We arrived at Hong Kong International Airport on Sunday 6 July, 2008 at midday. The flight had been a bit choppy but when we circled over the city for our final approach before landing, goosebumps began forming on my arms and neck as I glanced down at this sprawling city that would soon be my home for the next 3 years.. This was going to be an excitement packed 4 days.
HKIA is the most modern airport in the world and the largest hub in Asia. My knowledge of the airport had learned by writing a school report about it one year earlier. I wanted to make sure I would see all the terminal conveniences that I had written about in my report. After deplaning, we first got on the moving walkway, which would take us to the nearest automated people mover station. As we moved through the terminal, I was fascinated by the many shops and facilities that were available throughout. The driver less people mover dropped us off with our luggage at the main taxi stand.
The long taxi ride that took us to our hotel in the Wanchai District of Hong Kong Island passed through many highways and byways with all kinds of unique sites. We saw the ferryboats as they cruised through the harbor and the helicopters as they whirled through the sky above. There were the double-decker gloopgloop trolleys and buses plying their way along the hustle bustle city streets. There were cars and bicycles and trains and people. I never saw such a crowd of people before, not even at home in Beijing. This was going to be an exciting place to live!
At last we arrived at our home for the next few days, the Wesley Hotel. After settling in our room, we went to the lobby for our evening meal. We also stopped by the Tour Desk to arrange for a sightseeing tour of Hong Kong the next day. My interview at the University of Hong Kong would be on Tuesday so we wanted to spend Monday sightseeing. It had been a long event filled exciting day! I slept like a log that night.
At 5:00 AM pigeons cooing outside our window awakened me. I went to the window and was amazed by the crawling traffic already in motion below at this early hour. Not being able to get back to sleep, I switched on my laptop and checked for any emails. There was one from my friend and classmate Sue, who wanted to know everything about Hong Kong and of course the daily correspondence from Grampy. He asked about my flight and told me that he went to the baseball game on Sunday. The Nationals lost! I clicked to My Journal and entered my daily updates and then waited in silence until my parents woke at 7:00 AM
After a fine breakfast of fruit and croutons with tea we gathered our cameras and headed for the Tour Desk. Tina was to be our tour guide for the day. Although she was 22, she appeared to be much younger and my parents were concerned that someone so young could adequately show us the sites of Hong Kong. Tina was very friendly and her and I hit it off from the onset. Little did I know that I was making a friend for life.
Tina warned us that it would take a month to adequately tour all of the outstanding sites in Hong Kong but that she would give us a good tour in just one day. She showed us brochures of the many sites and asked if we had any preferences. My parents told her that they would rely on her judgement. Throughout the day we visited many places including The Peak, Stanley Market, the Wetlands Delight tour and many others. One of my favorites was Hong Kong Disneyland where we saw Main Street USA, Fantasyland, Adventureland and Tomorrowland. I got big hugs from Minnie and Mickey Mouse!
That evening Tina joined us for dinner at Hong Kong's world famous Jumbo Floating Restaurant. They served a gourmet's delight with a nine course meal. As we enjoyed our meal, Tina told us about her life. Her father had wanted her to become an English teacher he had been so that is what she studied in college. After teaching for one year in Qingdao China, she got the opportunity to transfer to a school in Hong Kong. She had always dreamt of working in a big hotel where she could meet people from all over the world. When summer vacation started she was able to get this part time job at the Wesley Hotel as a tour guide. She had lived in Hong Kong for two years now and she start telling us the differences between life in Mainland China and Hong Kong. For one thing the economy was better. As only a young teacher she was able to afford a much better apartment here than she had in Qingdao. She also said that many of the people of Hong Kong didn't like many of the people from Mainland China. What she liked best about Hong Kong were the many nice stores from all over the world and the better opportunity to talk with people from all over the world. She invited us to have dinner the next day at her apartment in Discovery Bay after our interview with the university. We would get to her place by riding the Star Ferry, another new adventure.
The University of Hong Kong was considered the best in China for the study of Journalism. We arrived at the campus at 9:00 AM for our interview at 10:00. First we strolled around the campus, admiring the many beautiful buildings and gardens. At 10 o'clock sharp we were at the office of the Dean of Women Students. We were chaperoned into a small conference room with a large table and six very comfortable chairs. Soon 3 school officials entered the room and bade us all to sit across the table from them. I was very nervous and concerned that things would not go well. First Mr. Chang introduced himself as the Assistant Registrar and he introduced Miss Gloria Dinsa at the Assistant Women's Dormitory Director and Mr. Wong as the Special Financial Officer.
Mr., Chang did most of the talking. First he asked me why I wanted to be a Journalist, why I wanted to go to the University of Hong Kong and what I would take as a minor course of study. My answers evidently satisfied him be cause he responded to each answer with a short "That's fine." Next Miss Dinsa start talking to me in perfect English. She told me of things that I could expect in the dormitory including that I since I was pursuing English as a minor course of study, I would be housed in a special dormitory that required all students to speak English at all times. Mr. Wong talked mainly to my parents, asking them about their financial standing and how they would pay the high cost of attending UHK. At the end of the interview, Mr. Chang gave a document to my father and a copy to me. It was my acceptance to attend UHK and the conditions set forth. I would receive a 50 % Scholarship grant from the Journalists Alumni Association, which would continue as long as I maintained a B Grade Point Average. I would receive a 25 % Scholarship grant from the Scholastic Scholarship fund based on my good grades in high school and my high UEE results. My parents would be required to pay only 25 % of the Tuition and Dormitory costs. This was a total surprise to us and we thanked them for their kindness. Following the interview, Miss Dinsa took us on a tour of the dormitory and the student union where we had lunch. While there, I bought several UHK shirts and a school beret.
Tina had said that if we got away from the interview early, we should call her at her apartment. When we did, he asked if we would like to go shopping at the famous XXX Department Store Complex, which was located close to our hotel. We agreed to meet her at the hotel in one hour and we would go shopping before dinner.
Wowie! Beijing has many large and beautiful department stores but nothing that compared to the XXX. Very fine merchandise was available from all the top stores in the world. We shopped for over 2 hours and I was in total awe the whole while. Later we took a taxi to the Star Ferry pier and then the Ferry to Discovery Bay to go to Tina's apartment.
Tina's apartment was beautiful. She lived on the 14th floor of a twenty-story high rise building. It was within easy walking distance to the nearby beach and many nice shops for food and clothing. The view outside her window was of the skyline of Hong Kong, and there was a swimming pool on the 5th floor and a gymnasium with all sorts of exercise equipment. This all came with the price of the apartment. This was luxury living, Chinese style!
Tina served us a very delicious dinner and afterward we watched a documentary on her 100 sq. cm Plasma TV. Then she continued to tell us about her life. (To be Continued)
When it was time for us to return to our hotel, I hugged Tina as a true friend and told her I hoped we would be able to get together once in a while when I returned for collage. She assured me we would. Tina would eventually become another life long friend and confidant.