Summer Work Abroad Programme 2008 - AIESEC HK

2009-03-10T09:02:00.000-07:00

原來我做得到~

2008-07-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

可能因為唔需要返學，唔需要返工住！
所以多左時間去比自己去想番很多野！
我一直都唔會去面對一樣野，
其實很多人都會讚我！話我勤力，好學！
本來我都會開心咁按受咖！但是.........
通常我同阿媽講番的時候，
佢通常都會話人地奉承下咋！
唔好人講咩你信咩啦！咁樣很易比人扼左都唔知咩事！............

...........................................................(下刪1000字)
可能是其中一個原因吧！我經常都會覺得自己唔叻！
唔敢去嘗試，因為我既然都唔係一個叻人，咁就做個平凡人就算啦！其實我個心成日會去想，佢得，我應該得卦！不過.........
之後就會想番起阿媽下刪1000字的說話....... 什麼哄下你又信，想你笑下啫，咁都信........等等的說話！之後就會想到，係喎！我都唔係咁好咖咋，仲有很多要改善的地方！
久而久之，我就永遠都覺得人地比我叻是正常既事，
因為我唔叻唔醒目嘛！所以咁樣的想法是很正常，
亦都係咁，所以很多時的信心就唔見左啦！唔敢去handle一些自己都知道很重要的事！就算去做，都只係會做一些比較簡單，一定唔會出錯的事！亦慢慢開始覺得唔去做，唔去take個respobsible就唔會有事發生........但是其實自己一直都好想認認真真去handle一件事出來！
不過.....一直都抱有任事謙虛的想法，
令自己好似永遠不能成材一樣.........
直至............. 我去北京之前，都仍然是抱住這個想法飛過去咖！
心想過到去....... 一定會搞到很亂，要成日打番家求救啦！叫係hk既阿媽幫我解決啦！我那時真係100%有這個想法咖！
不過....... 原來.....我做到我很多野咖！唔需要下下依賴屋企咖！
唔數出黎啦！
但是...... 有個Point很多講既係..... 地鐵水浸，返唔到家的時候，那種忟的感覺，我永遠都記得！雖然返去我住個度，很緊，唔知點好.....
但是....最終我都解決左！証明我只要做的話，無咩做唔到咖！~~~~
阿媽話我今次一定會瘦左很多返黎，但是......
我係肥左返黎咖！唔可以話照顧自己做得好好(最後都係腸胃炎)......但是起碼我係有能力照顧自己先呀！連我roommate都話我是她的英雄......雖然唔明，但是唔緊要..... 証明我真係唔係那個只識得依賴屋企，做小妹妹的小珊珊！小珊珊仍然存在，只不過她已經開始長大啦！
前路係點，我真係唔知.......
但是我只知道.......這2個月的生活，令我自己了解左自己更多，發掘很多我自己都唔知道的能力.......
希望正如Mandy所說，我唔會變回以前那個凡是依賴的小珊珊啦！
小珊珊的記憶，仍然會活我在心中........
現在，我就繼續向我的目標進發吧！....
P.S.:終於有得見工啦！証明我唔係一無事處，無人要咖！ haha~~~~

Cherries 2008 @Malaysia--Day 20

2008-07-26T04:44:00.000-07:00

係馬來西亞三個星期, 我學會獨立、學會與人相處、學會随時用不同既語言表達自己, 兩文三語, 現在可以掌握得很好。

第一個星期, 我病了, 我洞悉到旅遊保險既重要性, 亦明白到一個人在異鄉, 能依靠既, 只有自己。

這段時間, 我認識很多不同國籍既朋友, 學會與不同既人相處, 無論係那個國家、大人或小孩、正常或傷殘、甚至係弱智或傻既(或者會有點眨義, 但我絕對唔係歧視佢地, 我只係害怕……因為我以前從未試過與佢地相處一段這麼長既時間)。

因為在這裡, 能陪伴我、與我溝通既, 只有來自德國既janne和來自北京既echo, 所以, 我唯有用英文、用普通話來跟佢地傾計、談天, 就這樣, 我既語言能力進步了(雖然我成日都唔覺意同echo講廣東話、同janne講普通話:P)。

