7 things I've learned from 7 days in Hong Kong

Moving to Hong Kong is like entering the jungle for the first time. It's overwhelming - the deafening roar of traffic in the centre, or of freshmen shouting their hall cheers at the Uni, the sound of the summer thunderstorms unlike anything in the UK, and the feel of the heat on your skin and the humidity in your lungs, with something to see in every corner, from looking up to the blinding neon Chinese signs, and further to the tip of the skyscrapers, to down the steep hills, and across to the busy roads, the shops and the people walking around.

Shopping at Ladies Market, Mong Kok

Settling in this week has taken me everywhere from the large shiny shopping malls brimmed with top European and American designers (with western prices too) to the old streets and markets where only cantonese is spoken and I have had to overcome my timid British politeness to learn to haggle hard and ruthlessly. It feels like I've only seen a corner of Hong Kong as I've begun to explore this wonderful city with new friends from across the world, and I absolutely love it here already - I'm so excited for the coming year.

But for now, I present seven things I've learned from my first seven days in HK:


1. Air-con is my new best friend. As I was checking into my room on Sunday, another exchange student came to reception to ask for an air-con smartcard and how to top it up. Then the receptionist said the words no Hong Konger ever wants to hear, let alone two Europeans who believe 17c in the definition of summer, "You can only buy air-con from the office. Office open on Monday". We both exchanged looks of horror as we realised the impeding trauma. 90%+ humidity at night, 30c, no air-con. It is as bad as it sounds. I felt like a lobster (and was as red as one too) in a saucepan of boiling water. TIL: air-con is even more important than WiFi.

2. 'Everyone speaks English in HK' is wrong. Especially when you need it most, like in taxis or on buses (and don't think that street names are the same in English and Cantonese either!). On my first afternoon in HK, I made the mistake of catching a little green minibus to go shopping. Only after I was on the bus did I realise it doesn't have stop buttons.....you have to shout at the driver....in Cantonese.
I sat petrified as I tried to decode what the locals were saying at each stop, and panicking over getting the tones wrong and saying something silly instead of "Stop here", I was lucky enough that my bus terminated where I was going. Now I've found where the regular buses go and I'm going to stick with them for a while...

Not until I've mastered Cantonese...

3. 2D maps are useless. Take my first visit to campus, for instance. Trying to get to the other end of campus, the map showed a simple journey - straight, left at this building, right then straight ahead. That would be fine, if the paths I was following weren't on different layers of the campus. I walked until I hit a dead end. Then realised I needed to climb several flights of stairs to carry on walking the "same" path on the map.
As confusing as this layered city is for foreign little me to navigate, it's incredibly efficient and useful. Traffic on the roads rarely stop for pedestrian crossings helping ease the number of cars driving around this small dense city, and bridges and elevated walkways allow pedestrians to have plenty of space, freely cross the roads and be free from the noise and heat of the traffic.

"Lower University Street" - which is not so low after all

4. Hall spirit is taken seriously. Kudos to the local students at my hall - you either go hard or go home. This week they have been having their orientation, which involves several early morning wake-up songs played over the PA system (very much to my frustration), shouting the hall cheers for hours out in the heat, and doing group activities until 5am! Their orientation has finished now, and I'm beginning to see more of my floormates (or "Villagers") but they must be pretty busy - our first floor meeting has been arranged for 11pm so everyone can make it.

5. The views are incredible. Never have I visited a city in which skyscrapers seem to grow from dense. It seems that wherever you are in Hong Kong, you will never have a view without the green mountains or the blue sea. The view from my 14th floor bedroom overlooks Pok Fu Lam cemetery but I still have beautiful mountains towering beside us, and I can see Belcher Bay (on the edge of Victoria Harbour) and the boats sailing through in the distance. I'm still jealous of those on the sea-view side of the building though.
Of course, the best part is the rooftops parties we've had in the evenings. It's the only place in the halls where you're allowed to drink alcohol and with the humidity increasing as the evening wears on, it's the perfect place to get a bit of sea breeze and cool down and relax. And the nighttime view of Hong Kong's firefly-like army of lights in just as beautiful as the daytime.

Room with a view

6. Being a vegetarian is difficult. For my first authentic meal (Shamefully, I gave in and got pizza at IKEA on my first night), I headed to our accommodation's on-site restaurant, 'Bayview'. I ordered a veggie sounding dish only to find when I got it that it had mince mixed into it, and the soup also had lumps of meat. So my excitement dimmed as I ate my bowl of plain boiled rice and the reality that I shouldn't be so surprised it's difficult being a vegetarian in China sunk in. Go ahead, roll your eyes at me.

Not as veggie as it sounded...

7. Nights out are very expensive or very cheap (but only if you're a lady). First night out we headed to a Karaoke bar in Kowloon. But with the cheapest beer at $52 (£4) we quickly headed over to infamous Lan Kwai Fong to an awesome little Brew House, where beer was only slightly cheaper.
Yet only a few days later I discovered a much cheaper way to go out - "Ladies Night". Somehow, for some reason, this means free drinks all night for the ladies. A large group from the Sassoon Road residences all headed out together and we had an awesome night of free drinks, meeting new people and dancing.

Very thankful the microphone wasn't passed to me!

Some risks aren't worth taking. Including Chocolate beer. 

And so that concludes my thoughts on surviving my first week on the other side of the world. Classes start this week and so I am sure there is more fun to be had (minus the classes), especially as we have Mid-Autumn Festival this weekend.