Greetings from China...again

Well I think I better update this again. I am back in China for what is my last month overseas. This time I decided to travel by myself which may not have been the right decision. Its good and bad. Good in the fact that I can do everything at my own pace (slow with losts of sleep ins!) and bad cause it can be quite lonely.

I'm in Xian at the moment which has so far been a little disappointing (the town at least). Its the same as any other Chinese city just with an old wall. Whats more the pollution is terrible 9maybe I'm just in a bad mood...I just came in on a 20 hour train from Shanghai and am also coming down with some sort of cold (which is even worse in the humidity and the smog...uk uk uk!) I'm heading out to the terracotta army tommorow but other then that have not idea what I want to do or even what city I want to go to next. If I want to try and make it to Japan next week I should head north towards Beijing. I have time to maybe do one town on the way, either Pingyao (which I have already been to but wouldn't mind visting again) or Datong (which is suppose to have spectacular Buddist caves carved into the rock but may be difficult transport wise). I definitely want to spend at least 4 or 5 days in Beijing and now I feel like putting that off for a bit cause my roommate won't be there cause he's still witing for a visa to study in the US.

If I don't go to Japan I have no idea what I want to do. I know Japan is expenisive and that I have been there before (but never when its been warm) but I am becoming rather annoyed with a lot of things about China, especially the language barrier. China can be very tiring.

One highlight though had been Shanghai. What an incredible place...fast, rich and going places. Maybe not much to do tourist wise (the Bund has almost the exact same feeling as the avenue of Stars in HK) but is definitely the most livable city I have been to in China...except for Hangzhou! Forget all the tourists (there are millions!) and the admission prices, that place is heaven on earth!!! The west lake looking towards the city was so beautiful it bought tears to my eyes (really!) and all the temples and shrines, it was like Kyoto but better. Definitley worth the trip.

Anyway I best be off and think about my immediate future.

Looking foward to seeing you all soon!

Matt

Chuang Chau Bus Festival

Man, today was one of the best days I've had so far in HK. It was a public holiday f0r Buddah's birthday and also time for one of Hong Kong's most unique Taoist festivals. Its the annual bun festival held on Chuang Chau island and was totally mind-blowing. Every second street there was a parade (with lions, dragons, children on stilts, marching bands) and everywhere there were people, people, people. Best of all the rain has finally cleared and summer has arrived!!! Its like the first few weeks i have been here, high temps (around 32) and extreme humidity.

So sapped from the heat, we proceded to sleep on the beach after sundown for three hours before passing out again watching Cantonese opera (which is as boring as hell).

The end of the day culminated with the bun-climbing competition where participants scrample up this pyramid to collect as much buns as possible in three minutes. The higher up the bun, the more points it is worth. Unfortunantly I didn't take any photos cause I filmed it instead (which I can't post) so here is picture of the pyramid during the day.

Unfortunantly I missed oout on the chance to see Ben off. And with Tony and Karen living tomorrow, HK isn't going to be so fun anymore. Life goes on I guess.

As for me I'm still trying to work out my travel plans over the next month but I am planning to leave for Shanghai on Friday. Will keep you posted!

Matt

I want to eat your brains...

Just got back from watching the move 28 weeks later...best zombie movie I have ever seen. GO AND SEE IT!!!!

(I think I will lock the door tonight...)

Happy Mothers Day to everyone out there.

what a day...

All i have to say is this:
FUCK net present value

additionally the pollution in HK today...yuk yuk yuk

Thats all

Bored....

I hate public finance...stupid Hau...I've spent four hours (on and off) doing his stupid problem set on public goods. Every question takes almost 2 pages. What a pain. I feel sorry for the poor local students who have to bullshit in another language. Other then that I still am trying to plan my China trip (especially how I'm goin to get to Tokyo)...so much I want to do.

Oh well. Yesterday was fun. Spent the entire day down at the beach and ate too much and drank WAY too much. I don't really remember, a litre of Asahi, half a bottle of red, 4 shots of vodka...which softened me up for a spot of skinny dipping at Repulse (I doubt I would have ever done that at home...)

Good times :D

Ode to jam

The afternoon started off well. I found one of those 'local' bakeries where prices are cheaper then the more westernised chain stores you see around. Unfortunantely all signs are in (handwritten) Chinese which i can never read. Anyway, I saw it...round, thick and covered with sugar...jam doughnut...mmmmmmmmmm I haven't had one of those since I left home. Still taking the usual precautions I asked the (very fine) young girl working there if it was 'jam' (I don't know where the hell I picked up the Cantonese word for that when I still can't ask what people's names are). Anyway she said it was so I bought three.

Back in the dorm I bit into one only to find...red bean. WAHHHHHHHHHHH

At least my roommate was happy.

Evil Dr. Chan

Thursday was pure hill. Serves me right for writing such a weak assignment I guess but I just wish my classmates had read it before hand and saved me a thirty minute long grilling under the EVIL Dr. Chan. (especially the wae just *blink* *blinks* at you everytime you can't answer a question.

What misery....

I'm just glad its over...

Matt

scared...

Just came out of my Current Economics Affairs class after the first person did there proesentation and i am scared. He was the first person to go and the ripped his assignmnet apart. It was brutal and really unfair. Most of these people probably haven't even started their own yet...especially this one girl who interogated him whilst sucking up to the professor

"Pray tell me what article you got that information from in case I want to do further studying?"

wtf? "pray" who the hell uses that word anymore and who the hell would want to do further study beyond what they had to do....all the while fluttering the eyelids at the professor.

I HATE THESE SORT OF PEOPLE!!!!

At least it looks like I will be doing her critique so maybe a little taste of her own medicine. What a bitch.

My presentation is next though so I am scared. Wish me luck!

Matt

Time to catch up

I can't believe how slack I have been with this....

