AIESEC Hong Kong Interns Blog

my AIESEC internship in Hong Kong - 2nd edition...

2007-09-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

Interns' legacy

2007-08-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone :) How are you? everything's good?

;)

I started this message board on Facebook group that we have: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=2470140748&topic=2562&post=6856#post6856

Where interns can share their favourite places in HK, besides the common attractions, your favourite hidden shops or restaurants, places u love but is not easy to find in guides. Contribute so that others will be able to use it and have as much fun in HK as we did :)))

I already posted first contribution from Egle, please go there and add more. At the end i'll sum it up and post here a long list of places we recommend to new comers :)

Big hug to all of you from Kiev!

Nadya

p.s. How come this blog is so dead??

Reunion part 2

2007-05-15T04:43:00.000-07:00

After our reunion with Magdalena and her boyfriend Michael in Amsterdam, Liesbeth and I decided to visit them in Poland. We visited them from May 3 to May 6. It's been an awesome trip, especially because it was so good to meet Magdalena and Michael again. One of the advantages of being involved with AIESEC is that you are building up a nicely international group of friends, whom you can then visit in their home countries. Szczecin (where Magda lives) was very nice, they even have a (sort of) hight building there with a good view of the city. And a castle, good (Amsterdam like) architecture, and good vodka. We also had a short swim in the Baltic Sea, about as long as we could stand the cold. From the South China Sea to the Baltic Sea is definitely a long way =)

Hey, this blog is supposed to be about Hong Kong, right? Well, I sure hope you are going to post a bit more about everything you are doing, please keep all the Hong Kong alumni up to date!

Reunion

2007-03-11T06:02:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you have had a wonderful weekend on Lantau, please show some pictures and write about it! In the meantime, Liesbeth and I have been acting as tourguides in Amsterdam for Magdalena and Michael. So cool to have a little Hong Kong reunion in Europe! I hope to see all of you again, you are welcome in Amsterdam =)

Leaving Hong Kong

2007-02-21T13:04:00.000-08:00

Slowly the house began to feel like home again. It had taken some time to find back his mittens and woolen hat again. After searching through the house, he had finally found them on the bottom of his grandmother's closet. The space! So much space around him, he could even walk around through the apartment. This is not hard to get used to again, he thought.

Not so with the biting cold. Yesterday it had even been snowing, prompting Gerrit Hiemstra of the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute to issue a weather alarm. The whole nation was in consternation, people were leaving work early, so as not to end up in endless traffic jams, half of the train services were cut to avoid trouble, schools finished by 11 am. But in the afternoon, most of the six centimeters of snow had melted already, leaving a meteorologist behind with a lot to explain. He still tried to classify the weather alarm as successful.

A. was silently laughing, not recognizing his home country, which he left behind some six months ago. Was the Dutch society becoming as risk avoiding as the people of Hong Kong? How long would it take for authorities to put up signs with “Mind the gap”, “Hold the handrail” and “PLEASE MIND YOUR HEAD”?

Even though he liked to poke fun at Hong Kong, his dreams were filled with stories about what he left behind. The amazing people, the vibrant city and everything you can do there. As he was cycling on a deserted Haarlemmerdijk, he could actually see the sky looking up. A crow circled above the road.

When he turned onto the steep bridge leading to the central station, the road seemed to slide away under him. “Ayaa!” he exclaimed. The frost had left a treacherous layer of ice on the incline. Just moments before he was startled by the car coming from his left, because he had been looking to the right. The slippery surface was something else he had forgotten about. His pants were badly damaged at the knee.

He was the only one impatiently pushing his way into the train. “Klootzak!” the burly man getting off the train called him. That’s right, you are supposed to please let passengers exit first.

It was surprising to find out that he could understand every conversation around him again. And at the same time he noticed that he was not so annoyed anymore to hear people speak Turkish in the train next to him (or was it Moroccan?).

On Utrecht Central he had to go. He clearly remembered that it cost 50 eurocents. But what did a 50-eurocent coin look like again? (No joke!) He made his way to the restrooms, while going through his wallet. The stream of people felt like a charging herd of Goliaths. And not a single Asian face! Where had they all gone?

Back home he realized he was going to dine in again! He started to miss going out for dinner every night. “Fancy some dim sum?” L. asked. “Hmmm… how about fried potatoes?”

Celebrate Love every Day!