我害怕我既工作, 因為我害怕面對佢地: 我害怕看見殘疾人士既慘, 因為佢地令我不好過, 常常為佢地流淚, 我能做既, 只有為佢地難過, 因為我不能帶佢地走出等死既日子、亦不能帶佢地回家; 我害怕看見殘疾人士既父母, 因為我看見佢地既擔憂、看見佢地既難過、看見佢地既無奈、亦看見有殘疾BB既probability有幾高, 令十分鍾意細路仔既我害怕將來做人媽媽; 我害怕腦袋有問題既人掂我, 因為佢地不慬得照顧自己, 所以不會沖涼、不會洗手, 整天在地上爬, 我更害怕佢地叫我幫佢地R含膿既傷口; 我害怕待在這裡, 因為佢地每天早上5點開始就會大叫, 我一落留下就圍著我, 掂我, 甚至掂我最敏感既頸同腰, 令我毛骨悚然, 我亦很害怕那些腦袋有問題既男病人, 因為別人告訴我, 佢地看見女人就會有性衝動, 看見佢地整天盯著我流哂口水既樣, 總覺得不自然。

不過, 我係呢度, 得到既, 比我想像中多: 我認識很多不同國藉既朋友, 在local university 受到大明星一樣既代遇, 學會與人相處、表達自己, 學會獨立、照顧自己, 習慣一個人在外國生活既日子, 對自己由science student轉變為 business student 既事實感到認同, 幫local aiesec lc mark左好多internship, 亦真正感受到自己係aiesecer and proud of being an aiesecer! :P

或者, 將來搵工既時候, 僱主問我同其他人有咩唔同, 我會答, “my difference is aiesec!”

Kenya is freaking cold right now

2008-07-19T03:09:00.000-07:00

Hello again...:) coudln't think of a better subject and kenya is really freaking cold right now...so anyway...

I am still in Africa and experienceing africa...haven't been wiritng much emails lately...the formal excuse is because i am busy. haha.....another real excuse is because living in africa can be very energy consuming and mood fluctuating so i didn't really muster the energy and mood to write.

I am working in the schools in the slum area in Nairobi right now. There is another Serbian girl who is working here as well...she is a law graduate and do legal work fom time to time to earn sufficient money to support what she wants to do in life!!!..it's very very cool. Together we teach english ( kids here can speak english well but cna't write a grammatically corect sentence) and have Human Rights meeting with kids every wednesday. At the beginnng i dun really like the serbian girl..she was angry about everything . haha. (sort of remind me of my ownself), but then slowly i started to like her as she was really driving stuffs....

And I guess i can contribute more in this way...it's more important to help people become self supporting and knowing their rights and lighting the fire in them then just giving them money or resources...
anyway...i guess volunteering in african is only an excuse people give ourself to see the world and grow. I can't see myself contributing much but i know this is gonna be an important life experience for me...

Up to now the thing i fear most in africa is the transport...the way ppl drive is very very scary...and the major source of transport we use "matatu"..which is lke a mini bus in hk..is the scariest among all...i had this really bad luck day wiht traffick last week when every matatu i got on had problems...the first one broke down due to a flat tyre on the way...had to wait for 15 mins for them to change it...the second one could not take me to the destination as the driver found out the brake was not working (luckily i was not killed)...by the time i got on the 3rd matatu..i was wondering if i would ever get home safely on that day...

gonna stay in the slum for one more week and then will head back to the children home...in august i am planning to go to uganda and rwanda ( to see the genocide memorial thingy!) and attend aiesec conference and soon i will be back in hong kong. ho ho ho ho ho

it must be freaking hot in hk right now. but hell it's freaking cold in kenya now....i needa wear a down jacket and thick scarf to stay warm. it's freaking freaking cold.