Where do I start? Well I just finshed this f**ker of an assignment yesterday which is such a relief. I know it was a really poor effort but I am just glad its out of the way...I'm just worried about the presentation for it on Thursday (and the disappoving stares of Dr. Chan). Anyway I celebrated last nigh by going out for the first time for a long, long time. I find that I have been much more sober this semester due to a number of factors (lenten promise [i really didn't do THAT bad!!], uni work and work).

Oh yeah, my internship. This has been a real coup for me, actually getting paid (which is actully illegal!) work in Hong Kong doing something that doesn't involeve teaching English. I have been working for a firm called College Hill which is based out of London and have just opened a branch here in Asia. At the moment they have offices in HK and Taipei and are looking to establish one soon in Shanghai. It does "mangement consultancy" which ranges from anything from corporate coaching, investor relations, guidence with public listing etc. It has actully been quite a learning curve for me considering that I have never done a business or finance course in my life (thank god that they mad intro accounting a pre-req or I never would have managed!) Anyway so far it has been a fanstasic experience even at the expense of sleepins and mid-week partying.

Of course I have only been doing mundane things such as english editing but also some interesting things like researching US corporate law and creating powerpoints advising Chinese businessmen about western corporate manners. The most shocking job so far though has been editing the English versions of China Telecom's annual report. The orginal translator in Shanghai was shocking and the English was completely unreadable. This meant I had to re-write up to a hundred pages of text - boring!!

And the best thing so far has been the fact that they have offered me a job here next year after I graduate!! The pay is fairly shocking (less then A$2000 a month) but is apparently quite good for a graduate position in Hong Kong. What's more they are going to pay for me to learn Mandarin!! Its a big decision, something I need to consider very carefully...but I can leave it for the moment as I still have more then two semesters to go.

Last week I finally managed to get my rear-end out og HK and paid a visit to amazing Thailand. Wow, that place was unbelieveable!! I only stayed for a few days and lost about one of them to transit but managed to spend two and a half days in Bangkok (don't get put off by the critics...that place is great if you know the right people, not to mention the shopping!!) and a day and a half on the island of Koh Chang.

Cheak this out...

I want to go back so bad!!!

Best of all though is that my twin bro is finally in town!!!

Its feels really good cause we have never been seperated for so long. Anyway he flies out tomorrow which will be really hard.

Well that will do for now. I promise I will be more punctual in the future!

Happy Easter!!

Matt

Sorry,

Sorry all, I realise its been almost a month since I last posted. I don't have time for too many specifics since I have a lot to get through in the next few days. Anyway...

Highlights:
- turned 21 (not much effort involved, just happens by itself y'know)
- met tons of new people
- saw the last of the UQ girls off (FINALLY got rid of you Joyce ;P)
- got an internship (3 hrs a day, 5 days a week, BIG spender of time)

I will try and tell you more about them later but I need to get a few things out of the way first. As I told my grandma, if I'm not studying, i'm working, if I'm not eating, I'm sleeping

Its as simple as that!!

Talk to you soon,
Matt

Snowed under...

It has been such a busy week. After a less then impressive lineup of subjects last semester I am trying to be more careful about choosing my subjects for this semester. As a result I attended around ten subjects this week (at least 30 hours of class) and have successful narrowed this down to about seven subjects. I also had all the immigration things to get through. I managed (finally) to get my visa extension and apply for my HKID. At the same time there is a ton of new people to meet, old friends to catch up with (poor Joyce...you had such a tough time!). I am absolutely exhusted!!

But what is most annoying is the fact that I already studying!!! In the first week. Some of the course I am taking are really challenging and I need to get on top of it all, especially if I want to travel again this semester.

Busy, busy, busy....
Matt

Back in class...

Well the holiday cannot last forever. Classes returned today (oh yeah by the way, I'm back in HK!!) which is both a sad and a good thing. Sad because I have to do some work but good because I'm not spending as much. The crappy computer system is finally letting me sign onto classes and so far I have enrolled in eight classes (I tried nine but it wouldn't let me) but I will cut this down to about five over the next few weeks.

Today was great for another reason since I got to meet a whole bunch of new exchange students. Not that I'm ditching the people that have already left (really...I'm not) but life goes on...

Also Tony never got a new roommate so he has converted his room into a mahjong den. I'm still yet to win a game...its like chess, you need to formulate your stategy early and try and work out what the others are doing but it's all good fun.

See you,
Matt

Grettings from Shanxi

Hey all,

Well once again the Shenzhen-Guangzhou leg of my China trip has skrewed me over. This time I tried to take the train (as it headed to the ultra modern Guangzhou East station where I hoped to get my connection to Taiyuan) but it ended up being delayed for two hours. By the time I got to Guangzhou the train had already been fully booked leaving me stranded for the night.

I was about to give up and head back to HK when I came across a line of 'travel help desks' just outside the station which all sold train tickets, plain tickets and hotels. Agaist my better judgement I approched one that looked like it spoke a little English to see if they could get me a ticket. She said she would try as she had many 'connections'. After half a dozen phone calls she admitted defeat but said she could get me an airfare for the next morning for arouns 1100RMB. She said this was about 70% of the normal price. I don't know if this was true or not but I paid anyway as I did not want to spend a whole day in horrible Guangzhou waiting for another train.

Anyway after paying the money I went with one of her daughters to get the ticket. It what was one of the most dodgest experiences I walked with her to some random hotel, walked passed reception, went up the elevator and through some random karoke bar and into this back room travel agency where I got the ticket (thank god it looked official otherwise I don't know what I would have done!)

Well it all turned out alright and I got here in the end. And it is absolutely freezing!!!!!

Enjoy the warmer climes!
Matt

Heading back to China

Sorry. I have been terribly distracted this last few days trying to deal with the redtape of HK immigration. Now this has been sorted out I am heading back to China again. This time I am visiting Shangxi prefecture in the north which promises to be f***** cold (not to mention a 36 hour train ride). I plan to visit some friends from Australia and it should be good to catch up.

Will write again soon.

