big footsteps across the world

Hey all, sorry haven't been posting. Busy, somewhat, with school, but mostly other things like exploring and having a good time.

So... I'll start at last sunday. It was just a day of wandering and getting to see the city. We started out from campus and took the minibus to Hang Hau where we caught the MTR to Central. At Central, we roamed around for a bit, then decided to take the Ferry across Victoria Harbor. It was great, some wonderful views of Hong Kong, both the Island and across on Kowloon Penninsula. I got most of them loaded, but had troulbe with the last two. I'll try it again tomorrow maybe.

This is a pic looking back at HK Island, not sure what the building is, but cool looking

Another pic looking back at the Island. Can see the mountain/hill on the other side of the buildings. Will most likely go to the top this weekend. Some amazing views of Hong Kong from up there.

Picture of Victoria Harbour

This was the ferry that took us across. Really cheap, only HK$2.2 and that's for riding on the top, even cheaper down below.

Random picture of Tsim Sha Tsui, the part of town across the harbour from Central.

Serena, Jack, me and Sungi, stopping at a stand after the ferry ride

Nancy and me on the ferry

Me, Serena, nancy, sungi and jack

In another post I'll show some pictures of the campus, this one's too long. Also will post the other two Victoria Harbour pictures, along with new ones hopefully.

On Sunday or Monday night, can't remember which, a hallmate came and met me(I had a sign on my door telling people to meet me, but no one came ever, so I took it down, then he came, kind of funny). His name is james, no picture yet, but soon will, and he's also a member of the Dragon Boat Club. Right from the getgo he wanted me to join, but I wasn't quite sure about it. I talked with him that first night, just about random things, and he also had lots of questions about me and where i am from. His girlfriend, Claire also came in and talked for awhile. Since that first night, i've been staying up late with both of them answering and asking more questions. Claire has an english exam tomorrow, so she was excited that she was getting practice for the oral part. Now hopefully she won't be as nervous. Also tomorrow i'm going with james to the science museum with a group of kids that he volunteers with. That should be fun, and learning too!!

On another note, I did join the Dragon Boat Club, and also the Badminton Club. They both should be a lot of fun, and it'll be nice too, since they have workout schedules. Yesterday was the first day, and also the first time i've ran in probably close to 4 or more years. WoW, not in too much pain today, so gonna do it again tonight. I'm probably stupid, but maybe I can lose some of the weight I've put on this summer and over the last year. Dragon Boat has training on Monday and Thursday nights, along with water training on the weekend. Nothing is mandatory, so will never conflict with anything. Also, i'm an exchange student, so I think i can do whatever i want. Badminton club has practices once a week, so that's awesome since i tried to book a court(yeah, the gym is that busy with badminton), and the scheduling didn't work, and I wasn't able to play. But now, this is guaranteed playing, yay!! The people at the table for signing up, also had me check the box trying out for the team. I'm not so sure about that, but you never know. I think that would be fun, a white guy on a badminton team here in Hong Kong. I doubt that happens very much. I think practice for badminton starts next week, so it's a good thing i'm trying to get in shape, then i won't tire as easily while on the court.

On Tuesday night, Luke, Liz, and a group of us went out to Sai Kung, a town on the same side of Hong Kong as UST is. There was an Irish Pub there(unfortunately no irish folk music), and the beers were only HK$25. Pretty good price, considering you can easily spend $100 for a can of beer downtown in Hong Kong. I have yet to do that, and not looking forward to it when we do go downtown. Maybe I'll have to stop at the 7-11 and pick up a beer before going into the bar.

Classes are going good, interesting and learning a lot. Have some homework in Calc due next thursday so hope to get a jump on that this weekend. I think that's about it. Will have more pics coming soon. Talk to you all later.

Bill

--also, email me if you want to. Not sure who all checks this out, but if you want a personal letter, i'd be more than happy to write. Addresses are also accepted, but will take longer for a postcard than an email, thanks mein0068@umn.edu