Classes Begin

  Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Today was the first day of classes, and since I only have about five minutes before meeting the others for dinner, this will be quick. In the morning we had lectures, and after lunch we took a bus to the New Territories to see an agency doing work for mentally ill clients around Hong Kong, New Life Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center. They help clients by engaging them in work at the facilities. One of the jobs that clients do is working on an organic farm, which then sells produce to local stores, hospitals, schools, etc. One of the facilities that we saw was a halfway house, and I have to say that it felt like were were imposing on the clients there. 

Ladies Market

Tonight we went out to Ladies Street, the famous shopping district in Hong Kong. It would be fair to say that Hong Kong is absolutely obsessed with shopping. I mean they put 5th avenue to shame. When we got out of the MTR station, we almost thought we were inside a mall. That is how bright the lights were. We planned to shop a little bit, but our first agenda was getting some food. We finally found a few restaurants behind the billion vendors with tents set up. It was a fifities style dinner, Hong Kong style. Fantastic. We were particularly facinated by the groovy mugs they served our tea in.

JD, Jill, and Me

There really isn't too much else interesting that happened, although a couple of guys from Israel thought Jill and I were European. Their first guess was England (which I get a lot outside of the states), but then they went on to Australia, France, and Spain before giving up. That's all for now. I hope you all are cozy in your own corners of the world.