During my junior year in college, I studied abroad at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. I would say that it was the time I think about the most whenever I look back to my college days. There is just something about taking yourself away from everything that you've known, and starting over in a place where you don't know anybody and don't know your way around. Of course, my half fluency in Cantonese and non-ability to read Chinese didn't help either.

I think that this year when I began to focus more on taking scenic photos. I was on a quest to take the perfect pictures. I suppose it has to do with all those postcards I looked at while traveling. You know, they're so perfect and beautiful that the place doesn't do justice to the postcards! All I want to do is sell just ONE of my photos to a postcard company and have it sit on a rack in a souvenir shop.

At any rate, I won't go on and on about my time there on this page. Perhaps I'll do that on another page (if I ever get around to finishing this one!). Enjoy the pictures!!

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, (8.30.97 - 5.30.98)
Somewhere towards the northern part of the New Territories was where I spent 9 wonderful months. Here are some pictures of the University. I didn't take many pictures of the buildings since they were not particularly interesting. The best and worst thing about the campus was that it sat on the side of a mountain. It provided a gorgeous view of everything around you, but the hike was gruesome whenever the shuttle bus stopped running for the night. Thank goodness I lived in a dorm at the bottom of the mountain, really close to the train station. Some of my classmates, on the other hand, were not as fortunate.

Dorm Life
There were many different dorms located throughout the campus. Here are some of various people and activities in the dorms.

Around the Town
Here are some random photos that I took while exploring the city.

Sai Kung Hiking, (4.28.98)

Boat Party, (Mar 98)
One day, Carrie and I decided that it would be really fun to organize a boat party for our program classmates and other friends. So, we rented a boat, bought some food and drinks, and had ourselves a party. In the morning, we sailed to a small outlying island where we spent most of the day, and then sailed back to Hong Kong Island in the evening. We had about 50 people attend this "booze cruise," where everybody had a fun time.

The Peak & Cheesecake (1.19.98)
For my 21st birthday, I went out with a few closer friends and had dinner up at Victoria Peak. The view was great, although it was extremely windy and cold. After dinner, we went back to the Graduate Student dorms, where Jeff H. had secretly had a bunch of other programmates waiting to surprise me with champaign and New York Cheesecake. Hmm... how did they get the cheesecake to Hong Kong? It was really a great surprise to see so many friends there wishing me a happy birthday.

Cake, Plum Wine, And Tai Po (1.12.98)
"Never sicker" were the words that came out of Carrie's mouth the next day. Hmm.. as I recall, those weren't the only things that came out of her mouth. For her 21st birthday, we went out to eat dinner at the Ma On Shan Mall. Later, we gathered on the rooftop of Hostel 1 of Shaw College and had more cake with some Choya (plum wine). Later on, we headed to Tai Po for some food and more drinks. Since it was Carrie's birthday, she was apparently obligated to drink with everybody who toasted to her. After some drinks, she foolishly played drinking games, which she stinks at, so that led to more drinks. Of course, drinking apparently has no effect on her vocabulary since she managed to say, "Alcohol has a somniferous effect on me." By the end of the night, she was pretty much saying hello to random people on the street while others walked the stumbling Carrie into a taxi and back to her dorm.