"The most important thing I've learned is this: The fact that we all believe in different things is nowhere near as important as the fact that we all believe."

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Orientation Week Pt 1


Orientation week was really one of the best weeks of my life! There are about 50 or so exchange students from around the world studying here. There are only six students from the United States, but there are a lot of Europeans--especially French exchange students. Each night, we would eat a different type of cuisine together as part of our orientation.

The first day was mainly a tour and information session. Grace is the director over the exchange students and was also leading our mini lessons on culture and language. Sitting in a classroom for three hours straight was somehow made fun by Grace's quirky sense of humor! She'd tell us stories about all the trouble the previous exchange students caused and how every year, our pranks get bigger. She'd often get calls in the middle of the night to come down to the police station! Unlike the United States, Macau is much more open about the parties that take place there. You're allowed to drink and gamble at the age of 18 (like you are in most of the world), and a little bit of social drinking is to be expected. This was a little shocking to me because, in all honesty, I'm not one to party. But it's also an important part of their culture I figure is worth mentioning.

The first night of orientation we went to a "traditional Chinese" restaurant. We were served duck tongue, snake, frog legs, and meal worms! The restaurant allowed you to watch the killing of the snakes and frogs! I didn't look. I'm actually a vegetarian and was perfectly happy with some egg rice and vegetables.

Arrival

On Friday, the 15th 2010 I flew from Newark, NJ to Hong Kong. I was traveling alongside three other Susquehanna students: Aaron, Alex, and Amanda along with our professor, Dr. Jacobson, and her entire family. I was surprised to learn that instead of flying over the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean, we were going to fly over the North Pole! I was hoping to get a picture of Santa Claus, but seeing as I wasn't even close to the window I resorted to watching movies. It was cool because there were TV's in front of you and you could choose from hundreds of movies and music. I watched Little Miss Sunshine, The Time Traveler's Wife, and Post Grad just to name a few. I quickly learned that the food on airplanes is indeed pretty terrible since I had never been on a long flight before. All in all, the 16 hour flight went fairly fast because I was able to sleep for about five of those hours.

When we finally arrived in Hong Kong it was already about 10pm and we had missed the last ferry that would accept our checked luggage directly. Fortunately, there were later ferries that traveled to Macau but it meant keeping ALL of our luggage with us! We hauled hundreds of pounds of luggage from the airport to a train to a taxi to a ferry and into another taxi before finally arriving at the University of Macau! From there it was a long string of arguments and frustrations before finally signing into our dorm room around 2am. Let's just say that was a very long day.

Monday, February 01, 2010

Introduction

My name is Kristen and I'm currently a freshman at Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania. I'm studying abroad at the University of Macau in Macau, China for five months. I've been here approximately 2 weeks. Exchange students arrive 2 weeks before classes start for orientation and course enrollment. My first week here was orientation week which consisted of sightseeing, parties, eating out, and information classes about culture and language. Before detailing my orientation experience, I must first explain a few things about where I'm living.

Macau is actually a series of 3 islands in the southern part of China across the bay from Hong Kong. Macau, the first island, is full of many casinos. It is the first island you pass through when arriving from Hong Kong. Taipa, the second island, is the island the University is on along with a few casinos and many residencies. The third island, Coloane, is unlike the first two. It has many small houses, parks, and even a golf course! It is really quaint without any high buildings or traffic. Macau was actually owned by Portugal until 1999. When Macau was handed over to the Chinese government, an agreement was signed that Macau was to remain independent, or a Special Administrative Region (SAR) for the next 50 years. Therefore, Macau is much more liberal than mainland China. There are very few rules here. The people living in Macau can do things like gamble and surf the internet freely without any problems. From Macau's rich past, there is a vibrant mix of Portuguese and Chinese architecture, cuisine, and culture throughout the islands.