HONG KONG AGOG
Hello from Hong Kong! I've had a whirlwind first few days here in Hong Kong, but I've managed to take a good number of pictures (see photo journal) and get acquainted with the metropolis I will call home for the next 10 weeks. The city is absolutely amazing - larger and more dense than I could have ever imagined. We spend the first few days getting settled and sightseeing, before yesterday's kick-off for our design collaborative. It promises to be an absolutely invaluable experience not soon to be forgotten!
First thing you should know about Hong Kong is that it is HOT. The second thing you should know is that it is HUMID. Try 100% humidity. Add to that, we're catching the tail-end of typhoon season, which means it downpours for about 18 hours a day. In fact, it rained 30 out of 31 days in May. Luckily, the typhoons are settling down, but for the first few days it made for nighttime electrical storms like you've never
seen!Getting around the city is relatively managable. The city has a strong "western" influence, and so just about everything is written in Chinese and English. English is mandatory in schools, which makes communicating much easier, although I have been making an effort to learn some Cantonese. The transportation systems are extrelmely efficient, clean, and well designed - probably the best in the world, I'm told. So far I've ventured around Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, and future excursions to the outlying islands and mainland China are in the works.
Hong Kong Polytechnic has arranged housing in the Student Residence, which is buzzing with international residents during the summer. I share a room with Evan Wadsworth, another DAAP designer, and we get along quite well. For the first few days the American and Dutch designers were able to spend some time exploring the city and getting to know each other, and so we've become very close. The Korean and Swedish designers arrived recently, and they seem nice also. Of course, our Hong Kong hosts are very gracious and helpful.
I'll try to narrate the first few days events through the captions in the photo journal. Check back recently...more to come!
