Again, it happens where time has passed and that I have a lot to catch up on! Semester at Sea had finally voyaged its way to my part of the world and it was honestly one of the greatest days being able to spend time with friends from Bucknell. I definitely had a sense of pride being able to show them around my stomping grounds, and, to me, it was an achievement when they asked how come more people don't decide to go abroad to Hong Kong. SAS was docked in port for less than 24 hours, but we accomplished seeing and going to more places than Blake and I did in days when he came to visit.

After a long hiatus, I am FINALLY back... I am now at least the fourth in my program to fall victim to laptop technical difficulties, and dealing with these troubles overseas is a PAIN. I'm quite certain that insurance is pretty useless, and the jury is still out on if it actually covers anything at all. Either way, the last three weeks has essentially been a computer detox, but I'm glad to be reconnected once again!

I've been talking a lot about random isolated events that have happened, and haven't gone into too much detail about what every day looks like. And, therefore, here is a photo journey of my morning trip to school:

Oh, my apartment building in lovely Monkok, Tai Kok Tsui. Fun fact of the entry: The name Monkok is pronounced "wong gok" in Cantonese, which translates to "prosperous corner." According to the Guinness Book of Records this area actually has the highest population density in the world (average 130,000 people per square km). Take that, New Jersey!

Happy belated Valentines Day! We had a lovely day of combat in the New Territories
of northern Hong Kong.

I had never heard of airsoft until about a week ago when the boys came back to the apartment building with airsoft pistols and a grand idea. Airsoft is basically a combat sport where players strike each other with pellets shot from air-compressed guns (in my opinion, the pain is comparable, but a little more painful than being hit by a paintball). From my understanding, the guys elected captains and underwent an elaborate team draft, thus producing Team Alpha and Team Bravo.

If you were wondering, as I had myself, if Chinese people can differentiate between those born in mainland and those born in the good U S of A... They can. Just yesterday, I had a particularly satisfying moment when I overheard the end of a conversation between two men in Cantonese about five feet away:

"She's definitely from America." - Man 1
"I bet she can't speak or understand Chinese." - Man 2
"I can hear you, and I do speak Chinese." - Me (in Cantonese)

Booyah.

So much has already happened in this first week! I'm currently in a packing frenzy (I DID mention in my last entry how I have a strong dislike for packing...) to leave in an hour for the airport, so will be a quick entry. Hong Kong has been amazing, and here are a few highlights so far (and the view from the terrace from my family's apartment):

... I'll be studying in Hong Kong this spring, in case you were wondering. Surprisingly in the past week alone, it seems that a majority of all the adults I've talked to have been to HK (including the shoe salesman from Nordstrom today!) and had nothing but great things to say. The general consensus is that: the food, shopping and nightlife are great; the city is colored neon with lights and is just a very interesting (and crowded) place. I'm definitely excited, but it's pretty surreal that I leave on Friday.