August 14, 2009

Some experiences are seemingly unremarkable when we live them and prove to be significant only afterwards, glittering like gems hidden under layers of cortical detritus and beckoning us to unearth them through reflection. Other experiences are not latent and are immediately meaningful.

Looking back on my time in Hong Kong, I realize it’s one of those wondrously unusual and amazingly free times, often becoming preciously rare as age increases, responsibilities accumulate, bills pile up, and life accelerates.

This summer was a space delineated and differentiated from the usual humdrum routine, a magical space of possibility, a blank canvas, a vast field of immaculate fresh-fallen snow just waiting to be sculpted into various forms.

I look back on my shared experiences with exceptionally generous Columbia alumni, affable co-interns, and hospitable Hong Kongers with fondness. Ivy Ball, squid fishing, hiking, regular weekday lunches with Alex and Aileen in Central at our favorite cha chaan teng where a Henan lady welcomed us with warm smiles and kind words.

The memories, no longer fresh and vivid, become sweet and fuzzy, glowing like the remaining embers of a crackling campfire by which smores have been roasted and ghost stories traded under a glittering, star-studded sky.

August 14, 2009 My friends from kickboxing

Throughout this summer I have appreciated the wonders of Hong Kong, explored new interests, and had valuable work as well as networking experiences.  I have been especially fortunate to meet some amazing people from both Columbia and Hong Kong with whom, I have no doubt, I will maintain lasting friendships. 

Although the adventure, the food, and the opportunity for international work experience were the main factors in my choice to come to Hong Kong, what allowed me to have such a great time were the people around me.  I worked in a relatively small office and although not everyone got along so well, all the regular workers treated me and the other interns fairly.  Oftentimes I would find some of them going out of their way to help me out by replacing a broken battery charger, helping me buy Cantonese opera tickets, or showing me around Hong Kong and Macau.  I also met two amazing friends in kickboxing class, Yan and Joey.  They were a bit older tMe checking in for my flight back homehan me and kind of adopted me for a month or so.  They showed me around all the parts of Hong Kong I hadn't explored for myself.  I knew I could call them anytime if I got lost or I needed the Chinese name of a place to give to a taxi driver. I left my family in the US and gained one in Hong Kong.  My last day in Hong Kong, they insisted that I let one of them help me carry my bags to check in for my flight.  I'm really glad I got to spend time with Yan and Joey during my last night in Hong Kong.

Although my internship involved a lot of administrative worGoodbye lunch with my coworkersk, I was also able to do to a lot of research on epilepsy.  I, of course, researched the driving laws, but I also got a chance to research more scientific aspects of epilepsy to help one of my coworkers improve the PowerPoint presentation they use for epilepsy education training.  Being able to learn more about epilepsy, or rather the lack of information on it, has made me even more excited to go into the quickly developing field of neuroscience.

This summer has been a fascinating learning experience.  Choosing to participate in this internship rather than staying in New York to continue researching in a lab was a good choice.  During the summer I connected with people on the other side of the world, participated in an internship that wasn't necessarily following the path of a pre-med student, and blended into Hong Kong society.   

If you like what you read here, please check out my real blog, Easily Amused. Yes, I own my own domain. I am that cool.

 

There’s a digging machine at a construction site near my workplace in Hong Kong Central. Enormous, cylindrical, and piston-shaped, it prepares the foundation of a new building on Pedder Street by driving a sheer metal shaft at least two feet in diameter into hard, raw concrete. When steel collides with stone, the ground shakes and an ear-splitting clangor pulsates through the air as the threatening piston trembles and rises to strike again. An auditory manifestation of the city's pace of development, the piston slams into the ground again and again – a metronome beating out the urban tempo.

Presto

The monotonous impacts can be heard from several city blocks away. They create a frenetic rhythm. Legions of business people, coolies, and restaurant workers dash to and fro. Swarm this way and that. Point A to point B. They shield their ears. But they can still feel the machine pounding away. It's under their feet. Reverberating through their legs. Vibrating up their spines. It resonates beneath their scalps. Within their joints. Deep into the ventricles of their hearts.

Allegro

Victoria Peak can be reached by taking the Peak Tram railcar, but the rewarding route is taken by those who offer their sweat and energy for a communion with nature instead of exchanging money for air-conditioned comfort in yet another real estate developer’s creation.