Matt

Damn the internet and hello from China

Well the Taiwan earthquake continues to stuff me around. In case you haven't heard there was an earthquake in Taiwan about two weeks ago. It was fairly minor...except for the fact that it distroyed three of the four underwater internet cables which runs across the Pacific. At the moment they are STILL fixing it.

As a result its really hard to access non-Chinese websites (I only managed to access this website today) and still can't access all my email adresses. DAGH!!!

Anyway I'm at this random little town called Menghai in southern Yunnan province near the border with Burma. I should be back in Hong Kong a little earlier then expected (the 16th) but I will be trevelling back into the PRC as soon as I can get an extension on my Hong Kong student visa.

Yunnan province has been great. I have visted the 'ancient' and 'cultural' towns of Lijhang and Dali which were really cool (both in temperature and fun) but were both completely overrun with Chinese tourists...you know the ones, they travel around in swarms following someone waving a little flag...you see them in Australia as well. Some of them have little matching hats which are really cute...

Anyway the 'minority' culture that the people come to see have been essentially lost in these cities. All they do is put on little dancing displays and sell cheap crafty stuff to the tourists. Cheap or not, some of the art was fantastic. Too bad it was too big to send home.

As well as visiting these two cities we treked through the spectacualar Tiger Leeping Gorge which is at the base of the Yangtze river. The hike was fairly tough since we were carrying all of our stuff but the scenery was worth it.

At the moment I am in the far south of the province in a region called Xishangbanna which is VERY DIFFERENT from the rest of China. Its almost like being in Thailand and feels so much like South-East Asia. Once again the region is very beautiful but unfortunently very poor. And the toilets...we won't go there.

Anyway I will post again when I get back to HK as well as adding a few photos.

Until then take care!!

Matt

Happy New Year

EXAMS ARE OVER!!!!

Just a quick note to wish you all a Happy New Year. I am leaving for Yunnan tomorrow (the 1st) and should be back in HK on around the 20th. I will try and post if I can while I'm abroad but we'll see.

Hello 2007!!

Matt

Merry Christmas

Just a quick note to wish you all a happy and safe Christmas. It is hard being away from friends and family but hopefully all my HK buddies will fill the void.

Also thanks to my family for the OBSCENE amount of presents they have sent me (as well as the money, always appreciated!)

I wish everyone at home a happy and safe new year.

See you soon,
Matt

Chinglish # 1

Took this picture off the streets of Yangshuo. It's advertising some caves that I visited later in Guilin.














And I thought Japanese "engrish" was bad.

Exams....blugh

Exam season.

Lets just say its no different from UQ. I have had two so far, both so-so...at least it doesn't count towards my GPA!! My econometrics exam today which was just horrible...will say no more about it :-@!!!! Anyway I have two more til FREEDOM!! I have one this Friday and my final on on the 30th. Hopefully these will be a little better.

Also it is official. I am extending for another term. I picked up my new ID card today and there's no going back. However a lot of people are leaving, some of them already have. I would like to keep in touch with all of them but I know this probably won't happen. It's really sad...it's like graduating from school again! So farewell Gary, Krystal and Laura...perhaps our paths will cross again.

Anyway I have booked to fly back home at the end of June so hopefully my parents haven't kicked me out, the car hasn't been sold and I still have a job!!

Now I need to keep studying...this is a great procrastinator!!

Matt

China trip

Now that I have a little time in between exams, I can catch up on my blog. What has happened in the last few weeks? One word - China!!!
That's right!! I finally had a chance to head into the PRC proper. Last week me and Jason (my neighbour) decied on the spur of the moment to head in land. I have finally obtained a multiple-entry visa which means the whole country is mine for the taking!

Since neither of us wanted to head anywhere that was too cold or too far from HK, we headed for Guilin in Shangxi province. Shangxi is west of Guangdong province which is the province bordering Hong Kong. Depending as always on the Lonely Planet (hey, I knew nothing about where we were heading!!) we went straight to the town of Yangshuo which was apparently "more beautiful" but "less touristy". Well it was half right. It sure was beautiful - cheak out the pics...

However instead of being the laid back backpacker hangout I was led to believe, the place was crawling with handreds of Chinese tourists. However the place is still aimed at westerners so the streets were full of bars and tons of restaurants of every cuisine you could think of, Japanese, French, Italian, Scottish (?), Indian. Therefore eating was not *that* cheap (although cheaper then Hong Kong) but I didn't really mind. Since I am in the middle of exams I was looking for a place to chill, not to get down and dirty. So it was a wonderful little getaway. we went river cruising, climbed a few hills, nothing too hard.

The final day we cheaked out Guilin which normally gets all the good press. We had the whole day as the train didn't leave til 20.00. However here is a little warning...there is NOTHING repeat NOTHING to do in Guilin. Why it is so famous is beyond me, it was just another dirty southern Chinese city.

Oh yeah, the train. The train from Guangzhou to Guilin was about fourteen hours but since it was overnight it was quite managable as long as you pay for a bed. I can't think of nothing worse then sitting in some seat for the whole journey... Still it is much cheaper then flying and very 'cultural', it okay when the little children sneak a look at the "laowai" but when the adults do as well...well I'm sure they've seen a westerner before!!

Well it was a good trip, can't wait til the next one in January!

Matt

and finally everything kicks in...

I'm coming into the last week of semester and I have never been so busy. So on a Saturday when all the arts students are out getting drunk I'm procrastinating here on my blog...

Firstly some pictures of the pandas from Ocean Park to keep Mum happy...















Cute huh,

well you didn't see the hordes of people crowded in the room all trying to get that perfect picture. They must get sick of it...but I think they're similar to koalas, all they do is eat and sleep...not a bad life really!

Anyway back to the work at hand. So far before I finish this semester I have 1 presentation (in chinese), 2 essays and 4 exams. But the last one is on the 30th so I have plenty of time. I was thinking about going to the Philippines next week but I'm still tossing up whether to go or not...it will be fun but I don't really want to spend the money. I might stay closer to home and 'rediscover 'Hong Kong again. There is a lot I haven't done yet and it would be nice to be an tourist again.

