My Short-Term Abroad: Florence, Italy

On 1/1/16, I packed and boarded a 7-hr flight to Milan, Italy via Alitalia. I didn't know what to think of this trip. I was excited, yet also nervous since I had so little time to prep for it. Compared to my first experience abroad, I was more worried for this one. Last time I traveled on my own, I had my aunt, a native, who was able to bring my around the city. This time, I would not have anyone, and there would be a language barrier. I also had anxieties because I will be living with two friends in an Airbnb apartment.

No matter how many times I travel, I think there will be some sense of culture shock. Our first encounter occurred the moment we landed. My friends and I couldn't find any signs that would guide us to public transportation. We were lost and helpless. These feelings did not mix well with the group dynamic as we all became frustrated. However, we finally agreed on following a traveler who seemed to know where he was going. 

One of our biggest achievements from our first day in Italy was figuring out the train system and navigating from Milan to Florence. Although we were delayed and tired, we made it safely to our apartment.

 Our meal on the plane - it wasn't that bad compared to others that I've had in the past.

A short clip of our apartment for the next three weeks.

We've settled in successfully on the first day. Went to the supermarket, Conad, around the corner to pick up some essentials.

Lasts

12/11/14 

I had returned from Singapore right before revision week, and I have to say, it was a break I desperately needed. November was a relaxing month overall aside from final papers and group projects. (There are wayyyy too many group projects, and they definitely tested my time-management skills.) 

Recap of Singapore: 

My friends from Taiwan and I had stayed there for 3 days and 2 night. With other exchange friends from the U.S., I finally had a home-cooked meal on thanksgiving! It was really sweet of them to prepare a full 3-course meal. Singapore, overall, is a pretty nice and clean place. Everything, architecture-wise, was designed with a purpose. Before I boarded the plane, I made sure to look up laws that Singapore had. (One included banning of chewing gum being sold in supermarkets!) All the laws and regulations were strict with large fines, but they made Singapore that much safer. It wasn't dangerous for us to walk around on the streets in the middle of the night because there wouldn't be anyone bothering us. 

I lived in a hostel for the first time in my life, and it definitely changed my perspective of hostels. In the past, I always thought they were sketchy, and rundown living quarters. However, the one I had lived in was very safe. Because of its location, food was easily accessible. Unfortunately, spending was similar to that of the States. Now that I've been in HK for several months, I've gotten used to no tips/ tax or at the maximum, 10% tips. However, everything I ate/bought in Singapore had tips and tax. T-T This is definitely something I'll have to get used to once I'm back in the states. Before then, I'll be enjoying tax-free meals! ^_^ 

Even since I got back from Singapore, I've been working away on final papers / studying for exams. Accounting was definitely challenging, but fair. The exam was held in the gym, along with 2 other examinations. There were probably 600 students in the same room for 3 hrs- WOW. I have one more exam in the gym. Maybe I'll be able to snap a photo then. 

For the past few days, I've been catching myself thinking of "Lasts". ie. the last time I'll eat at ____ , or the last time i'll see my classmates, my last class at CityU, etc. When exchange first began, I thought 4 months was a REALLY long time. Especially when I had culture shock during my first month.  Now that I think back to my plane ride from NYC to HK, it feels like it just happened yesterday. 

Now, with 7 days left in HK, (still can't believe it) I really have to be adventurous and do all the tourist-y things before leaving HKG! 

Next Stop: Seoul, Korea 

An Open-mind

11.24.14 // 1:14PM

This week is the last week of classes, and a time to reflect on this past semester. Now that I think about it, I'm glad that I chose to study abroad. It has been one of the most life-changing experiences thus far. When I'm in New York, I fall into a constant pattern because I'm so comfortable with my surroundings. However, in HK (a very foreign place), I find myself growing up a bit more. I'm learning to take risks, being comfortable with getting lost everywhere I go, and being more open-minded about everything. In the past, I stayed in my comfort zone because that's where I wasn't shy. I find myself more outgoing now that I have to reach out to people if I didn't want to get lost.

On another note, since people don't celebrate Thanksgiving here, Christmas decorations are up earlier than what I'm used to. Christmas decorations are EVERYWHERE, especially in malls. They're all SOOOO pretty. Although I'm still wearing T-Shirts and Jeans (feels nothing like winter), the decorations are AMAZING. Very glamorous and Christmas-y, for lack of a better term. I recently went to Tsim Sha Tsui where they put up Christmas decorations near the harbor every year. 

Here are some photos:

There's still so much of HK that I haven't explored, but hopefully I'll still be able to visit those places during finals week. 

Places/ Activities: 

Hong Kong Museum of History

Disneyland*** 

SOGO/ Times Square (Malls)

Restaurants

Quick Update

11/01/14 10:21AM

I can't believe I've already spent over 2 months in HK. Time sure does fly~. Midterm season was quite relaxing for the first time in my college career cuz I only had 1. However, multiple late nights were spent on projects and reports. Now that THAT'S over, I'm glad that I can finally relax and continue to plan trips.

Possible trips:
Singapore 11/27-11/30
Korea 12/19-12/23
Japan 12/24-12/30
Taipei/ Taiwan 12/30-1/2 or 1/5

I'll have to try to fit Beijing and Shanghai somewhere in the 2 months I have left before my return flight. At the moment, my return flight is 1/7 but I can't decide whether I want to extend my stay to 1/22. #struggles

Recently, I've also been looking for more plays and musicals to watch. This is one of my new hobbies after I watched a pretty good musical in Taipei. I had just watched a musical last night, as well, called The Common Cold. It's interesting to see the different styles of plays that each city offers. The one in Taipei was more fun/chickflick-like, whereas the ones offered in HK are more relatable. The Common Cold portrays a city that is infected by a sickness, with "loneliness" as its root cause. They try to create a utopia in hopes of curing this sickness. It was interesting to watch each character develop within this world. Needless to say, I am on the hunt for more plays/musicals to attend.

