Ni Hao, Hong Kong: Typhoon Season

June is the rainiest month in HK and the past week has felt like Florida. You can count on rain at some point, but the skies could be clear 30min. before and after. We're currently in typhoon season and the local students anticipate that the rain could signal a coming typhoon. Only a typhoon 8 will cancel classes, and right now the watch is just 3. All this really means is that the rain is interfering with my tourism! On Saturday we did not leave the hostel and on Sunday we went to Central to enjoy the afternoon sunshine. I spent my day at the botanical garden which was both free and beautiful! Afterward I tried to catch the 8pm light show, but it started raining about a half hour prior to start.

The garden had mammalian, avian, and reptilian sections

Fountain in the garden

Ominous clouds over the Avenue of Stars

Yesterday I again messed up my Mandarin characters quiz, but I feel like I'm learning.. and that's what counts. Today was awesome, however. Instead of lecture, my Government and Politics professor scheduled a visit to the Hong Kong Election Information Office on HK Island. I think the local students were bored, but I learned a ton! Here I was thinking Hong Kong was democratic, but in reality the people do not have universal suffrage. They can vote for district council representatives, but these DC representatives only communicate their constituents' ideas to the chief executive. The chief executive is selected by just 1,200 individuals and must be PRC approved. Some of the 1,200 are elected, but religious institutions can directly appoint (no voting) their 60 guaranteed members and the China People's Political Consultative Conference also appoints its guaranteed representatives. This is not the forum to discuss extensively as the details are complicated, but I loved learning more about the One Country, Two Systems (which I have chosen as my final presentation and paper topic).

Afterwards our professor invited interested students out to lunch where my classmates made me try traditional Hong Kong food - Singaporean fried noodle (still unsure how that's "local") and milk tea. The noodle was great - the milk tea, eh. Worth noting is that iced drinks cost about HK$3-$6 more here. The city water is not potable and an American told me they import ice because it's cheaper than purifying. Not sure if that's true, but I cannot wait to drink so much ice water upon my return. After lunch two of my group members took me around the famous shopping district Causeway Bay. I don't understand what I did to deserve the kindness of so many Hong Kong people. My professor picked up my lunch bill and these girls just wanted to enhance my experience. I wish I saw more of this in America. It makes me feel guilty for not being more engaging with international students in my classes, particularly when I already had friends in the class.