2007-02-13T16:35:00.000-08:00

May you find that love that won't leave you

May you find it by the end of the day

You won't be lost, hurt, tired and lonely

Something beautiful will come your way

Arne & Jurgita

2007-02-08T18:22:00.000-08:00

Last week two interns headed back home (Arne) or for new Adventures (Jurgita)...here's picture from one of the farewell dinners :))

Arne & Jurgita!!!! We MISS YOU !!! Please write something :) We kow you're good and safe home (or new place) but we want to know more!

Chinese New Year is coming!!

2007-02-06T18:32:00.000-08:00

...Where will you be?

Any ideas how we ca celebrate Chinese New Year together? Heard that something we should not miss? something worth seeing? something YOU would like to do on New Year?

Post your ideas here!! and/or Bring them to Saturday Morning Breakfast at THE Flat ;))

Happy new year!

2007-01-02T01:55:00.000-08:00

Okay, it has been 2007 for quite a while now, but I kinda missed these greetings around here. So here they are! Anybody already succeeded in (or screwed up) his new years resolutions?

Being back in business again for almost one month, take a moment to relax and enjoy the wonderful memories of Christmas for HK interns. Turn up your speakers and enjoy this short MTR Christmas Moment!

http://picasaweb.google.nl/seefdepeef/MTRMoments/photo#5021309625525108658

Zeph

Thanks for the memories : )

2006-12-27T18:52:00.000-08:00

Hey all!

Thanks you to everyone who made this Christmas so special! This was truly two days that I want to remember forever, and tell my children and grandchildren about. There are too many details to repeat them all here, but they say "a picture tells a 1000 words" so check out the pics!

Gordon's Pics - December 24

Gordon's Pics - December 25

Jurgita's Pics - Hike on December 25 - COMING SOON (when the internet starts to work properly)

Also, for a detailed account of the festivities check out my blog: http://lizzyw.blogspot.com

To all those who were travelling and other friends around the world, hope you all had the time of your lives! Can't wait to celebrate New Year's with you all! Any news on the Lamma Island cabin?

Talk to you soon,
Liz

Global Village - This Saturday

2006-12-20T00:52:00.000-08:00

Hey All,

Here is the info for the Global Village this weekend. The cost is $60, and includes lots of fun, beer, food, games and prizes.

To attend, email Charmaine at charmaine.poon@cuhk.aiesec.hk or Prairie Pe prairiepe@yahoo.com.hk

Christmas is coming

2006-12-17T23:07:00.000-08:00

To all those who are far from home,
Or those who come from near
We invite you too our loving flat
For TWO days of Christmas cheer.

On December 24 at 6 o’clock
The festival will begin
So bring a dish of holiday food
And we all will dig-in

On December 25 at 11 o’clock
There will be a breakfast treat
So come one, come all - And bring a gift
For another one so sweet

On December 25, in the night
It will be a Merry Christmas for sure
With eggnog and rum, food and friends
This is not one to ignore.

Summary - Christmas events at the MC Flat

Inviting locals, interns and friends of interns alike….

Multicultural Christmas Eve
Date: December 24
Time: 6:00pm
What to Bring:
A Christmas dish (or close substitute) from your country
Details about your Christmas traditions at home to share

Santa has come to town
Date: December 25
Time: 11:00 am
What to bring:
a wrapped, VERY tacky (and funny) Christmas gift valued at $50 HKD à These will be exchanged and opened at the party, so you will go home with a funny gift from someone else.
Something that can be eaten at breakfast (fruit, cheese, meat, orange juice)
What is provided:
Coffee
Pancakes
Maple Syrup
Christmas tree

Merry Christmas
Date: December 25
Time: 9:00pm
What to Bring:
Yourself
Eggnog, rum, or what you would like to drink

Perceptions and Misconceptions Breakfast

2006-12-17T23:05:00.000-08:00

Hey all!

Special thanks (in no particular order) to Ren Chang, YK, Sefan, Bomi, Egle, Hoi Yee, Mereck and Nadya for openly coming to the MC Flat for an early breakfast, as well as creating such and open and dynamic environment where we were all able to express our views on the topic of perceptions and discrimination.

Here are some lessons I learned… please add you own:

Ukrainian pancakes taste REALLY good when paired with Malaysian dried fish
Dating is a very expensive ritual for men in Nigeria as it involves the giving of a lot of gifts.
There is such thing as a military democracy
Sefan should be a diplomat… he has a skill of discussing the very sensitive topic of Islamic-Dutch relations in the Netherlands by truly showing the whole complexity of the situation, and without offence to anyone.
Dvorzack (sorry Mereck, I do not know how to spell his name) is Czech

It was a great morning, and I think we are all beginning to scratch the surface of who each other is, where we are coming from and how we view the world; can’t wait to know more.
If anyone has any ideas for a topic for next week, or if you would like to do a country presentation, please leave a comment, or email me at ejwatter@gmail.com.