Anyway I have just finished my Chinese speech so just to show how clever I am i'll post it here.

你好。

我姓Schultz, 叫Matthew Schultz.我的中文名字叫马修。我是澳大利亚人。八月我到香港来。现在，我是香港大学的学生。我的专业是经济和人类学。我很喜欢外国旅行。上个月，我到马来西亚，中国和日本去。旅行很好。我也喜欢香港大学，但是我的宿舍不太好。

我们家有五口人。我有爸爸，妈妈，有一个双胞胎的弟弟，还有一个弟弟和我。我爸爸是律师。我妈妈是护士。我双胞胎的弟弟也是学生。他学工程专业。认识你们我很高兴。

谢谢。

As you can probably tell its just a self introduction speech but I'm pretty impressed by how much I remembered after just a few weeks. I think its mostly right but I'll get my neighbour to check it tomorrow when he gets back.

Just to show how REALLY CLEVER I am here's the same speech in Japanese.

はじめまして、マーシュ・シュルツと申します。どうぞよろしく。わたしはオーストラリア人です。八月に香港に住んで来ました。今、香港大学で勉強しています。私は経済と文化の学生です。旅行するのが好きです。先月にマレーシアと中国と日本に行きました。とても楽しかったです。また、私は香港大学が好きですが大学の寄宿舎が好きじゃないです。

私の家族は五人です。お父さんとお母さんと二人の弟と私です。一人の弟は私の双子です。お父さんは弁護士でお母さんは看護婦です。双子は大学生です。彼は工学を勉強しています。

どうぞ、よろしくお願いします。

If only I was truly trilingual....anyway I won't be putting up the english. Go find a Chinese or Japanese person!

Now that is out of the way, I'll stop procrastinating and do some proper work. I'm currently writing a paper on how the IMF screwed over the third world...so boring....

Anyway, take care!
Cheers,
Matt.

さようなら、
マーシュ

再见，
马修

Just killing time

Hey all

Got a spare hour to use up so I might as well blog.

Had a late night last night with both a presentation and an essay due for my political science course, one on the IMF and how they screw over the the third world and the other on international trade disputes. What i would give to be on a beach back home now!!!

On Sunday I visited Ocean Park which is a theme park similar to Sea World just near my hall. It was okay, the rides were so-so but the two pandas they had there were really cool. What wasn't cool was EVIL JOYCE who had me thinking the whole day that the PANDAS WERE DEAD!!!! What had happened was I missed the first bus there and so the others went ahaead and saw the panda exhibit before I arrived. ThenEVIL JOYCE decided to pay a trick on me and made the others pretend that the pandas had died. I believed them since I knew they were very old. Old enough in fact that the Chinese government is sending out two more pandas as a reward for Hong Kong being really good for the first ten years of reunification.

I like it. Be good and we give you pandas!!

Other then that there isn't much to report....omg someone just told me to stop typing so loundly (i'm in the library). What an idiot. If he wants peace and quiet he shouldn't be in a computer room.....and now his phone's rining and he procedes to ANSWER IT AND TALK ON IT IN THE LIBRARY!!!! So rude. I'm bashing the keyboard now.

Oh yeah, I should mention that I am in the process of trying to extend my exchange here. So far I haven't heard back from BEL faculty which means I can't do anything. In order to extend my visa and get a HKID I need a new admission letter. They won't issue me a new exchange letter until the exchange office here lets them. They won't let them until I get a letter from the UQ exchange office and the UQ exchange office will not issue a letter until I get credit from BEL. I hate red tape. Also I got my "leave by the end of year or else" from my hall and I can't extend my residency until I have an admissions letter.

*frustrating....*

Anyway I'm sure Chirstmas in in full swing back at home as the decorations are starting to appear here.

Don't spend too much.
Matt

Hate the homework and hate the weather...

Hong Kong what have you done to me? So much homework, boring classes and the weather...omg!

Ever since about 3pm today we have had nothing but storm after storm. There's another one coming through now and that will be number five.

- got drenched on the way back
- I left my window a little open so my bed is wet
- the canteen flooded so i have to go to 7-11 for dinner
- and worse of all, the tv blew up meaning that my floormates no can't play FIFA2006 so have had to resort to throwing balls at each other and anyone that gets in the way

I also have so much homework this week. I have a Chinese test on Thursday, an essay and another presintation for next Tuesday as well as two probalem sets that are completely impossible to solve. So now its 1.30am, I've had about three cups of tea and am buzzed to work!!!

and of course procrastinate here!

I'm looking forward to Thursday night though beacuse I finally get to meet my mentor. At the beginning of semester I applied for and got accepted into the university's mentorship program and the inauguration ceremony in on Thursday. I don't know much about her excepts she's an alumni that is currently high up in some chemical company. Should be really fun.

Also I won third prize in the UQ Abroad photo competition. Cheak it out at:
http://www.uq.edu.au/uqabroad/index.html?page=54847&pid=35449

I also picked up my new passport yesterday. I must the new style of Aussie passports are very ugly. The pages are orange for god's sake!!

Anyway I better do somework before it's 2!!!

Oh yeah. Went to kareoke in Aberdeen on Saturday. A lot of fun. Here are some pics (none of me though)


Cheers all,

Matt

Stuck without a passport

Damn the Chinese authorities. All I want is to visit their damn country and I have to jump through hoops to get there.

*grumble*

How I am I supposed to know that you need 6 months validity from the expiration of the visa not just 6 months from when my visa expires.

grrrrrrrrrr

As a result I found myself heading to the Aussie consulate to get a new passport even though my current passport doesn't expire til July. Not ony does it cost me around A$200 but it will take TWO WEEKS to get it. As a result I am stuck in Hong Kong with no passport and nowhere to go.

