2 days left!!!!!!

In exactly two days I am OFF... first to London for an 11 hour layover (which I suspect to be rather tiresome) and then to HK.

I was discussing my fascination with HK with my parents today when I came across a curious find; Hong Kong has always been a part of me! More specifically, it is embedded in my name: asHKan. Corny? Just a little.

In terms of things still left to do, packing is underway, I will be picking up my suit tomorrow, and still no word from HKU on the residence dilemma. I will shoot them a call on Sunday to figure out what can be done.

And so it begins. Well... almost

For the last two weeks I have kept two mental countdowns, one to JANUARY 5th and the other to January 7th. The former of the dates represents when I will be leaving for a 6.5 month exchange to Hong Kong and the latter is the date which I will officially arrive. And today, being Tuesday, signifies that I only have 6 more days before I head off.

I cannot begin to express how excited I am for this... in fact, the only reason why I chose Schulich over the other schools was because of an HK exchange. AGH... majorly excited! There are two reasons why I decided to document my travels via a blog: (1) It allows me to communicate my adventures to friends and family; and (2) it will serve as an effective medium to walk down memory lane x number of years into the future when I am (a) reminiscing about the good ol' days or (b) needs something to procrastinate with. 

Things to still do:

- Purchase insurance

- Call HKU and try to apply for a change in residence... this one is somewhat bitter sweet. I have been accepted to this beautiful place (http://www.amo.gov.hk/en/monuments_56.php) but given it distanced proximity to the school and other residences, I have decided to apply for a transfer. Lets see how this one works out.

- PACK

- Pick up my suits

- Get my beddings in order

- Exchange some money into HK$ and the rest into US$

- Bring a Schulich t-shirt/sweater (not too happy about this one, but HKU has asked us too)

- Plan out travels. I have so far made a list of countries I want to visit, but I have not planned out any dates. The countries so far include: Japan, S. Korea, Macau, Taiwan, China, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Philippines, Laos, and Australia (surfing!!!!!!!!!!!!)

If anyone has any info on the above countries or good contacts, much appreciated!!

EEEEXXXXXCCCCCIIIITTTTEEEDDDDD.... but I should go without any expectations, as I don't want to set myself up for disappointment. Nevertheless, SUPER excited, especially about the night life and possibly some xiaojies?!