take care,
angiegiegiegiegiegiegieiegie

Cherries 2008 @Malaysia--Day 5

2008-07-10T05:08:00.001-07:00

我真係好怕好怕! 原來對一個人太好並唔係一件好事, 特別係有mental problem既人。

可能因為呢度只有我同Janne願意同佢地講野、同佢地玩, 而只有我僧説普通話, 令佢地將我當左做親人一樣, 成日都要見到我、成日都要我陪、成日問我去左邊、要做咩……無錯我唔介意同佢地玩、同佢地講野, 但我有我既生活、我有我既工作, 不能一天到晚都陪著佢地, 而且, 佢地個個都要我陪、又唔鍾意我陪第個, 搞到我成日都唔知點好, 連出房都唔夠膽……

而且, 我遲早要離開這裡, 我怕我對佢地太好, 佢地會唔捨得我走、甚至唔俾我走……尋日我先第一次同佢地講野, 佢地已經問我可唔可以唔走, 留係呢度陪佢地? 對佢地好, 到底係好定壞呢? 我真係好懷疑, 亦唔知應該點做好……

Cherries 2008 @Malaysia--Day 1-4

2008-07-07T23:59:00.000-07:00

Day 1-4:
It’s already the 3rd day of my arrival in Malaysia. Thinking back the past 3 days, I have really changed a lot.

As I chose to arrive at Singapore Changi Airport instead of the airport at Johor Bahru, I had to cross through the border between Singapore and Malaysia. I don’t know I should say I was lucky or not because the LC committee in Malaysia were so nice that they came all the way from Malaysia to Singapore to meet me but they were late for nearly two hours. I was so panic at that time. On the one hand, I did not know if I should continue waiting because when I went to Delifrance which was the place that we were supposed to meet each other, I found that there were nobody waiting for me. On the other hand, they had promised to meet me there. I became even worried when I found that there were actually 3 Delifrance at the airport. I used my phone card to phone them but they could not be connected. When I could finally success in calling them, the phone had already had its line cut when I tried to ask whether they were coming to find me. As I was a bit hungry after4 hours of flight, I decided to have a meal at Delifrance and then went to Malaysia by myself. But then, I saw 3 girls coming! I tried to wave my hand so that they could see me but they just failed to see me and left. Maybe I was luckily fallen onto their blind spot~ :P I immediately put my bag on the shoulder, ignore the meal and ran to them. Finally, we met each other!!! (And then they told me that it is Malaysian culture not to be on time = =”but I was so happy that I did not feel angry. There is nothing to be angry at other culture, right?)

Wa! I originally believed that it would be easy to get from the airport to Malaysia custom. What I had found out was that by traveling in MRT only, it already took about 2 hours (change lane for 4 times). But the condition at the border was even worse, because it was the busy hours, people went back to Malaysia after a day of work at Singapore. There are many many many people at the border and the buses (we need to travel by bus to enter Malaysia after MRT). The number of people was even more than that at the Lo Wu border at the eve of Lunar New Year. You can imagine: all men with bad temper crowded at the border! They did not queue up in line. They just pushed each other arguing who should come first. The way was very uneven. We always needed to go up and down. It would be very tired to walk for such a long distance in an uneven road, not to mention my heavy IBM notebook in my handbag and the >20kg luggage. But the AIESECers were very nice. They helped me when they saw me tired to death.

After a hard day, I went to bed early at about 2 o’clock :P waiting for the other day to come—Sunday, a day off!

I originally decide to get up at 9am to say hello to the residents in my accommodation. Dame it! I woke up at 6am! I couldn’t believe it. My accommodation is a Chesire Home for disabled people. Upon the rise of the sun, they would get up. And the mentally retarded people would start yelling…… Suen la, I gave up my sleep.

On the road, there are no women walking. Even if there are women, they would have their head covered with a piece of cloth. So, it is very uncomfortable that all men would stared at me and the other intern who came from Germany strangely as if we were not wearing any clothes. So disgusting were their eyes!

I originally think that my job would be very easy because I don’t have many things to do actually. However, when it comes to interacting with the residents living here, who are all disabled people, it would be extremely difficult. Firstly, most of them are mentally retarded or with other mental problems. It is very difficult to understand their behaviors. Secondly, most people here do not speak either Madarin or English. This makes our communication hard. Thirdly, even if they know our language or are mentally normal, they cannot control their bodies and even their tongues.