I was supossed to be going to Chengdu this weekend - CAN'T
I was invited to go to a 21st in Macau - CAN'T

*********
On a lighter note, I'm starting to really like the grading system here at HKU. So far I have technically failed two mid-semesters (less then 50%) but since everything here is bell-curved, I have really achived decent passes for both of them. Too easy :-)

I hope everyone did just as well for their exams!

Take care, need to eat.....food here so good!!!
Matt

Three weeks of power with Japanese horror

Hey all,

It has been an extremely busy (and stressful few weeks) so here it goes!

Two weeks ago was our reading week where as you all know I spent 5 (which tuned into 6) days in Japan. This was a very stressful experience in itself. I spent the first 5 days travelling around the country as planned, spending a night in Tokyo, and then going on to vist Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima. It was fantastic as it was a part of Japan (a much more traditional and beautiful part) then I visited last time I was there. I went with a group of 3 other American exchange students, the guy I went to Malaysia with who's from LA, as well as two others (a guy and a girl) from San Francisco.

However the trip was sort of spoiled on the final day where I was travelling back to Hong Kong. This involved me taking the bullet train from Osaka back to Tokyo (around 3 hours) and then taking another train from Tokyo to Narita airport (another hour). Since I didn't have to fly out until 6.30 that night I spent the morning in Osaka, visiting this castle (I would add pictures but the site is playing up - later!) and then heading back to Tokyo at around 12. This was a huge mistake, resulting in me missing my flight back to HK.

What had happend was that someone had committed suicide that morning by throwing himself in front of the bullet train (not a very rare occurance in Japan although they normally disrupt local lines and not the inter-city lines). This resulted in the main line between Tokyo and Osaka being closed for two hours. As a result when I arrived at Osaka station there was chaos. People were stranded as the trains they had booked were still in Tokyo and trains that were supossed to arrive in the morning had only just begin to arrive. Lucky for me I had a JR pass meaning that I could just get on almost any train (except the Nozomi super-express) without reserving a seat. So I got on the next train that came through (20 minutes late, very un-Japanese!) and has to stand for most of the journey. This could have been okay except that it took around 6 hours to get from Osaka to Tokyo. The main reason for this was that whenever we arrived a city along the way we often had to wait up to half an hour to be given a platform as priority was being given to all the trains finally getting out of Tokyo. This was not helped by the fact that there was often only a single line in between cities meaning that we had to stop every 15 minutes or so to allow trains coming the other way to pass. It was so frustrating.

I finally arrived at the airport an hour after my plane left. I mamaged to get moved to the same flight the next day but at an extra cost of US$200. I then had to return to Tokyo to find some sort of accomodation. Thank God I picked up a leaflet from one of the first youth hostels we stayed at that showed all the different hostels in Japan. However there were only 8 listed in Tokyo so I started ring them reading down the list. Everyone I tried was full (leaving me more and more anxious) except the last one (always the way!) which I managed to get into. It was actually a business hotel that was affliated to Youth Hostels International so I managed to get my own room, shower (everywhere else I stayed was communial - a very interesting experience) and TV, all for around 5000yen (about A$50) so I'm not complaining! I left the next morning and arrived back at the airport four hours before the plane left (no point taking chances!) and got back to Hong Kong that night.

Another consequence was the fact that it meant my mother was left alone in Hong Kong for another night by herself. She spent another day going on another group tour but she was really disappointed. On the hand she was very happy to see me safe and sound the next day and got spend a lovely 3 nights in a five star hotel here in Hong Kong, a welcome change from my student hall. We managed to get a lot done in just four days. We went to Macau, Shenzen as well as all the markets around Hong Kong (an any woman, she's always looking for a bargin!) It was very sad to see her of at the end of it all - made me want to come home (boo hoo). No time to get to depressed though because I was about to enter into my week of power.

Four exams and two assignments all in 4 days meant I didn't get much sleep this week. This wasn't helped by the fact that there was Halloween last Tuesday which for some reason Hong Kong people really get into. That night my floor created a haunted house where each of us had to dress up as mummies and monsters etc and try and frighten one of the girl floors as each of them came through one-by-one. It was a lot of fun since we got a few of the girls to cry...very childish I know but as I said before, my felllow floor mates still act like 10 year olds (is this a Chinese thing or is it the same in all halls/colleges?).

Anyway back to the school work. I have just started to get my results back. I did really well in my Chinese but not so well in the important stuff like econometrics (only 47% although this will probably still be a pass when they apply the bell curve) and game theory (haven't got the results yet but I have ssen the answers and I am very worried). Perhaps I should party less and study more???? Nah. Its only pass/fail anyway.

Good luck to everyone about to untertake their final exams.

Study hard, I'm not!
Matt

MSN

Okay after years in the cyber wilderness I have finally created an MSN account. At the moment my contact list is looking painfully empty so please add me. I would love to talk to you guys back home.

My address is mats0176@hotmail.com.

I might not be around for the next week but don't let that put you off.

Take care!

Matt

Jetsetting again...

Next week is our reading week so as a a consequence I'm travelling again ("reading" week - yeah right!!), this time to Japan. I'm set to leave on Saturday and return to Hong Kong on Wednesday as Mum is coming to visit (awwww, yeah I know). In this short time I am aiming to cover Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima. It will be incrediably expensive (compared to Thailand or Vietnam where most people are heading) but having lived there before I can't wait to return.

Camping in HK

Went camping on the weekend which was a lot of fun. Believe it or not but there are still some remote places in Hong Kong and in this case is was the island of Tap Mun in the New Territories. It was organised by the astronomy society at Starr Hall which is where many of the Australian girls I know are staying. It was overcast however so we didn't see any stars but it was a a lot of fun all the same and yet another side of Hong Kong of which I had yet to discover.

Shenzen

As I mentioned before I finally paid a visit to Mainland China. I visited the city of Shenzen which is just on the other side of the border from Hong Kong with a bunch of other internationals (including quite a few girls from UQ). Shenzen is apparantly the wealthiest city in China (one of the first cites where foreign companies were allowed to invest) and it looks like it. Massess of faceless concrete highrises, wide planned roads and people and industry moving at a million miles an hour. It is one of China's biggest manufacturing bases and is leading the way in China's rapid industrialization...but to most Hong Kongers (and me) it is just an extended shopping mall.