A Walled Village Journey

2006-12-16T23:04:00.000-08:00

Walled Village, was built to defend enemies from neighborhood, robbers and wild animals. It is popular in Southern Canton, and villagers living inside share the same family name. Limited number of walled village still exists in Hong Kong, and they are mainly located in the New Territories, like Yuen Long, Sheung Shui, or Fanling. Ancestral hall is the most important building inside a walled village. Some of us were had the opportunity to visit the Walled Village of the "Tang" family. Talk to the HKUST members to find out which member of theirs is the descendant of this family.

Cha Kwo, a kind of Hakka (minority of Chinese) snack, which is usually made of glutinous rice flour with sesame, peanuts, or minced mushroom, dried shrimps inside. We had a simple cooking class to learn the art of making Cha Kwo and it was definetely another key learning for the day :)

“Poon-Choi”, also known as “Pan Cai” or Big Bowl Feast, is a traditional type of Chinese food which can be traced back to the 13th century. It was a way to serve the Song dynasty Emperor as well as his army; the locals collected all their best food available, cooked it, and put it in wooden washing basins. “Poon-Choi” includes ingredients such as pork, beef, lamb, chicken, duck, abalone, ginseng, shark fin, fish maw, prawn, crab, dried mushroom, fish balls, squid, dried eel, dried shrimp, pigskin, bean curd and Chinese radish. The next time when going for "Poon-Choi", you have to get more people together as there were much leftover.

Great reception activity by HKUST & hope that lots more will be coming soon...

Yellow Fever

2006-12-16T22:54:00.000-08:00

Thought of sharing this video with all of you since we brought up the topic of white guys & asian girls at breakfast yesterday.

Hiking Pictures!

2006-12-15T04:44:00.000-08:00

Here are the highlights of Maclehouse Section #3:

Click here to check out all of Jurgita's pics (thanks photographer!)

Season of Giving

2006-12-13T22:45:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!

Our friend Bomi, Egle's roommate, works in Hong Kong at the Nigerian Consulate in Hong Kong. One of her co-workers will be making a special trip on December 24, to a Liberian Refuge Camp in Accra, Ghana. On her trip she would like to take gifts to two not-for-profit schools operating in the Liberian Refugee Camp in Accra Ghana. Here is a list of the simple supplies the schools are requesting:

Notebooks
Pencils
Pens
Toys
Candies and Sweets
Balloons
Board Games
Deodorant
Soap
School Bags
Watches
Children’s Vitamins
Children’s Tylenol
Crayons
Scissors
Blank DVDs for recording
Digital Camera
Bags of rice – 2 bags of rice feed the children for 1 month
Clothing

Additionally, the woman who is taking the materials to the camp would like some support with the following costs:

Local Transportation - $200 USD - $1600 HKD
Shipping of Items - $500 USD - $4000 HKD
Digital Camcorder - $340 USD – to document the shipping

Egle and Bomi would like to send some items! If you would to please give your contributions to Egle before December 21 so she can get them ready to go.

Thank you for your consideration

Outgoing Preparation Seminar!!

2006-12-12T03:20:00.000-08:00

Interns!!!Incredible Expereince is waiting for YOU - not just expereincing Different CUlture, but also sharing with those who will soon experience it!!
Preparing new future interns, who will leave HK for new Adventures!

Apply for Facilitator!!!

Conference is 6-7 January, premeeting 2-3 January.

Wanna know how it is to faci @ Conference while being an intern?..
Ask Liz, Ren Chang or Egle ~ they know it all!!

To know more - look into comments ;)

Kareoke

2006-12-11T02:38:00.000-08:00

Hi mazuliai!

If you are ready to start next weekend early - I've got proposal for Wednesday evening (13 December). Let's go for something really challenging - karaoke ;D

Where: In front of SOGO, Causeway Bay (we will go to "Neway Karaoke")
When: Wednesday (13 December) at 6.30 pm
Cost: around 100-120 HK$ per person including dinner Please let me know if you are joining by replying this e-mail or sending me sms.

Yours,
Egle

Why I now care about Korea...

2006-12-09T12:33:00.000-08:00

Growing up in school, I am ashamed to say that all I ever learned about Korea was that it was in Asia, somewhere near China and Japan, that there was a war there from 1950-53, which was the only war ever fought under the UN flag, that as a result of the war it was divided in half, with an oppressive dictatorship in the North, and a liberal South… oooo… and that South Korea is one of the “Asian Tigers” that is always cited as a successful case of where capitalism, and trade brought a quick path to development.

