I had the opportunity of going to Hong Kong during the five day break in the middle of the program. Hong Kong differed from Beijing in quite a few ways. It was much more densely packed - I always felt like I was brushing shoulders with people crossing the streets and walking through the subway stations. It was nice to be back in a place where people understood English for the most part. It was somewhat amusing to hear some of the unique colloquialisms that people used there. I found, however, that after a few days I began to adopt this alternative form of English - I seemed to begin using broken English to communicate with people. Interestingly enough, people seemed to understand me better when I spoke with bad grammar.
I spent one night going around HK looking for a good view of skyline. I took a bus up to “the peak,” a hill overlooking the city from behind, but it seemed that most of the nice looking buildings were blocked by other lesser buildings. I then continued to take the subway across to the other side of the harbor and found a nice front side view of the skyline. After taking a few nice pictures, I decided to take the ferry back across the harbor. The ferry only cost 2 HK dollars ($0.25), which was almost nothing compared to the subway or bus fare. Seeing the city skyline view from the ferry, however, was the most awe inspiring experience I’ve had. Definitely a quarter well spent.
