I woke up in the morning and still couldn’t believe that I was in Hong Kong! I walked to the window of my room and looked out and saw fishing boats drifting through the ocean and a bustling street below. It was still amazing to see everything that was so much different than in the U.S.

We started out in the morning with a great breakfast buffet that had both American and Cantonese food. After we finished a great breakfast, we went on to Hong Kong Ocean Park, which was one of the coolest parks I have ever been to. It was not very big on roller coasters like Kings Dominion, but one coaster that we went on called “the Dragon” was the best roller coaster I have ever been on in my life. It wasn’t because of the coaster itself but the combination of the flips and turns and an absolutely amazing view over the ocean and the surrounding city. It was breathtaking. The cable car ride up and down from the coaster was also amazing. The ride was probably at least two miles and had an awesome view the entire ride there and back.

One of the coolest things that I saw this day was a 18-karat-gold-plated Bauhinia flower, which was given to Hong Kong by Mainland China as a gift when China took back control of Hong Kong. The flower is supposed to resemble Hong Kong’s ever-flourishing city. This is also the statue that I am standing in front of in my picture.

One of the cultural phenomena that I also noticed on this day was the lack of personal space. Everyone everywhere is always bumping into each other whether walking, getting on the metro, or waiting in line for something. It is one of the major differences I have noticed between America and Hong Kong/China. Even so, I got used to this by the second day because it just becomes something that you adapt to. Most people here speak English, which was really nice because we could move around the city and communicate pretty easily.

The Dim Sum lunch was delicious with a seemingly endless line of food that the waiters kept bringing to us. It was an experience that I will not soon forget. After lunch, we traveled to Victoria Park, which had brilliant views cameras could never possibly capture. We also saw Jackie Chan’s house on the way to Victoria Park. It was really cool to be able to see where he lives in Hong Kong. After the park and stopping at a mall for some shopping, we went to eat dinner.

At dinner, I did something that I did not think I would ever do—eat chicken brains. It was quite the experience breaking into the chicken’s head and pulling out a small almond-sized piece of meat and eating it. It actually didn’t taste that bad; it had a taste similar to chickpeas. After all of the adventures and experiences with cuisine, we headed back to the hotel at the end of the day where I was still unable to take in everything that had happened and I had experienced.

Thank you ECU for the opportunity to be on this amazing trip!

As I was sitting next to my roommate in the Raleigh/Durham International Airport waiting for everyone to arrive and to check in, the realization that I was about to embark on a life-altering experience really started to set in.  I am going to be exposed to a completely different culture and economic system that I have never experienced before.

I have looked forward to starting our trip in Hong Kong because it will be a great entrance into the Chinese culture where English is still spoken and written on signs. I have met and spoken with many friends who have lived or traveled throughout Asia and China.  I have also read articles and travel guides to become more familiar with the cultural differences in the cities we will be traveling through.

Having stayed up all night, I fell asleep to the purring sound of the engines on the first flight from RDU to Toronto.  As I boarded the second flight of the day, from Toronto to Hong Kong, I said good-bye to North America and hello to Asia in 15 hours.  I looked forward to trying to sleep some on the plane so I could begin to transition into the new time zone and avoid as much jet lag as possible.  This was a failed attempt because I could never get in even a semi-comfortable position, and there was a screaming baby two rows away from me, which was worse then all three of the alarms it takes to wake me up at my house. Needless to say, I did not get much sleep at all on that flight.

Nevertheless, as we touched down in Hong Kong, I was energized and ready to explore the city.  The drive from the Hong Kong International Airport to our hotel was frustrating because as I took pictures of the surrounding islands, I could not adequately capture what I was seeing and experiencing in those moments.  The terrain was very mountainous and full of vegetation.  The traffic was sparse on the outskirts of town but became more like New York City traffic as we entered the heart of Hong Kong.

After checking into the hotel and converting U.S. dollars into Hong Kong dollars, a group of us decided to go into the subway.  As we emerged out of the subway on to the street, the view was like that in a movie . The street was packed with people as we pushed our way through the crowd and went through the Ladies’ Market, a long street market filled with everything a girl would want to buy.  The streets in some of the more retail areas were completely blocked off to cars and were filled with bustling customers.  My first meal in Hong Kong was at an authentic ramen restaurant.  After dinner, we explored the city some more and visited the longest escalator in the world. It carried us up the street, where there are restaurants and bars on both sides. Riding this escalator was a unique experience. At the end of the day, I was surprised that credit cards are not used very much here. Everyone uses cash.  The subways are a lot cleaner and safer than those I have ridden in the US.  As a whole, I felt very safe as I walked down the streets in Hong Kong.

For all the unique sites and sounds in Hong Kong, there was a strangely familiar element—there is a 7-Eleven at almost every corner, like Starbucks in the U.S.