Every morning, the mentally retarded would get up at about 6 and start yelling. Sometimes, I would hear people crying but when I try to approach them to try soothing them, I would find that they are not crying at all. They always produce strange sounds and behave strangely. I believe that clapping our hands is the international language of praising people. But when I clapped my hands after a mentally retarded boy sang and dance, he became angry. People with mental problems usually cannot control and temper and manner easily. Frankly speaking, I am so afraid of them sometimes. I am not discriminating against them but I just cannot help with the uncomfortable feelings they had created to me.

But what I discovered is that if you try to open your heart to show that you care about them, they would be very happy. My job is nothing related to administration work or other practical things. It is actually to give hope to the disabled, show them there is love in the world and their lives have values.

People here can seldom go out because no one would want to bring them out. Many of them have no families because their families abandoned them. They can just know the outside world by talking with us—interns from different countries, by watching television, by surfing the internet(unfortunately only two of them know how to use the computers) and by their own imagination…… Everyday they have nothing to do because they have nothing can do, probably except sleeping and eating. And that’s why they sleep so early everyday at 6pm after dinner. For those who are mentally normal, they are not allowed to study after they are eight. They would end up staying here to make mats for the rest of their lives.

To me, I would think that their lives are full of waiting: waiting for visitors to come, waiting for the computer lesson which is once a week, waiting for meals, waiting for the end of the day, waiting for their deaths……

Back In Nairobi

2008-07-07T06:22:00.000-07:00

I am back in busy and modern nairobi...hohohoho.

When I first got back to nairobi I had this reverse culture shock. stepping back into a city after being in the rural area for more than 3 weeks wasn't easy. Everything seems so loud, so modern ( too moderm), so advance..the people are so different and the world too...Had this unreal feeling about things that was going on and to make the whole experience more interesting, I went travelling with a chinese trainee and a taiwan trainee and it sort of put me into an identity crisis. hahaha

It was interesting to see the coast of Kenya actually. and it is very very wicked. Seeing the sea and feeling the coastal climate actually made me miss HK....Mobassa (The city) is occupied by a lot of india and muslim...it actually made me remember the trip to India/sri lanka last year (and made me miss hk and my dear dear aiesec teamates even more) ...anyway..we stayed in a budget hotel near the town and at 4.00am..i was woke up by those muslim broadcast and it was pretty scary (though interesting...) ..We visited this Gene Ruin site which used to be a town in the coast but was evacated. There were China's bowl and money in the museum as there was trade between China and Kenya since a long time ago...The guide there was very eadger to show me those chinese stuffs and I told them the reason why those coin of china used to have a hole in the middle...it is very interested to interact with local ppl.

It was quite an experience to travel with taiwan ppl and beijin ppl at the same time. we talked about everything except politics...the beijing girl overheard the taiwan boy talking about politics with another passanger on the train and she told me not to mention anything about politics and japan unless i want an arguement. ho ho ho..

I got sick last week. Vomitted in the middle of the night and then vomit any water and things i ate the next day...but the idea of going to a that local clinic was too scary and it gave me strength to get well really soon...I just received news that the other boy who was there is vomitting ytd....i guess stomach problem is part of the typical african experience..

