a night in the HKG.

Harbor seen from Stanley (south side of Hong Kong Island)

After a joint pot-luck with the Chinese teaching staff on Friday night, I awoke early on Saturday morning to catch a bus into Hong Kong. I had originally planned to meet up with Sarah Hawkenson, a high school friend who works for Northwest. After she failed to board her flight, I debated for only a few minutes before deciding I would go anyway.

It's sort of ironic, given that Hong Kong is technically part of China, that I was not previously allowed to visit - but you do in fact need a passport to cross the border and a valid Chinese visa to return. However, as with Macau, now that I have my residence permit I can come and go freely, making it a 1.5-hour trip (and only US$12 round-trip) into the bustling downtown area of Hong Kong - including the time spent going through customs at the border.

I had been warned that Hong Kong was quite a bit more expensive than mainland China - on par with New York City, in fact - and also an incredibly amazing place. Both turned out to be true, which could be a dangerous combination given its proximity to Shenzhen! What impressed me most about Hong Kong was first its size: it squishes all of its 7 million residents into a 426 square-mile area. It appears that not a single of these square miles is wasted; either jam-packed with high rises and extravagant office buildings, protected as a nature preserve complete with hiking paths and look-outs, or dedicated to tourism in the form of international cuisine (!) and endless shops with knock-off designer/"authentic Chinese" goods.

Since the trip went so smoothly, there is less to report - guess that is the downside to easy travel - but still a few key stories that I'll share here.

• While riding the metro from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon, I relaxed against the glass door. I know there are always signs indicating that this is exactly what not to do, and I soon found out why: as the doors slid open, the back of my arm (we will call this part "muscle" and not "flab") got caught in the door, preventing it from opening beyond a small crack. One man immediately tried to pry it open, and I cried out, "MY ARM!" It couldn't have been more than a few seconds that I was stuck like that, but it left a big red mark on the back of my arm and gave me a terrible case of the giggles - as only comes when you do something absolutely ridiculous and are then trapped in a small confined space with the very people who watched you do it.
• While not as humorous, taking the tram to Victoria Peak turned out to be a veryworthwhile, albeit touristy, activity. The peak is adorned with a huge shopping mall (how Hong Kong of them), and for HK$12 (~US$2) you can go to the top for a lookout. The view was amazing and the walk back down adventurous and scenic.

View of Hong Kong from Victoria Peak

• While walking back through SoHo, the up-and-coming district of Hong Kong with the stereotypical booths and wide variety of cuisines, we chanced upon a sign that read "BELGIUM ON TAP." Despite the afternoon hour and the fact that we had just eaten, Andy and I went in to check it out. We ended up drinking a glass of beer each in front of an open window overlooking the bustling tourist streets of SoHo. As I cherished the juxtaposition of images before me - my Belgian beer before the Hong Kong streets; the dumpy shops in the foreground of huge polished glass buildings; traditional Chinese medicine sold next to a shoestore stocked with Converse All-Stars - I came to realize that the last time I observed a similar coincidence of cultures was also over a Belgian beer. Hip, hip, hooray for international trade!