And what a mall it is. Just near the border crossing there is one particualar shopping centre that is just six floors of knock-off handbags (probably from the same factory that makes the genuine article!!), shoes, fake watches, clothes, tailors, copy DVDs, massage parlours and extremely cheap Dim Sum.

But it is hard work. Shopkeepers try and charge westeners extremely high prices and you could spend up to twenty minutes haggling them down to a deccent price. Men stalk you constantly trying to sell you DVDs. People physically pull you towards their shops. It can be very terrifying, especially if you are by yourself. But in the end you have to accept it as it is and indulge in the lawlessness. It ends up being quite fun. At the end of the day so as I did and treat yourself to a good foot massage (a whole hour for 30RMB). In the end it was a fantastic day trip as well as a good insight in how dynamic China's economy is. Everywhere people are working incredibly hard, eager to do business and just have a good sense of optimism.

Malaysia pics!!

As promised here are some pics from my recent trip to Malaysia.

Here is elephant getting a bath...














Here is me on said elephant about to be dumped in the river (ooh I know you envy me!!)














Jungle waterfalls















Naughty little monkeys in KL














The view from my hotel room.















A builiding we saw on fire from our room on the last night (no deaths but a number of people seriously injured)














And a view from the bottom of the Petronas towers in KL (the second tallest in the world)



















All in all it was a fantistic (and cheap) few days. My only regret is that I could not stay longer. I can wait to return.

Back online

Alright back online.

Oh how I hate technology. Just after I returned to Hong Kong my computer started showing error messages and would not let me access the internet. After trying to fix it myself (with my limited IT skills), contacting Microsoft ("See you manufacturer for support"), Benq ("Talk to out Hong Kong support centre") and ringing the HK support centre ("aah...what is ahh...problem?") I just googled it (solution to everything!!) and found that my computer had contracted some nasty spyware which had corupted my registry meaning that I had to reinstall everything. What a pain...

It has been a busy week. I visited Shenzen (in Mainland China), scored a roommate and booked tickets to Japan for the upcoming mid-semester break.

Hope everyone is doing okay. Look after yourself.

Matt

PS. Saw the result of the NRL...yeah the Broncos!!! Too bad I didn't get to see it :(

Greetings from KL

Hey guys,

Well I found a computer here in Kuala Lumpur so I thought I might post a quick update. KL hasn't been too bad, it was very smoggy yesterday but hasn't been so bad since. Today is actually quite clear which would have been good if we could get up the KL tower but it seems to be closed today. It has been a jampacked weekend. On Saturday we visited the Batu caves (a Hindu temple inside a massive limestone cave) as well as an elephant sanctuary (where I got to ride one - too cool!!). Yesterday we visted the areas around Ipoh including more caves and some rainforest (I can't remeber the names off the top of my head, I will post them with pictures when I get back to Hong Kong tonight).

Anyway stay safe and look after yourselves.

Malaysia

I would like to write more but I need to go to bed. As a long weekend is coming up here in Hong Kong I have decided to travel to Malaysia for a couple of days. I am currentl planning on staying KL for three nights. I will let you know all about it when I get back.

See you all soon.
Matt

Living in a cult

The last week has been an extremely intense experience. Now I think I have already told you about crazy my hallmates are. They chant, run around like idiots and never sleep (at night anyway) all without any alcohol in sight. Anyway now that university has started I thorght that this place might settle down a little. I was very wrong. Now that hall orientation has finished its time for floor orientation! This is just a smaller form of orientation where me (the poor little Australian) and the other internationals (ther are two Americans living in the room next to me) are require to take part in.

Now the idea of the floor orientation is to allow you to get to know the 16 or so 'freshmen' (first time residents of the hall) living at my end of the floor (its the 8th floor by the way) and the 20 or so 'currents' who live down the other end. Sounds all warm and sweet doesn't it. Wrong. Instead it is an excuse to for the currents to inflict extreme amounts of physical and pyschological damage on the freshmen as they can in five nights.

The first night was an introduction session. Basically this involved all the currents standing together in one line and telling us their names (English and Chinese), major, year and room number...all in Cantonese. To begin with this didn't really bother me as I wasn't really interested in knowing all their names anyway (I am only here for one semester after all) and I barely ever talk to some of them. That was until we got told to leave the room and come back one by one and demonstrate that we knew all of their name and details. Of course the Americans and I had no chance and they eventually gave up on us after three or four attempts. They were not no nice on the local freshmen though with some taking over two hours to finally remember everyone. After this we were summoned back to learn the floor creed and the floor song which we proceded to sing and chant until we had learned it off by heart. (I will post them up another day) The whole experience was quite scary actually, probably the closest I have ever been to being part of a cult or a fraternity. Anyway we were finally dismissed at about 2.30am which was difficult as I had to be at university at 9.30 the next day.

The second night was not so bad. This was our 'sport night' so we walked down the road to the nearby public garden and played soccer for about three hours on a concrete half-size field. It was good fun as it was really hard to score since the goals were so small. Therefore the only way to get the ball through was to kick it as hard as you could at the goalkeeper himself and hope that he moved out of the way. We finished at around 9.00 leading me to hope that it would be an early night. Of course there another task to be done. The freshmen were to cook the currents dinner and they wanted hotpot! We were given $1000 and told to borrow any additional utentials we might need from other floors. Having hotpot was actually good fun. What is basically involves is getting a bunch of 40L pots of boiling water filled with either curry powder or some other spice and cooking yourself peices of vegetables, strips of beef (very expensive) and fish balls. It was very hard to get a look in for the first few minutes as the guys pounced on this table of food like a bunch of gorillas having a feeding frenzy. The food was delicious but perhaps not very hygenic. Jason, one of the Americans on my floor came down with food poisoning the next day.