Last Week in Beijing

2008-07-06T20:35:00.001-07:00

真的沒有想過，時間過得咁快！我係北京生活的日子，只剩下6天。很多記憶突然之間全部湧出來！無論好定唔好，我想我都唔會忘記咖！第一天自己一個人飛來的北京的情況，我仲記得很清楚呀！個日只是得Peter黎接我咋！之後見到allen, olivia, rain，仲有kate 和佢的buddy. 個日那種不安的感覺，真係唔知點形容！但是依家想番，都會覺得好好笑咖！就係咁，我開始左我係北京的生活啦！ 2個月以來，我經歷左很多第一次呀！第一次自己係北京搭地鐵！第一次向街上行人問路！第一次向公安問路！第一次去天安門第一次去毛主席紀念堂第一次去天安門第一次去故宮第一次去頤和園第一次去圓明園第一次去長城第一次參加本地旅行团第一次去北京動物園第一次係胡同返工，第一次去廁所無門第一次去酒吧~~~~~~ 第一次搭的士就用左$50第一次去大使館，那個經歷一世難忘第一次同美國人一齊生活第一次去歡樂谷，仲入埋鬼屋第一次吃炸蠍子,真係help me~~~~第一次迷路第一次訂房吃飯第一次去鳥巢和水立方第一次去浸溫泉, 仲要脫光才可以下水，不過就真係5星級服務，超正！第一次為自己下廚第一次係北京唱k，大唱廣東話歌第一次係北京入戲院睇KUNG FU PANDA, 第一次講咁多普通話同英文第一次為左找景點，不惜行路行左1小時！其實仲有很多很多很多第一次........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................雖然我唔係一一寫哂出來，但是....................當中的一切，我會好好記住咖！不知點解，早幾日， Angel 問我，有無唔捨得的時候，我真係答唔出，可以覺得仲有成個星期啦！所以無咩大的feeling但是浸完溫泉返黎之後，就開始有種失落的感覺！有種唔捨我的感覺走左出來呀！唔想返去，很想係度玩，因為仲有很多很多地方，我都未去！未見過！很唔想返HK 呀！好想繼續留係度體驗生活！佢哋每一個都好好人，對我好好！特別是我buddy呀！佢真係令我係北京生活無咁不安咖！雖然我個tn manager唔係太理我們，但是........ 都要多謝佢哋呀！可能是我過來得唔岩時候啦！撞正佢哋趕project, 趕考試的時候！所以大家都無正式出去玩呀！很多事都只係一齊吃飯而已~~~ 希望我下次再黎北京的時候，可以同佢哋一齊去玩啦！應該會很開心咖！餘下的一個星期，會點過呢? 唔知呀！不過實在太多地方未去啦！我會好好計劃一下咖！希望餘下的星期唔會浪費啦！

Rounding up my first month in Kenya

2008-06-26T04:47:00.000-07:00

Another week has passed and this email/note/entry (depending on how you get to read this.haha) would probably round up my first month in Africa....

In the past week there weren't much new excitement but I am sinking in the daily life of rural Africa. Daily Activities include taking sick kids to the nearby town to visit the doctor (sometime we doubt if they are attention seeking.) but there are times when kids are really sick..malaria, typloid, amoeba and worms infection are part of the lives here), visiting the nearby primary school and places, getting supplies, taking picture of the kids and writing their stories for fundraising, using empty paper box to make buses with younger kids (now I regret that I didn't pay proper attention to my drawing lessons and art education), helping the older kids with maths and other homework at night, occassionally helping out in the kitchen is sorting beans and seeing how porridge and tea are made, fetching water, reading books , reflecting about life and the meaning of life ( I am philosophic..hoho), sometimes having interesting conversation with the canadian (his name is Tobias), planning what to do in the remaining 2 months...etc..etc...

My latest activity is reading the Kenyan newspaper closely. Now that we go to the nearby town often, either to buy supplies or to see the doctor), we can get newspaper more easily...I am doing some newspaper cutting and actually I came to Kenya at a very intersting time...There is a lot of news on the post-election violence that happened last year and Kenya is currently in a resettlement period when large amount of Internally Displaced People are about to return to home and social order is resuming ...and yea...sometimes I pay attention to those law reports in Kenya and issues concerning

constitutional right and human rights....see, I am actually a good law student...I try to do sth related to my studies when I am in Africa and during the summer vacation (but not when I am supposed to study...hahahahaha...)

One of the things that is surely different from what I experience in Hong Kong is the issue of HIV/AIDS. Not that I am discriminatory, but you can't help thinking how close you are with this virus when the infection rate is around 1/10 and there are news and information about it everywhere. Ever since I got here I have been very conscious of any wounds and cuts and it is not something I am highly aware of when I am in HK. But you can also tell that there are efforts to fight to HIV/AIDS. Local clinic provide free HIV test ( you need to pay for the needle thou...it's around $1.5 HK dollar), there are news and information about it in the newspaper on how NGO get funding to fight it, there are support groups for HIV positive ppl, in the primary school that we sometimes go to work in, there are many posters about it and it is also in there textbooks and there are riddle and poems against sex and HIV/AIDS...(sometimes like"say no to sex, say no to AIDS"...

doesn't really rhythm...but anyways...)

