e-Blog (International Students): Theresa Bergner, Concordia University, Canada

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Theresa Bergner, Concordia University, Canada

Monday – 2 November 2015

Food in Hong Kong is like nowhere else in the world. From the egg waffles, French toast, to the delicious Dim Sum. One Dim Sum is the place to be! It is fairly close to campus, affordable prices and great food. Good to share with friends after a long day of Monday classes. Then on Monday nights everyone would go meet up at Billy Boozers and share on the drink specials. It is a good place to meet new friends and socialize with all the other exchange students. Since there are hundreds of exchange students I did not get the chance to meet them all but Billy’s is a good place to start.

Tuesday

I am studying finance and I am interest to see how Hong Kong’s banking system functions. One Tuesday before class I went to the IFC with a friend to see the history of banking in Hong Kong. The walls are covered with important dates and they have all the older notes and coins. I find it most interesting that Hong Kong’s central bank only prints the $10 notes and all the other notes are printed by three other banks. The exchange rate in Hong Kong is linked to the United States dollar which is not great for me since the Canadian dollar has fallen greatly compared to the USD. After the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, we walked around central and saw Lan Kwai Fong in daylight. Then got tasty ice cream which had a cone made of fruit loops.

Wednesday

One of my favorite places in Hong Kong is Victoria Peak. The atmosphere is very calming and it’s a getaway from the busy city. I have been there twice and there are two ways to get there, by old school tram which may have a long line or by bus. The top of one building has a free lookout which has views from all sides but it is partial obstructed. I find the best over Hong Kong is about 30m away from the tram exit. It was the most brilliant view and is a great place for taking pictures. To watch the sunset, I climbed the mountain past the Peak Gardens and saw a great view the city on one side and the mountains on the other side. I could not see the complete city of Hong Kong but I could see the stars once the sunset. After dark walking down the path towards the lookout, I was greeted by monkeys which were in the forest along the road.

Thursday

As a group of friends, we went to Macau to validate one person’s Hong Kong visa. The ferry ride is a bit long and takes about one hour. Then we had lunch at a small restaurant which had sweet and sour pork. We walked around the old city of Macau and the best part was the fort because it had a great lookout over the city. The city has a huge contrast between the older building and the casinos. At night we went to the casinos on the strip. A friend and I won some money playing roulette at the casino for the first time playing. The others in the group were not so fortunate. At night we slept on the ferry on the way back and took a taxi back to City University.

Friday

My absolute favorite thing to do in Hong Kong is a boat party. Since Fridays most students do not have class, we have been able to go on boat parties with around 30-50 people. The boat parties are great because you go around several islands and then the boat stops for people to get off and go swimming. One boat that we went on had a smaller boat which would take about 5 people wake boarding or banana boating. I tried to wake board for the first time, I got up but didn’t stay up for very long! The banana boat was great, the person on the back fell off and I couldn’t see so I asked if “we we’re all good” then the girl behind me said ‘yes’ so I put my thumb up but then everyone laughed because we lost one person to the water. The music on the boats is good and it is a chance to really get to know people but the freedom of being on a boat is unbelievable.