosa (beautiful island). Hualien boasts both impressive mountain ranges and beautiful subtropical beaches. Below, you will find pictures of the famous Taroko Gorge national park and of a relatively unknown, but picturesque beach.

Taroko Gorge. Unfortunately, this picture fails to capture the magnitude of this breathtaking scenery.

One of the numerous hiking trails in the Taroko Gorge national park.

Like paradise.

Random picture of the landscape alongside the road from Hualien City to Wanrong. Compare this to your daily commutation.

At last, time for some swimming. :)

At the night market, Dylan and his friends performed a little dancing show. It was based on the Taroko aboriginal dance, but with a little bit more modern movements added to it. I first helped by taking pictures and filming the whole event, but after a while I was already dancing with them on stage. :p It was a very fun and sociable experience.

Picture of the dancing performance. Will add a video later.

The Taroko aboriginals after their dancing show. On the left is Dylan, my couch surfing host.

I had planned to see a little bit more of the country, but I enjoyed my time in Hualien so much that I decided to stay here until the end of my stay in Taiwan. The 6th of august, I will leave for Hong Kong, where part three of this exciting journey will start: the summer school. There might not be so much to write about, since I will stay in one place for a while, but I will try to upload stories of the more interesting things I will do there.