We got a a little reprieve on the third night as it was our hall high table dinner. This is a monthly event where everyine dresses up and has a formal dinner together complete with boring speeches (even more so since it was in Cantonese) and dignitory procession etc. At least I got to bed at a reasonable hour.

The following night we had a joint floor event with the girls from the fifth floor. This involved us breaking into groups beforehand and cooking up a dish for everone to share later on. Unfortunantely no-one here can cook anything that involves more then boiling water so all we got was a bunch of dishes that was a variation of either fish balls or noodles. Somebody had even made a fruit salad (from a can I bet!) for dessert with cut up sausages in it! A dessert with meat in it! Now I have seen everything. The night finished however with a massive water fight which was definitely the highlight of the week.

The next night was 'fitness' or might I say torture. First of all we divided up into groups of about six or seven (at the least the currents had to take part as well) where between us we had to do 700 push-ups, 700 sit-ups and 400 "crazy jacks" (where you do a push up, leep to your feet and jump as high as you can and repeat). After this we were made to run from the hall to Ocean Park which is a theme park about 10-15km away. Needless to say this was the biggest distance I had ever run continuously in my life. After we got there (at about midnight), each of us (the freshmen) was given $1 (about 17c), made to hand in the our room keys and additional cash and told to find our own way home. I think the idea was that we should walk (which would have taken two hours) or hitchhike. The others however decided to catch a taxi and borrow money of other people in the hall when they got back. When the currents found out about this however thay became extrmemly angry and started yelling at us (which meant nothing to me since I couldn't understand what they were saying). Apparently what we did wasn't in the 'sprit of the activity' and as punishment they made us run to Kennedy Town and back (about 4-5km down the hill and then back up it). I have never felt so sore in my life.

On the final night is internationals got a reprieve. It was MO night or 'mass orientation' which ran from 7pm that night to almost 6am the next morning. Basically each freshmen was required to stand up for an hour and be interrorgated by the others on things ranging from dietary habits to their relationship with their roommate etc. As the entire session was conducted in Cantonese there was no point in us attending so we basically kept a low profile that night out of sympathy for your fellow floormates.

Some of you may be asking why I put up with all of this, especially some of the harder activities such as the running. As an international student I was actually not obliged to take part in any hall activity if I didn't want to. I have been told however that the whole hall culture thing is something unique to Hong Kong. Therefore I am glad that I experienced it even though it hasn't always been pleasant. Going on exchange is all about new experiences and this is what this was.

Stay safe everyone!

Catching up

Sorry I have not posted for so long. I have been really busy (and tired). I have a lot of things to talk about so I am going to just put up a few different posts all at once. Also if you are bored, email me! I would love to hear how you are all going.

Email to s4076958@student.uq.edu.au

Oh yeah, it is also great to see the Broncos are in the grand final. About time! Too bad I won't get to see them play. Keep reading and you'll seee why.

China and ....earthquakes?

Yes that's right, earthquakes. Apparently a small one (a 4 point something) struck here tonight. I'm not sure if I felt it or not but I was on the subway at about the time is was supposed to happen and the train did rock (which doesn't normally happen as the subways here are flawless). I was going under the harbour as well at the time so it could have been a near death experience...hmmm...but don't worry, I'm still alive and well!! Today was also exciting for another reason. I was finally granted my Chinese visa. Yes, Matt's heading for Mainland China!! When and where I'm going I still haven't figured out but I'm going!!

What's more some the Americans that are staying in my hall are talking about going on trips around Asia, especially as some long weekends are coming up. From Hong Kong it is really cheap to get anywhere in Asia. The other day I saw tickets to Singapore for HK$200 (under A$40!). I'm still haven't decided whether I should go or not. I am studying 6 subjects...Singapore, Malaysia, Phillipines or econometrics? Tough choice.

Stay safe.
Matt

Notice...

Now that I have started to slip into the monotony of university I may not have have the need to update this blog that often. I will continue to try and put up at least one post a week (or more if something interesting happens) to let you know what I am up to so please continue to check up on me!

Good luck to all the people back at UQ with you midsemesters etc.

Also I would like to extend my congratulations to Eloise, James and Emma for gaining new roles within AIESEC for next year. I'm sure you will all do a wonderful job.

Stay safe.
Matt

Uni finally starts

I'm sorry I have been a little lazy with this blog over the last few days. I have been very busy. A lot has happended not the least being the fact that university has finally returned!! It's been a very nice few months but it is time I got the brain into gear and stop acting like I am on holidays.

The lecturers are suprisingly very easy to understand. I knew in advance that almost all of them are locals so I was hoping that I could understand them. It was a relief to find that not only was their english excellent but some of them had barely any accents at all. I've had worst lectures back home.

Anyway the last few days have been great. I have taken the opportunity to explore some of the outlying islands as well as Macau.

For all of you that don't know Macau is a former Portuguese colony which has also been returned to China and enjoys a similar status to Hong Kong in terms of political systems. Anyway Macau is currently in the process of becoming the gaming capital of the Orient and the entire territory is a construction site. It is also filled with reminents of its colonial past with lovely Portuguese buildings, tiled streets and beautiful churches. However the people as a whole are generally less wealthy then their Hong Kong neighbours and barely anyone speaks English (all the street signs are still in Portuguese). The weather was wonderful and it was nowhere as polluted as HK. We couldn't get into any of the casinos however as we were to underdressed. Probably the best cost-saving decision I made!

The next day I tagged along with a bunch of Americans to the tiny island of Cheung Chau. As the island is less then three square kilometers it is home to a few thousand people who either commute to Hong Kong everyday or irk out a living from the sea. There are no cars at all on the island so we rented a few bikes for the day and explored temples, beaches and a beachside cave which was supposedly where pirates who once operated from the island hid their treasure.

Enjoy the photos.

The pollution disappears at night

Pollution in Hong Kong is becoming a very big problem. At least it's not as bad at night. Believe it or not, during the day when this picture was taken, you could barely see across the harbour through the smog.