View of Pok Fu Lam Reservoir en route to Victoria Peak

A gazebo on Governor's Walk atop the Peak

"At present, in this vicinity, the best part of the land is not private property; the landscape is not owned, and the walker enjoys comparative freedom. But possibly the day will come when it will be partitioned off into so-called pleasure-grounds, in which a few will take a narrow and exclusive pleasure only, - when fences shall be multiplied, and man-traps and other engines invented to confine men to the public road, and walking over the surface of God's earth shall be construed to mean trespassing on some gentleman's grounds. To enjoy a thing exclusively is commonly to exclude yourself from the true enjoyment of it. Let us improve our opportunities, then, before the evil days to come." - Henry David Thoreau, "Walking"

HK at night from the Peak

Moderato

The Dragon’s Back trail is so named because the undulating ups and downs of this path through hills and valleys makes you think you’re treading on the spine of a prostrated beast. The trail is gentle and gives marvelous views of beaches teeming with sun-seeking leisure goers, yachts making their way through the South China Sea, and far-flung uninhabited islands.

Dragon's Back trail

Shek O Peak

I went to Shek O beach on the anniversary of HK's SAR establishment day (July 1). Apparently, so did the rest of HK.

Andante

The weather on mountaintops is extremely unpredictable. One moment, it’s completely sunny with vistas of towering mountain ranges and vast tracts of sprawling urban centers; the next moment, you’ll find yourself engulfed in rolling plumes of mist and unable to see anything more than several meters away. As the winds push super humid air up the mountains, temperatures drop and clouds materialize, hanging mysteriously in fragile formations as the air sweats out its latent water. It’s a wondrously otherworldly experience to walk in these clouds. You feel like you’re venturing through some alternate dimension suspended between heaven and Earth. Look up and all you see is clouds; look down and even the ground seems to fade from view as the mist swarms around your legs. Suddenly, a slit opens in the clouds above unleashing a flood of sunlight, and all the mist around you evaporates just as quickly as it appeared.

Golden Orb Spider (Nephila pilipes) can grow to 50mm in length and spin webs three feet wide that have yellow orbs on some strands and are strong enough to capture small birds.

Adagio

After an entire week of crowds, fumes, and fluorescent lights, I retreat to the beaches of Shek O, the woods of Sai Kung Country Park, or the peaks of Ma On Shan. Here, there’s no trace of the daily grind, urban throngs, or artificial amenities. The mountains are a sanctuary where I get my weekly fix of solitude, wholesome air, and Mother Nature.

I ran out of stuff to say. Shocking, I know. So here's a bunch of photos for your mindless viewing pleasure.

Lantau Island

268 steps lead to the Tian Tan Buddha on Lantau Island

We're so proud of Eugene. He finished all 268 steps.

The Wisdom Path features calligraphy from the Heart Sutra carved into thick, upright tree trunks.

Landslides? Screw that. We're going.

"Life consists with wildness. The most alive is the wildest. Not yet subdued to man, its presence refreshes him. One who pressed forward incessantly and never rested from his labors, who grew fast and infinite demands on life, would always find himself in a new country or wilderness, and surrounded by the raw material of life. He would be climbing over the prostrate stems of primitive forest-trees." – Henry David Thoreau, "Walking"

Looking up towards Lantau Peak, second highest peak in HK, its summit shrouded in mist. (photo courtesy of Yipeng Huang)

South side of Lantau (photo courtesy of Yipeng Huang)

Ma On Shan

Ngong Ping mountains in Sai Kung catching the sunlight.

Snapping a photo of a butterfly at a fire watch tower overlooking Kau Sai Chau

Sharp Island off the coast of Sai Kung town

Ascending Ma On Shan aka Horse Saddle Mountain

"For I believe that climate does thus react on man, - as there is something in the mountain-air that feeds the spirit and inspires. Will not man grow to greater perfection intellectually as well as physically under these influences?...I trust that we shall be more imaginative, that our thoughts will be clearer, fresher, and more ethereal, as our sky, - our understanding more comprehensive and broader, like our plains, - our intellect generally on a grander scale, like our thunder and lightning, our rivers and mountains and forests, - and our hearts shall even correspond in breadth and depth and grandeur to our inland seas." - Henry David Thoreau, "Walking"

Preparing for the final ascent up the cliff

"...the natural remedy is to be found in the proportion which the night bears to the day, the winter to the summer, thought to experience. There will be so much the more air and sunshine in our thoughts. The callous palms of the laborer are conversant with finer tissues of self-respect and heroism, whose touch thrills the heart, than the languid fingers of idleness. That is mere sentimentality that lies abed by day and thinks itself white, far from the tan and callus of experience." - Henry David Thoreau, "Walking"