Another thing that struck me during an conversation with Tobias is how fragile and strong life is at the same time. It might have always been a fact of life but I get to realize it more after coming to Africa and it hit you right in the face. Life is very fragile here as we are very close to different notorious disease which can easily be cured by western standard but not in poor rural Africa where people lack the money and knowledge. And everyday life is about maintaining what is needed in life...it is all about ensuring there is enough food and stock and water and money to pay the bills. And really, doing all those daily chores to maintain the daily life is tiring and energy consuming enough to take your mind off anything else. But then, there is also a very strong sign of life in people. People here have remarkable energy and optimistic attitude. They sing a lot, laugh a lot, take quality time to enjoy themselves and meet with friends and different people. They strive to improve their situation, make the best of what they have and radiate energy....

And when I compare it to HK, you can say life is less fragile...well at least most of us talk about "quality of life" more than the basic survival of life…but at the same time I am not sure if our perception of life and the way how we lead our life is comparable to people here. Some people, at least I was, are confused about the meaning of life and waste too much time thinking/worrying instead of really acting and living life.

Or maybe this is just a matter of fate and circumstances, Like they might be equally confused if they were in our position of living in a loud and materialistic driven world and that I might have their energy and positive attitude of life if I was brought up that way and have been living this lifestyle every since I was born. It is not fair to compare and rank our lives as it is apparently so different and so precious in different ways...And hence when we are placed in the specific world we are in, the most we can do is to make the best of what we have and live life to the fullest. But one thing I am grateful for is I had the chance and opportunity to see this different world while I am not sure if they can do the same...

(Yo..that was very philosophic, don't you think..perhaps I should write a book called "Journey of confused university student seeking the meaning of life in Africa" when

I get back to Hong Kong to cover my expenses for this exchange thing..hahahahaha)

And yep, the home that i am staying in is very close to the equator. it is actually on the equator if you look at it on the map or Google earth. it's 2min south of the equator and today we took a half an hour walk to the sign where it says "You are crossing the equator line now"...well it is clearly a tourist spot...Yet Tobias said that according to the GPS...that isn't really the equator ...very very wicked.....I have been hoping to truly jump back and forth the southern and northern hemisphere. but it was only a fake equator...But still...I am very close to the equator and the interesting thing is how freaking cold it

is...especially at night...who said the equator is hot?????????

HoHo. I am not homesick yet thou sometimes I have a very short period of that "exchange blue", especially when that day is full of waiting...but generally up to now it has been quite a good experience (or perhaps it is because I am such a lovely and cute and smart and optimistic girl who can adapt to new environment easily and see the goodness in everything..just kidding...haha...i am very modest indeed...). Sometimes when I wake up in the middle of the night due to vivid dreams ( those anti-malaria drugs i am on are giving me lots of dreams), I thought I was in Hong Kong, but when I see the mosquito net surrounding me I would remember that I am in Africa. ho ho ..

Next week I am going to the coast of Kenya with a Taiwan Intern and a Chinese Intern ( I heard she is from Beijing but not sure)...I am looking forward to it and I am sure it will be an interesting trip...imagine this..3 ppl from china, hk, and taiwan met in africa and going travelling together, ho ho ho ) . Afterwards I am hoping to stay in Nairobi ( the capital) for a few days to visit some NGOs and see how other NGO really work in Africa...There is not much "management" in the child home i am staying in actually..so it would be really great if I can go and see how other more established and organized NGO works...but i am still planning...don't have a concrete plan yet...)

My effort in typing this should really be appreciated. hahahahaha. internet here costs 1 shilling per minutes..and it…is…..damn…..slow……..not to mention it is down sometime…..

