You won't see this on the news back home...

As mentioned in my last post,here is a poster from the Umbrella Revolution, the movement to keep Hong Kong free.

Stay turned! I'm still getting my thoughts organized about the cool time I had yesterday, but for now, it's about time for orientation.

In mostly one piece...

Anyone who believed I would actually make the Monday deadline that I set in my previous post is, indeed, about as blindly optimistic as a turtle training to race a jet plane.

Unless, of course, that jet plane happened to be scheduled from BWI to Newark.

After a whirlwind lesson in flight delays, a quick trip to the Windy City, and a flight in which time lost meaning, I am pleased to report that I find myself in a cozy 2-bedroom, no pillow, no blanket living quarters. Of course, I'll be better settled in by the time you read this. I write, knowing full well I have not received my WiFi login yet. It is 4 AM, but the hustle, bustle, and screaming is still alive and well outside my dorm.

Today, I met the other exchange students, and our local student ambassadors. A very friendly bunch. A New Yorker, formerly of Israel, a charming London lady, a Canadian born madam from Canada, a rather tall German gentleman, a young lady from... California, I believe... and a few others, perhaps? I've a terrible memory for trivia about a person's life, when the interesting experiences they've experienced are far more enticing.

I've not yet met my roommate. I'm told Hong Kong citizens do not sleep, according to my student ambassador, until roughly 4 AM. There are beautiful decorations in the halls. I may do more exploring later.

Perhaps the most interesting experience I had today was with a local student. While we were checked into our rooms, she brought up some of the signs around campus. She asked if we knew what the Umbrella Protest was (I quickly gathered this referred to the protests so scarcely mentioned in the US news, of Hong Kong versus China's government) and explained that the signs were from that.

She told us that the protest had lasted for a "little while, when we gathered to demonstrate displeasure to the Government's actions." And that it had "stopped". This last bit was the most curious to me, and I asked what she meant by that.

She replied that the protest stopped when they found that the government did not care about the protest. Pressed a little further, she said that the government and police were mighty, and that the police had stopped them. They used... violence.

The way she said it was so... meaningful. Like the use of violence by the police was above and beyond. In America, our protests truly have violence at their heart. Death and blood is common news. Police brutality is often the subject OF our protests, and end up being dispersed by, again, police violence.

Our ambassador talked of the art they created during the protest. I've never seen that on our news. Our protests are angry, destructive... I will grant that there is a powerful message in destruction, and where there is a message, there is the room for artistic relay.

To put it plainly, yes, a car on fire is art.

But a protest of creation and calm is just so... moving...

I've promised my dear mother that I will not involve myself in this conflict, and I don't intend to break that promise. But this conversation brought me great insight into the way that Hong Kong people communicate.

I shall likely talk of this further.

Let's get to know each other...

My name's Alex. I'm a twenty-two year old business student from a small little city on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Please try not to hold that against me.

I find myself in a unique situation. In a couple days, I'm going to board a plane that will take me thousands of miles from my home, family, friends, and loved ones. You might assume that such a decision was the result of careful planning, backed by solid reasons and necessity. Were you to assume such a thing, you would do me too much credit. I'm not a careful person.

Whim and wanderlust are my primary motivations for this study abroad program. As a student of marketing, it is my belief that businesses must tailor messages to the culture of their target audiences. It only follows that foreign culture must be experienced before it can be understood.

I hasten to explain, at this point, that I have never left the United States of America. I have barely left the state of Maryland for any extended period of time. Please, put yourself in my shoes. I hope you, dear reader, can feel the excitement, the nervous energy, and the fear that I am going through. I am afraid, very afraid, of the journey ahead.

That's why I'm inviting you along with me. I plan to blog on my experiences, observations, and lessons learned overseas.

Thank you for your attention. Check back in on Monday, when I (Lord willing) will be arriving in the great city of Hong Kong.