Today I learned SO much more! It all started with a small question at breakfast this morning somewhat related to “how did Korea get to be a separate country from such a powerful place as China.” It turns out the answer was loaded! Before that conversation I never knew Korean people were an entirely different ethnicity from Chinese, or that the people have been subjected to attacks, plundering, devastation and imperialism at the hands of its powerful neighbors for thousands of years. I did realize that it was completely destroyed and it had nothing after it acted as a meeting ground between the USSR and the US during the Cold War. I definitely did not realize that it is still a meeting ground today, only now it is between the US and China. I did not know all the outside influences that are playing out in this country, and that are actually to keep an oppressive dictatorship that is starving 25 million people in place.

There are so many things that I did not know about Korea before today, but that I know now.

Thank you Hanmin!

If you are interested in knowing more about the world we live in please join us for breakfast next week. After today we thought it would be much more valuable to make this a time where interns can share about their home countries, whatever they want to share.

Does anyone want to go next?

Beiläufige Freitag

2006-12-08T08:03:00.002-08:00

Mandatory appreciation

2006-12-07T19:52:00.000-08:00

This blog looks totally awesome! Type away AIESEC...

Interns rock Hong Kong!

2006-12-07T06:54:00.000-08:00

Welcome Message

2006-12-06T01:04:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

Welcome to the all new Hong Kong AIESEC Interns blog!

We hope to make this a dashboard for all intern (and friends) communications including:

Event planning
Picture sharing
Joke telling
Random thoughts
Experience discussions
Intern birthdays
Etc… etc… etc…

To become a contributor, so you can post on this blog, send an email to ejwatter@gmail.com

What about the mailing list?
This blog is not meant to replace the mailing list, it is just meant to augment it, by providing additional functions that are not possible with email, including:

1. Calendar – See the link on the top of the page titled “Click here for Calendar of Upcoming Events” – click there and a calendar of the month’s events will appear. For more details on a particular event click on the event title, and the date, time location information will appear.

Please Note - If you would like to add an event, send Liz an email with the information. If you would like to add a lot of events send Liz an email and she will set you up as an administrator on the calendar.

2. Links to AIESECer blogs – On the right hand side of the screen you will notice the links to the personal blogs of interns and Hong Kong AIESECers. Check them out, and learn more about the people around you.

3. Intern Home Country Map – On the right-hand side of the page you will notice there is a map. All the areas in red are areas that we have interns from in Hong Kong. If you are new, or your country is not represented, please let Liz know.

4. Archives – By posting all our event information in a blog it will allow people to access it in the future, when they have already returned home, and reflect on the great times they have had in Hong Kong.

So please continue to spam out events to the mailing list, but additional details, pictures, other discussions you can find them all on the blog : )

Having trouble?
First consult the How to Use section. If you are still having trouble contact your friendly neighborhood administrator Elizabeth by emailing ejwatter@gmail.com.

Good luck, and get blogging!

From Your Blog Administration Team:
Nadya – Backup Administration
Jacso – Technical Support
Liz – Day-to-day Administration

How to Use

2006-12-06T01:02:00.000-08:00

Once you start blogging it is super easy, but there is a bit to learn at the beginning. Here are the basics of what you will need to know to use this blog:

Step 1: Become a contributor

To become a contributor email ejwatter@gmail.com.
You willing be sent an email inviting you to contribute to this blog. Simply click on the link and follow the instructions.
If you do not already have you a “Blogger” account it will prompt you to create one, just follow the instructions.

Step 2: Create a Post
For step-by-step instructions on How to Post go here: http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=41378&topic=8915

Step 3: Adding a Comment
For step-by-step instructions on Adding a Comment go here:
http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=42399&topic=8921

Other Features:

Calendar - If you would like to add an event, send Liz an email with the information. If you would like to add a lot of events send Liz an email and she will set you up as an administrator on the calendar.

New Link on the side bar - On the right hand side of the screen you will notice the links to the personal blogs of interns and Hong Kong AIESECers. To add a new link, send an email to Liz.

Intern Home Country Map – On the right-hand side of the page you will notice there is a map. All the areas in red are areas that we have interns from in Hong Kong. If you are new, or your country is not represented, please let Liz know.

From Your Blog Administration Team:
Nadya – Backup Administration
Jacso – Technical Support
Liz – Day-to-day Administration