Wonderful time in Slovakia

2008-06-25T12:27:00.001-07:00

Ahoj!! (Hello in Slovak)
I am now in Liptovsky Mikulas of Slovakia. I am now "kind of" having a holiday. Candy, Kate, Galvin and I traveled in Slovakia from Bratislava to Trecin, Banka Bystrica, Banka Stiavnica and finally, Liptovsky Mikulas. Tomorrow we will be going to Kosice as the last stop of Slovkia, then to Budapest in Hungary. Slovakia is really nice to visit if you like nature and traditional european towns. We lived in very nice hostel, have been to Trecin Castle, Old mining town of Banka Stiavnica, Ice Cave and Cave of Liberty in Lower Tatras, and also did some hiking there. We also learn some Slovak, like dakujam (thanks), listok (ticket), jedem (one), dva (two), tri (three), styri (four) etc.

The scenery here is extraordinary beautiful. I think if I come back next time, I will again visit the castle as we didn't visit most of them. And also I will go hiking or even camping.

Now I got another tones of photos and videos to upload. I hope I can upload it to facebook after I am back to Romania.

Our next destination will be Kosice and Budapest!

A great training camp in Romania!

2008-06-20T11:27:00.000-07:00

Salut Hong Kong! (Hello in Romanian)

It has been one month since I arrived in Oradea. I am very happy to tell you guys that I just had a great 7-day international training camp here. It was not organized by AIESEC but by an NGO in Oradea called MTP. I had a great learning experience in the camp since I was coordinating 14 people from 10 different countries including Armenia, Azerbaijan, France, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Moldova, Romania, Singapore, and Sweden. Also I met 7 very professional trainers from Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania and Slovakia. It was really rewarding and fun. There were so many things happened in those 7 days. I think I need more time to organize all my thought. I will share with you guys later.

Anyway, right now I am working with Camelia, Aliz, Tomi (MTP directors and employees) and Galvin (the other AIESEC intern) in MTP office. We had a great time there. I love them so much!! Also sometimes we meet with Julia, Sara and Florian who are EVS (European Volunteering Service) volunteers in MTP. They are also very friendly.
So much has happened for the last two weeks. I wish I can share my experience with you all, but I will be going to Slovakia and Hungary to travel in the coming week. So I hope I can keep update you guys one week later la.

Btw, I got 5GB of photos and videos from the training camp. :P

Jambo

2008-06-18T05:13:00.001-07:00

hoho, Jambo means hello in Swihili. ho ho ..

anyway..got out of town early this week and we might visit some ppl in the weekends.
Have been visiting quite a lot in the last few days..on saturday we have been yo a traditional rural african family home and tour around the area...there we saw a monkey which was in white and black.and helped preparing lunch is a very smoky kitchn..sunday we went to the church and the home of a principal of a primaryschool who is nearby..he works closly with the volunteer in the child home so it's good to know him and on monday we went to a local medicial clinic to take a sick girl to the doctor.she got typloid fever which is highly contagious ..and i am glad that i took my vaccination properly before coming..we are keeping an eye to see if there is an outbreak in the home but it is hard to tell coz the symptoms is similar to that of a cold and everyone in the home seems to have at least a running nose..(including me.hohoho. i am intergrating well into the home)

yesterday was an unfortunate day T_T i went all the way to the river to fetch water to wash my clothes but when i was half way through, a cow came and drank the bucket of water i was using and i had to go all the way back to the river to fetch water for the second time to finish washing clothes T_T T_T T_T T_T ...it was very very tiring (and yes.chicken and cow runs everywhere here and i just chased a chicked out of the room this morning..)

at the same time we are startin this project of talking to the kids one by one and writing down their stories and thoughts so that we can also use this chance to know them in deep. been also cooridinating to improve the situation of the home and meeting different key ppl. ho ho

there was a group of visitors who came to the home on sunday to spend a night and bring in sponsors ( and among them. there was tsui lap chi's son..wicked...he looks like his father thou...) and it sort of stir up a sea of thoughts in me....i am not sure how I feel towards this sort of relationship between the needy and the one who is helping and the method of helping...it's always good to help ppl but what is te best way to do so? i dun feel very comfortble seeing those "richer' ppl bringing in lots of material goods and stuffs to sponsor the kid and in return the kids make speeches of gratitude and the visitors seems to think there way of doing things is best for the kids and is helping a great deal to improve the situation...material assistance is necessary but to what extend should we do so and is this the best way to improve the condition in africa? and then i am thinking the value of my existence here and what should i do to maxmize the impact to myself and to others.

