We all made it together for our first official day in Hong Kong! Feeling slightly jet lagged from arriving late the night before, we met for breakfast to greet each other and prep for our first day of exploration.  But first let me take you through the journey of my day.

It was a rainy morning, with deep rumblings of thunder off in the distance. After taking a refreshing shower and getting dressed, I walked outside to the outside balcony off of the “Executive Suite”. I instantly started sweating. The air was thick, hot and muggy which reminds me of Alabama’s weather, where I often visit my mom’s side of the family.

After my morning stretch and trying to fully awaken, my roomie Wei and I headed downstairs for breakfast to meet up with the rest of the crew. Happy to see everyone, we dove into breakfast and made plans for the first full day.

That’s all the time we have for now. Stay tuned and find out if Kellie ever finds a camera charger, if Andrew gets lost, and if we ever get to have smoothies.

To be continued…

Update 9/3/2015

I’m going through to add to this post, post trip to talk a little bit more about my experiences on all of the tours that we’ve had. Thinking back to this post a couple weeks ago, and thinking about all that was going on is still a little bit difficult for me to fully process. Honestly I don’t think it will be until I get back into the swing of life and school back here, will I really start to unpack my experience. Arriving just the night before on little sleep from the exhaustive plan ride, the firm mattress in our rooms were very welcoming. I arrived that night with my classmate Andrew, riding the airport express and taxi to Robert Black. It took a while to figure our way around, but figured it all out easy enough. By the time of the second week we would all become pros at navigating the city with the help of the MTR, buses, and taxis. I met my roomy for the trip, Wei, that night and we talked a little bit before I completely knocked out asleep.

The next morning not really sure if I was awake or tired, we met all together for breakfast excited for the weeks to come. Sparing no time for rest we embarked on our experience of Hong Kong. I didn’t really know what to expect from the trip, nor was I worried or apprehensive. I’ve learned over the years, the best way to take on a new experience is to take what is given to you and make the best out of that moment. We were there to learn, experience, and grow as individuals, and also to bond as a team with our group and the HKU group. I don’t think I ever really got over my jetlag, and sleep is very important, but experiencing the city with the UO team and HKU students was priceless. Its the experiences we have with others that we can continue to share with each-other throughout the years after. I wouldn’t have changed anything about this trip, maybe a little more time and sleep, but isn’t that what every student wishes for.

Also to answer the questions above, Kellie did buy a charger, Andrew didn’t get lost, he actually became quite the expert. Wei did get stuck on the MTR by himself once, and almost didn’t make it through customs in Macau, but we all stuck together and made it out. I did have one smoothie, but beyond that, there was this ice cream I had that was beyond amazing.

Here’s to an amazing trip, and many more to come.

Gānbēi (Cheers),

Austin