11/01/14 11:06AM

Taiwan Withdrawals

10.14.14 // 3:41AM

My sleeping cycle has been wayyy off recently. I find myself falling asleep at 5am and having to wake up at 10AM. I'm beginning to miss the days when I first arrived in HK and would fall asleep at 10PM to wake up at 5AM because of jetlag.

Sleeping schedule aside, I miss Taiwan a LOT! It has only been a day since I've been back from my 5-day trip to Taipei, and I'm already missing how convenient everything was. The walk to the closest convenient store would be about 5 minutes, and I'd be able to grab a quick breakfast before starting my day. 7/11's in HK are very different. The most I can probably find would be a quick bun and drink. For two nights, my friend and I visited night markets full of snacks and yummy food such as grilled pork, sushi, etc. We tried a variety of Taiwanese specialties. Next to these markets would be small boutiques that sold clothing for an affordable price. Places like ShiLin (an area in Taipei) felt like heaven. :D

The craziest thing I did during this trip would be attending an outdoors music festival for over five hours whilst it was raining. Don't think I'll ever try that again, but it was definitely worth the experience.

On my second to last day in Taipei, friends and I visited this area in Taiwan where we were able to release Sky Lanterns. It is believed that the wishes we write on these lanterns will come true when we release them into the sky. Not sure how environmental-friendly this is, but it was fun! Each layer/color of the lantern represented different wishes. For example, white stood for success, while purple represented good grades.

I really hope I can go back to Taiwan one last time before heading back to the States. This weekend was truly relaxing and fun. 

3:58AM // Insomniac

Occupy Central

10.01.14 // 1:55AM

Today marks the 4th day of Occupy Central. This protest officially started on Sunday, Sept 28. In the past month, there have been students who would advertise the protest around school in hopes of gaining more supporters. However, I hadn't realized at the time that there were actually participants in the event until this Sunday. Many local students are skipping classes as part of their protest, and bringing resources such as water, masks, umbrellas to protest locations. On Monday, classrooms were practically half-empty, signs regarding the protest could be seen everywhere on campus, and people were giving out yellow ribbons (representing support for democracy). Although I haven't been to protest locations (Central, Admiralty, and Mongkok), I'm surprised by the unity amongst Hong Kong people. Many people are helping each other out during the protest to ensure no one gets hurt. It was truly heart-breaking to hear that policemen would throw tear gas at their own citizens. Many protestors were caught by surprise. Because of the violence sprouting from a non-violent movement, Occupy Central has increased in support.

On the other hand, I've also been keeping up with China's reaction to this movement. When attempting to search for "Occupy Central" through China's popular search engine - Baidu, I've realized that all news regarding this event have been blocked. Furthermore, the government has voiced that they fully support what policemen have done so far to maintain order in Hong Kong.

The main issue behind Occupy Central is that Hong Kong people wish to elect their own chief executives under the Special Administrative Region. The current system is China's central government assigning candidates to Hong Kong, between which Hong Kong people will vote for their chief executive. Because Hong Kongers believe they deserve to select their own pool of candidates, they resulted to this non-violent protest.

It's unfortunate that an agreement had not been reached before citizens were harmed. One can only hope that no one else will get hurt from this movement.

// 2:10AM

Innocence is Bliss

09.24.14 // 2:20AM

It's been ages since I've blogged. From the time since I last posted til now, I've met a lot more people who have made my experience here more enjoyable. I spend a lot of time with C. and B. whether it be exploring new food places in HK, meeting new people together on the campus lawn, or talking about our career prospects (???). I'm glad that I've met them because they are some of the most down-to-earth and genuinely caring people I know here. 

Recently, I've also met a few local students who are fun to talk to. It's always interesting to listen to their point of view, and how they see certain issues. At the same time, they're always curious about the "American" POV, and how we might handle a situation. Although we grew up in different environments, whether it be SF, NYC or HK, I'm beginning to see that there are still certain parts of our backgrounds that make us similar people. At one point, we spent 3 hours discussing our similarities and differences, and how we would react in certain situations. (This was from 12AM to 3AM).

I've been wanting to travel to various tourist attractions- such as Ocean Park (I went on a day where there were thunderstorms T-T), Victoria Peak, famous dessert place (I searched all over but most locations are under construction), and…DISNEYLAND ^_^. One of my lifetime goals is to travel to every Disneyland location: Florida, California, Japan, France, and HK. Honestly, one of my biggest goals in life is to be able to travel to different cities around the world, and really understand others' backgrounds. If the city I'm at happen to have a Disneyland, that would make the journey even more magical! :D

It's been a month since I've been to HK. Throughout this time, I've learned a lot about how others survive, or experiences they've had to go through. There are moments when I feel like my parents have really kept me inside a bubble. They've given me a life where I'm well-protected and worry-free. Even though there are moments when I might complain about little problems in life, I've finally realized that my issues are nothing compared to the harsh reality that some people I've met had to face. I had a conversation with my uncle who lives in ShenZhen. He said that there are people (in China) who are taught at a young age to be quick-witted, cautious, mature, or even coy at times. This isn't because they want to, but because in order to survive, they have to outwit those who may try to harm them. Finally, he said that the children he has met in the States are more innocent and carefree. Because of this, they have genuine smiles and laughs. When he said that, I began to tear up. To me, innocence is bliss, and for some children to not experience that, is almost painful to hear.

So… on that note… here are some pictures I've taken throughout the month.

I LOVE this quote!

Replica of Old Hong Kong Streets

 09.24.14 // 2:50AM