Our first day in Hong Kong turned out to be a big disappointment. In the morning we woke up late as usual. I was pretty stressed because I had gone through every object I had brought with me and still couldn't find my departure card. After breakfast we had a tai-chi exercise in the parking lot of our hotel, where the teachers told me that they had another departure card. Relieved, I got to enjoy the exercise and all the people in the hotel windows laughing at us. At the airport in Shanghai, we went to Burger King. Right before we went into the restaurant, we saw this military guy with this giant gun who walked by us, just tapping his gun. It was the first person like that that we had seen, and I was intrigued. People at home who had been to China in the 90s had told me how intimidating customs was, so when it turned out to be no big deal, I though that they were just messing with me. Anyway,
we ate Burger King, which actually hurt everyone’s stomach because we had gotten used to the food here. While waiting to start boarding, we played blackjack- one of the games that we had taught David. At this moment David was running around, getting through customs a different way because he didn't have a visa for Hong Kong. Just as they were about to close the gate on the plane, David arrived- just in time. When we land in Hong Kong, this lady, our local guide, had us board this nasty coach bus a
nd tried to sell us phone cards and exchange money- trying to make some extra money on the side. Behind her, we saw our teachers miming "NO!!" When we got off the bus, a wall of heat and humidity hit us- it was like trying to swim in air! This tour guide brought us to some place in the mall and bought us this really nasty dish that was cold when we got it. Lovely! Even though she was scamming us, we needed her because they only spoke Cantonese in Hong Kong, and David could only speak Mandarin. Right after we finished, we found out that the light show we were supposed to see in Hong Kong was across the city and we only had an hour to get there. The lady mad
e us board this public bus- one we have to pay a fare for- instead of our coach. Not only that, but she had us pay for her fare too. We
got off at the wrong stop, and never made it to Victoria's Peak. We saw the light show from this platform crowded with other people. The light show was ok; it was actually all of the buildings of Hong Kong lighting up in different ways to make a show across the whole skyline of the city. The teachers were very stressed by now, and when this lady started leading us all over Hong Kong on foot aimlessly, they let her go. They basically fired her in the street. We finally got back to the hotel, tired and unhappy that Hong Kong hadn’t been the place that we thought it would be.
Our first day in Hong Kong turned out to be a big disappointment. In the morning we woke up late as usual. I was pretty stressed because I had gone through every object I had brought with me and still couldn't find my departure card. After breakfast we had a tai-chi exercise in the parking lot of our hotel, where the teachers told me that they had another departure card. Relieved, I got to enjoy the exercise and all the people in the hotel windows laughing at us. At the airport in Shanghai, we went to Burger King. Right before we went into the restaurant, we saw this military guy with this giant gun who walked by us, just tapping his gun. It was the first person like that that we had seen, and I was intrigued. People at home who had been to China in the 90s had told me how intimidating customs was, so when it turned out to be no big deal, I though that they were just messing with me. Anyway,
we ate Burger King, which actually hurt everyone’s stomach because we had gotten used to the food here. While waiting to start boarding, we played blackjack- one of the games that we had taught David. At this moment David was running around, getting through customs a different way because he didn't have a visa for Hong Kong. Just as they were about to close the gate on the plane, David arrived- just in time. When we land in Hong Kong, this lady, our local guide, had us board this nasty coach bus a
nd tried to sell us phone cards and exchange money- trying to make some extra money on the side. Behind her, we saw our teachers miming "NO!!" When we got off the bus, a wall of heat and humidity hit us- it was like trying to swim in air! This tour guide brought us to some place in the mall and bought us this really nasty dish that was cold when we got it. Lovely! Even though she was scamming us, we needed her because they only spoke Cantonese in Hong Kong, and David could only speak Mandarin. Right after we finished, we found out that the light show we were supposed to see in Hong Kong was across the city and we only had an hour to get there. The lady mad
e us board this public bus- one we have to pay a fare for- instead of our coach. Not only that, but she had us pay for her fare too. We 
got off at the wrong stop, and never made it to Victoria's Peak. We saw the light show from this platform crowded with other people. The light show was ok; it was actually all of the buildings of Hong Kong lighting up in different ways to make a show across the whole skyline of the city. The teachers were very stressed by now, and when this lady started leading us all over Hong Kong on foot aimlessly, they let her go. They basically fired her in the street. We finally got back to the hotel, tired and unhappy that Hong Kong hadn’t been the place that we thought it would be.
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