Sun's rays filtering through the clouds onto Sha Tin

"But there is another kind of seeing that involves a letting go. When I see this way I sway transfixed and emptied...The secret of seeing is to sail on solar wind. Hone and spread your spirit till you yourself are a sail, whetted, translucent, broadside to the merest puff." - Annie Dillard, "Seeing"

Sha Tin at dusk

Evening clouds over Sai Kung

July 23, 2009 Container Port

The day after I submitted my second blog all the interns gathered for the long-awaited visit to the container port. Row upon row of all different kinds of cargos being transported by numerous ships, cranes, and trucks.  The massive scale, diversity, and efficiency of the port resonated throughout each part we visited, from the port itself to the air-conditioned offices in the control tower. The visit left a strong impression of not only the importance of Hong Kong's port in global shipping but also the rapidly growing economy of China as a whole. This impression has only been strengthened after meeting with a representative from the US Consulate General, the President of the American Chamber of Commerce, and the CEO of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (a briefing with these individuals was arranged by one of the Columbia Experience Overseas employers).  They also spoke of China's growth in comparison to the hard economic times presently suffered by the West and those who depend on their economy.  Before I even applied for the internship I have been debating whether or not to take Chinese and these events along with my general experience in Hong Kong have convinced me to take Mandarin (although Cantonese is the official language in Hong Kong it is spoken in few other places) this upcoming fall semester. This skill, along with English and Spanish, would allow me to get around in most places around the world. I have really enjoyed being a global citizen and becoming more aware of the interconnection between people of very different cultures as they all strive toward similar goals.

Shinyoung and me exploring Cheung Chau island

The following weekend, Shinyoung and I left relatively early to catch a ferry to a small island called Cheung Chau. Our first stop upon arrival, fresh seafood! After the meal we began our journey along the winding pathway leading around the island.  We passed two beautiful beaches then climbed up the trail for the awe-inspiring views at the top. Due to the possible typhoon that day (and other plans) we both left early from the island leaving many places yet unexplored. This turned out to be a good decision since soon after arriving on the mainland typhoon 3 was announced and later that evening it went all the way up to typhoon 9. After Cheung Chau, Shinyoung and I went our separate ways and I continued on to visit Stanley Market to buy souvenirs for my family.  Later on we met up again for a free screening of Harry Potter (which was pretty good) and left the theater to find the weather had taken a turn for the worse.  We quickly got back to the MTR to return home.  I fell asleep to the raging sounds of the storm.

One of the coolest things I've gone to Is the Muay Thai tournament last Sunday. I have continued to attend classes and this was the perfect chance to see the guys from our gym in action.  I went with two other girls from the gym, and we got spots right next to the ring because we had nice cameras.  One of the guys in charge did everything in his power to make sure we got shots of everything so we could send them to him later on. We were so close, at one point during the match the fighters slammed into the side of the ring and we could feel their sweat splashing over us. It was pretty gross but still kind of cool. Their power, speed, and energy were incredible. One fighter got hit so hard he fell to the ground and lost by KO.  To top it all off our Sifu ("master in Chinese), Billy Chau, who had been in Canada for the past 2 years, was there to support the fighters. Billy Chau was once the world champion in Muay Thai kickboxing and has acted in movies with other famous martial artist such as Jet Li and Jackie Chan.  Needless to say the excitement and momentum of my stay in Hong Kong hasn't slowed a bit!

Muay Thai tournament

Attempting to learn kickboxing

 

July 12, 2009

HK's Central district is the analogue of NYC's Wall Street.  is here that multi-billion dollar banking giants like Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) and Standard Chartered Bank stake out their territories. Garden Road and Cotton Tree Drive are mere slivers of pavement wedged between the towering high-rises of Bank of China and Citibank. Between these two buildings lies the oldest Anglican church in the Far East. Even though St. John's Cathedral has been here since 1849, it's dwarfed by the neighboring financial skyscrapers and looks strangely out of place. Its stone frame, rose window, lancet arches, and trifoils contrast jarringly with the surrounding urban jungle made of glass and steel.

 

Exchange Square

St. John's Cathedral

Bank of China Tower

My workplace is right in the very thick of this jungle on the eighth floor of Exchange Square Two. I'm interning at a German strategy consulting firm called Roland Berger. Right now I'm preparing pages in a report to the German Federal Ministry of Economics on the business attractiveness of China's western provinces. My boss is great. She's down to Earth, understanding, and receptive to suggestions. At the same time, she's firm, exacting, and generally just on top of her stuff. My internship is of the hit the ground running, no hand holding, lots of latitude type.  

