Time Flys and Stands Still

I have been here for almost 3 weeks now and have seen so many places, and yet I have so much to do. This weekend we took a 75 minute ferry  to Macau, fortunately I don't get sea sick (which actually ended up not being and island). Apparently it is known as the Las Vegas of the east, but having never been to Las Vegas and apposed to gambling I took away some other interesting things from the experience. Like the picture I took to the left from a Portuguese fort established in the 1600's. The canon is aimed directly at a brand new hotel. The picture reminded me how fast time flys and yet seems so slow.

The Big City- Learning to live with a lot of people!

Let me provide a comparison; New York City has approx. 8.3 million people, Hong Kong approx. 7 million. However, the population density is 2,181 and 16,500, respectively. So as you can imagine there are a lot people every where you go. Coming from Asheville with around 78,000 people, it's taking some getting used to. My dorm complex alone has 9 high rise buildings with 10-15 floors in each, accommodating 3,000 students.

There is always something to stimulate the senses; colorful and attention grabbing aesthetics, pleasant and unpleasant smells and almost no where is there space to enjoy peace and quite. From that description it may not sound like the kind of place you wanna be, and to be honest I can't really see myself living here, but for the next 5 months I can't think of any other place I want to be.

First Week

After leaving the couch of my parent's house at 3:00 a.m. Sunday morning January 3rd, I arrived in Hong Kong 37 hours later. Since then I've been working to sleep more and more, from the first night with 3 hours to last night with a full healthy 10 hours. Sheets from Ikea contributed significantly, did you know they sell meat balls there.