You wouldn't believe this at night.

My crazy hallmates....

I don't think I have mentioned the most bizarre aspect of hall life. At the moment each hall is undertaking something called a O-Camp which I guess has something to do with orientation. Basically all it involves is the local students running around the city like crazy doing certain tasks and spending the rest of the day doing warcries and chants. They only sleep for around two hours a day. Hell of a way to get to know each other better.

Here's a picture of them running back from somewhere back towards the hall.

And...it even has beaches

One of the little things I have dicovered about Hong Kong is the fact there are tonnes of beaches here. When ever I have thorght of HK in the past I have always envisioned a big, crowded Asian city. Well I'm glad I have been proven wrong. Take a look at this! (Too bad about the sunburn though!)

Living it up in HK

Today would have had to have the best day so far in Hong Kong. Where else sould you go where else could you go where you would spend the days in karaoke bars with the locals and spend the nights drinking until 3am with people from all over the world.

Last night I discover Lan Kwai Fong which is the bar district and basically the local hangout of almost every westerner in Hong Kong. I hooked up with a group of about twenty exchange students (Americans, Canadians, French, Dutch, Brits, Swedes, Argintines), it was a VERY good night. Too bad about the obcene prices for alcohol here. It was about A$8-11 for a beer, depending where you go. It is a price one must pay though. I am currently working out what essentials I can cut out in order to make this a nightly habit...

Stairs with a view

Today I was invited by a few of the others from UQ and some other internationals (2 Americans, a German and a Pom) to climb the Peak.

For all of you that don't know, the peak is the highest point on Hong Kong island and offer the most awesome views of the harbour. It was a very interestng experience. Today was about 31 degress and 95% humidity so naturally I took about 2 litres of water with me as it was about a 8km walk straight up a mountain. Unfortuantely some of the Europeans did not think so far ahead with one girl setting off in sandles and no water at all. We only got about halfway when I was basically watering four of us least someone collapse of heat exhustion.

The view was well worth it though.

P.S. Thanks to all the people who have either commented or emailed me. It's good to feel loved!

No place like home

Well my prison cell is becoming a little more like home.

From this...


to this...

I finally have internet!! (to a degree)

Now I know the dates are wrong but it has taken me awhile to gain access to the internet.

26/08/2006

Today has been a very long day. The flight was fairly pleasant. I flew with Qantas who were fairly good. The food however was very dodgy. Also I was not prepared for the behaviour of the Chinese people. They are extremely loud, yelling from one end of the cabin to the other. Unfortunately me and Ruimin (another girl from UQ) could not sit together but we were not too far apart. She is quite a cool chick actually, easy to talk to. I hope I can catch up with her and the other Queenslanders soon.

Landing in Hong Kong was a total surprise. I knew it would be humid but the humidity level is just unbelievable. I was a little concerned at the beginning as I could not find my buddy Agnes. However I did find her cousin and eventually her and took a bus to the hall where I am staying.

The hall. Now that was a shock in itself. I don’t know how to describe it…it’s a bit like a prison cell. Very basic. I guess I just have to make the most of it. Agnes took me to buy an international phone card and some dinner at the hospital across the road. She is coming back on Monday to make sure I get all my registration in order. However I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow. I feel trapped in my cell. I don’t speak the language, don’t really know where I am or who to ask for help. I can’t even get the phone card to work. I tried talking to the lady downstairs about it but she speaks no English. Oh why oh why did the British leave? I will have to find a payphone tomorrow.

Anyway I will try and get some sleep if it is possible in this humidity. Tomorrow should be interesting.

27/08/06

Hooray! I finally managed to get on to my parents. That was after I squandered almost $5 trying to get the payphone to work. After finding an English language newspaper (still no internet) and catching up on the world, I decided to explore this new city. I managed to use a bus and it got me nearly to where I wanted to go. I wanted to go to the ferry terminal but I got off at Hong Kong station because everyone else was. I think the bus would have gone further.

Suffering in the humidity I made a beeline for the nearest air-con. I ended up in a shopping mall which was frightening. Every brand you could think of was there. Prada, Calvin Kline, Louie Veton, everything. As you would expect I did not stay there long. I then made my way to the Middle levels in search of the Catholic cathedral but ended exploring Sheung Wan. This area was quite overpowering. It was sort of the old Hong Kong/Shanghai you see in black and white photos. The streets were narrow, the shops full of trinkets and antiques and the buildings looking run down and discrepant. I eventually came across the Man Mo temple which was charming although I almost choked on the incense. It was unfortunately full of about two busloads of Poms so was lacking a little in atmosphere.

I then continued my elusive search for the Catholic cathedral when I came across this bizarre outside escalator which wound itself around the increasingly steep hills. I did finally find it after wondering around for about an hour in the sunshine and humidity by crossing six lanes of traffic and leaping over a traffic barrier.

Having found a source of spiritual salvation I headed back to Central and caught one the famous Star ferries to Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon for the hell of it. Unfortunately this day of prolonged exposure to chaos was starting to take its toll as I headed up Nathan Road in what was supposedly one of the main tourist areas of Hong Kong. Not only did I not see one white person, in the space of five minutes I had been approached more then twenty times by a number of Indians and long-bearded Muslims offering me tailored suits, watches and other things. This combined with the massive waves of people that continued to push me down the street was enough to send me running to the nearest subway station and back to the (by comparison) serenity of Hong Kong island.

All that was left was finding a bus that would take me back to the hall. This was major challenge as I was so disorientated that I didn’t even know which side of the street I should be heading for. It took me about an hour of walking in circles (back amongst the horror of Calvin Klein and Gucci) before I found a suitable bus and stumbled back home.

Welcome

First let me tell you a little about myself. I'm a twenty year old student from Brisbane, Australia. I still live at home with both my parents, have two brothers as well as a dog and a cockatiel. I'm single, work in a supermarket and am about to embark on what is hopefully going to be the biggest life changing experience. I hope you all get something out of reading this.