I have no idea what the other floors of Exchange Square Two look like (perhaps an adventure for another time), but the eighth floor, besides being auspicious to Chinese people, is managed by The Executive Center, a company that rents out and services offices. The floor is excellently furnished and has dark earthy colors. There are bookshelves with books ranging from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer to The Droll Stories of Honoré de Balzac. A giant silver colored trophy to the Jones Lang LaSalle company for winning the Young Executives Network's 5-A-side Corporate Football Tournament sits on another shelf. My favorite spaces are the kitchens which have espresso machines. You can make yourself a cup of ristretto, espresso forte, decaffeinato, or coffé forte by inserting a UFO-shaped packet into the machine's mouth.

Workplace kitchen

July 10, 2009

Work has really picked up these last couple of weeks.  Kevin, Eunice, and I submitted our first proposal to the complaints office who then referred us to the office of transportation as the most direct way to push for change.  In our new proposal to the transportation office we decided it would be appropriate to use New York's epilepsy driving laws as a model.  Both have similar transportation systems and population density, so many of the concerns about people with epilepsy being allowed to drive are similar.  If we don't receive a satisfactory answer from the transportation office we will arrange a meeting with HK's legislative council.  It's pretty exciting that we have been getting answers so quickly. Unfortunately even at the pace we are going we probably wouldn't meet with the legislative council until early September after all of the interns are back in school.  It's nice to personally see a project to completion, but just knowing it's getting done is satisfactory enough.

Lately, when I'm not working, I'm off to Muay Thai kickboxing class (or studying for the MCAT, but no one wants to hear about that, blah!). The people are friendly, the workout is great, and the gym is near the dorm.  Can't get much better... Well, maybe it could if the instructors spoke English.  Although in retrospect, I think I have been learning faster because I have to watch much more carefully to balance the language barrier.  All I understand is "Yut. Yee.  Yut.  Yee" (1, 2, 1, 2) to signal left and right punch. Otherwise I lag a step behind until I figure out the pattern.  Left, right, hook, kick, uppercut, etc.  Luckily the trainer has been very understanding.  They even invited me to go on a boat trip with them at the end of July!  It's going to be awesome if the weather holds up.

Big Buddha on Lamma IslandThat's about it for my average weekday experience, now onto the weekend excursions.  A couple of weeks ago, four of us interns braved a visit to Lamma Island despite Typhoon 3 warnings the previous day (Warning: do not try at home! or anywhere for that matter). The weather was actually pretty cool, which was a nice break from the constant heat.  The hike would have been wonderful if it weren't for the torrential downpour, which completely soaked us.  Even so, we saw a lot of beautiful scenery and the seafood was fresh and amazing! Another great trip was going to see the Big Buddha (the largest in all of Asia) on Lantau Island.  I went to the statue via cable car and got the most breathtaking views of the mountains and the city.  They had a lot of great (cheap) souvenirs and a delicious vegetarian restaurant, which donates its profits to charity.  After climbing up the rather lengthy flight of steps, I reached the Buddha statue on the top of one of the numerous mountains in the area.  There was

Me and my coworkers at the Peak Tram

a nice breeze and the view, of course, was superb.  Not only did I get to see the Buddha up close, I saw all the mountains surrounding the area and even distant islands and beaches.  Needless to say, I left very satisfied. The sun even came out for a bit and lit up the mountain range. 

My most recent outing was actually this past week after work.  My coworkers invited me to go to Victoria Peak ("the Peak), a mountain overlooking Hong Kong's main city area. Sadly, the Peak tram was under construction that day so instead we took the bus all the way up.  It was late by the time we got there and the trail we went on was dark and silent, at least until we started laughing, talking, and flashing our cameras.  We had a blast together.  They took me around the entire path.  Along the way I was able to see the full splendor of Hong Kong at night.  The flashing buildings, peaceful harbor, dark mountains, and gliding ships. We left late and all of us were yawning at work the next day, but no one would deny that it was totally worth it.

Victoria Harbour at night

June 25, 2009 

A day spent experiencing HK's Mass Transit Railway (MTR) is enough to put any urban-dwelling American to shame.

HK subway stations are massive. Unlike NYC Metro stations that usually only take up one city block with four exits, HK's subway stations occupy the space of three to four blocks with as many as ten exits. Inside, they are brightly lit, extremely clean, outfitted with dozens of escalators, and don't smell like urine. Little stores selling snacks ranging from individually-plastic-wrapped pigs in a blanket to HK-style milk tea (奶茶), a beverage made of tea and condensed milk, line MTR subway stations. It's impossible to fall onto the tracks since a wall of glass extends from the edge of the platform to the station's ceiling along the entire length of the docking area. Each time a train stops at a station, the doors of its trolleys align almost perfectly with the outer glass doors - which is quite a feat of precision since these trains go pretty darn fast.

Morning and evening rush hours are sights at which to marvel. Torrents of businessmen, working women, students, children, and the occasional tourists pour into subway stations like water bursting forth from a blown dam. Immense masses of jostling flesh occupy almost every square inch of pavement and swarm down every available escalator. But the whole bi-daily affair has its own sense of order and organization. It is a massive, harmonious madness. Controlled chaos on the magnitude of hundreds of thousands. Stationary escalator passengers stand on the right of the stairs to allow a path for those wishing to actively climb or descend. At bus stops, people arrange themselves into near perfectly straight, single-file lines on the side walk. Pedestrians never jaywalk, even when no cars are in sight, but instead always patiently wait for the appearnce of a light, in the form of an ambulating, green stick figure, and the emission of an annoying, hollow, clicking noise from every walk signal's speakers.

The 25M minibus has a stop right in front of NTT International House (my pad) and delivers me conveniently to the Kowloon Tong MTR station. Wikipedia tells me most of the minibuses are Toyota Coasters running on liquified petroleum gas (LPG), which is cheaper and relatively environmentally friendly. I suspect minibus drivers are paid based on how many passengers they transport. So more passengers and faster driving equals more money. Fewer passengers and lots of red lights means less moola. Today, my 25M driver got delayed behind traffic at a red light for nearly five minutes. I had nowhere to be, and even I was frustrated by the entire ordeal. When the light turned green and a space between a double-decker and a sedan opened up, the driver pounced on it. I got to experience the awesome acceleratory capabilities of this automobile in pedal-to-the-metal mode. The minibus wove in and out of narrow lanes and through moving cars while under the driver's deft control.

Passing around tight corners, I swear I could feel the wheels of the bus on one side slightly lift off the asphalt, going round and round all through the town. Other passengers didn't seem to think anything was out of the ordinary, but I grabbed the handle bar in front of me. I kept thinking, "This ride was so worth HK$4.70!" An adrenaline-boosting ride like this was perfect for waking me up after a full day's work. (But in the back of my mind, I'm also reminded of the recent news story of recklessly fast minibus drivers killing two women in Mong Kok.)

Minibus drivers will not stop at bus stations unless there are people waiting there or passengers yell out to them en route. I don't know the Cantonese words for "stop the bus" (it's at the top of my list of Cantonese phrases to learn, along with "What are you doing later tonight" and "Are you a Triad member?"), and it didn't look like anybody was waiting for the NTT stop. Luckily, a lady called for the driver to stop at Baptist University. Even though this stop is several minutes away from NTT, I decided it was better to get off and walk instead of taking my chances with such a frenzied driver. Half-expecting the driver to prematurely close the door, I rushed towards the exit. The ceiling is lower than I thought it was, and my head made a loud thud against the underside of the door as I stumble out.

Statue of the woman/goddess standing over the dragon at the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery

June 25, 2009 

Until June 10, 2009 I had never stepped foot outside the USA aside from a brief trip to Canada and now I'm on the other side of the world.  I'm living amidst people with a very different culture in a country 12 hours ahead of New York... And it's absolutely amazing!  My senses have been infused with captivating sights of nature and history, alluring smells of Asian cuisine, and fascinating sounds of the nine-tone Cantonese dialect. 

During the first few days, I made a mad dash to explore as much of Hong Kong as possible from Temples and museums to night markets and piers. One of my favorite experiences (and best workouts) was climbing the seemingly endless stairs to explore the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery.  The journey to the top was lined with Buddhas of all different types of skills, personalities, and physiques.  But the best part was once I reached the top and found a small water fall behind a beautiful white statue of a woman standing over a dragon. Another great experience was viewing the lightshow by the Star Ferry.  In this lively event, the buildings across Victoria Harbor in Central lit up in different patterns to the rhythm of some cheesy yet charming music.

As for my internship, I am working for Enlighten - Action for Epilepsy which, as the title implies, is a non-profit organization that seeks to improve the lives of people living with epilepsy by providing them with resources and a strong community as well as working to dispel the stigma surrounding epilepsy in Hong Kong. One of the first tasks my boss, Orla, assigned was "Learn Cantonese!" So I have been attempting to pick up a few lines here and there, but I have found the tones very difficult to learn since I have been speaking Shinyoung and me at Tian Hou Temple in Macaua basically monotonic language my entire life. Raising or lowering the tone of your voice gives new meaning to words that otherwise have identical pronunciations. This is not even considering the complexity of learning how to read and write Chinese characters, which are more like symbols or illustrations than phonetic guides as in English.  Luckily, with the help of my amazing coworkers, I have slowly begun to grasp bits of the language.  Plus, I now have a "Learn Cantonese" book plus audio CDs which I checked out from the Hong Kong Public library!  

The second big task that she gave me and two other interns from Hong Kong, Kevin and Eunice, was to research driving laws concerning people with epilepsy and prepare a proposal to the government to allow them to drive with limitations.  After calling public offices, emailing other epilepsy foundations, and reading through mountains of papers, we learned that people with epilepsy are allowed to drive with a recommendation from their doctor. The problem is that there is no standardization of qualifications necessary for this recommendation.  One person could get a recommendation from one doctor that they can drive if they were seizure-free for two years and for six years from another. We are currently working on redirecting the project to not only address the goDelicious Portuguese egg tartsvernment, but also the medical community directly. 

The last part of my adventure for the first couple of weeks should probably have been the first thing I did in Hong Kong. My internship and exploration of Hong Kong were going great.  Only one little thing missing... my work visa.  Unfortunately, my flight for Hong Kong left a few days before my work visa arrived, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise giving me a great excuse to check out the exciting sites on the Macau and Taipa islands.  Once I received the documentation I began planning my eventful trip to Macau after which I would re-enter Hong Kong and activate my work visa. I spent my time In Macau with Shin Young, another Columbia intern who is working at the Science Museum. We walked up mountains, went to the beach, watched mini concerts, ate some amazing dim sum and perhaps best of all discovered the mouthwatering delight of the Portuguese egg tart.  The flaky, buttery crust and creamy, sweet filling were definitely one of the highlights of the trip.  Apparently Shin Young has located Portuguese egg tarts at the Excelsior Hotel that are better than the ones we had in Macau. I know where my next stop is. 

August 22, 2008

Two weeks post-Hong Kong, I still find myself craving instant noodles and unlimited tea and casting a disdainful eye on forks and knives. I've had ample time to gauge the changes that I've undergone, and I've found that, above all else, I've acquired a new sense of gratitude. Like other friends who spent recent months abroad, I feel a renewed awe upon stepping foot on Columbia's campus. Moreover, I'm appreciating again, watching the lead-up to the November presidential elections, what wonderful idiosyncrasies characterize American politics and society. And finally, New York itself, with its grimy streets and unreliable public transporation, thrills me again with its excitement and spontaneity.

My internship at bc Magazine, together with the many opportunities offered through the CEO program, pushed me to be a more self-aware individual. The challenges of communicating in a foreign country, of adapting to a new culture and city, and of learning to embrace and make the best of hurdles along the way have all enriched my social and personal education, even as Columbia has given me so much through its academics. And for this, more than anything, I am truly thankful.

August 13, 2008

My last week in Hong Kong was a pedal-to-the-metal race to finish my work at bc Magazine, wrap up my personal loose ends, squeeze every bit of enjoyment out of the city, and spend as much time as possible with my friends and coworkers. My final days in Hong Kong were not only consumed by production tasks for bc's first August issue, by reporting for another major feature for the second August issue, and by finalizing travel plans, but also overwhelmed by good-bye parties, gift shopping for my family, and photographing the most mundane aspects of my life, for posterity. And finally, to go out with fireworks, the night before my non-stop flight to New York, I kept vigil with my friends watching the midnight re-run of the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games. As we took in the Beijing excitement, we reminisced about our time together. How strange it will be, we said, to meet up back at Columbia after having lived this experience together!

In all, the end of my summer in Hong Kong was hectic, happy, and bittersweet, and my fellow CEO interns and I all remarked that time had passed differently in the Fragrant Harbour. The weeks flew by in Asia's World City, where the pace of life often surpasses even New York, but each moment made a new indelible memory. During the eight weeks I spent in HK, each day brought new insights and challenges, each "normal" task was special. And just when I started to take some things for granted, I realized it was time to leave.