yeeeeeeep. that's all for now :0
i can't reply the emails one by one coz internet connection is damn slow here..but thank you for writing to me :)...everything is slow here..we just spent 2 hours in the postal office trying to retrieve a parcel and another 1.5 hour in the bank to open bank account for the kids...

byebyebye
angie :)

Jambo

2008-06-18T05:13:00.000-07:00

北京生活一個月

2008-06-14T08:04:00.000-07:00

時間過得咁快wor~~~
我係度已經1個月啦！足足1個月了！
真的沒有想過，
so far, 一切對我來說，都過得幾順利。
沒有太大的問題，只是到依家我的普通話仍然唔好！
英文亦沒有太大的進步我想
但是我有個很大的感受，
今次是我第一次離開屋企，離開我一班香港的朋友，
連畢業旅行都唔去，就飛左過來啦！
到依家仍覺得對唔住一班大學的老友咖！
因為是你們令我肯再次面對自己，
再次企番起身咖！等我返來的時候，一定要瘋狂去玩一次咖！
仲有，當然是家人啦！第一次離開屋企，自己一個女仔係外地的生活，
佢哋當然擔心咖！因為我係一個粗心大意的女仔，很依賴屋企的女仔咖！
係我出發個日，佢哋個個都叫我醒目d，唔好比人扼！睇實d錢呀！唔好去夜街等等的說話！
我覺得對屋企有愧意，突然同佢哋講，我要去北京2個月，仲要自己租屋，咩都唔包的時候，
佢哋每一個都嬲，叫我唔好去啦！做咩要去受苦呢?
不過我無理會，只是講，你都唔想我一世都呆左香港，咩都唔知嗎? 同埋我都大啦！
我可以應付到咖！無問題咖！就係咁，佢哋都根本無得反對咖！
我記得去入左閘之後，仲要等成半個鐘先上機，
就玩下MSN，好似好型咁同大家講，
我要飛啦，2個月後見啦！
其實我一路玩msn, 一路係個侯機室到哭，
唔知做咩，眼淚不斷流下來！當然佢哋唔會知啦！
我仍然扮型咁講，我走啦！記得掛住我呀！
個刻會哭，我想應該有幾個原因吧！
因為真的離開屋企2個月啦, 另外，聽到太多關於北京的新聞, 自己會擔心啦！
仲有擔心唔知自己可否過得好呢? 係咪可以handle一切的問題呢?
成個月啦，睇番自己，真的大個左啦！
雖然唔可以話handle得好好，但是總算不過不失！
每天早上整早餐比自己吃，逼地鐵返工，工作，
和同事去吃飯，再工作，之後放工，同rmmate 商量晚餐吃咩！
很多時候，大家都會見到咩，就吃咩！咩都試一餐，都幾開心咖！
我仲親自下廚tim, 話哂我都係讀catering 嘛！無理由唔識咖！
不過，可能真係太淡味啦！佢哋都唔鐘意既!!!
但唔緊要，最重要係我可以為自己下廚嘛！
一個由細到大，都係依賴屋企，凡是叫左阿媽先的我，
今日已經可以自己一個人飛左黎北京，為自己煮飯，
為自己去街市買餸，幫朋友搞VISA，自己搭車，問路去大使館，
經歷左一生難忘的一個片段！
仲有同rmmate係咁問路，仲要我既PTH唔係好到人人都明的情況下，去我們想去的景點,
我從來無想過，自己會背住個bag，拿住張地圖，就會去玩咖！
因為從來我都係知道清清楚楚先會去咖！但原來一切plan好哂，反而無plan的感受仲大呀！
當真係做到的時候，個種滿足感真係很大咖！我真係覺得自己終於大個左啦！
可能很多人覺得這些其實是很簡單，有咩值得講的時候，
對我來說，是很有意義咖！
真是人生難忘咖！

工作上都係有很大的滿足感，首先，我從來都沒有想過，
我真係可以去in charge 成件事，
而且當我將我的idea講比我boss聽的時候,佢都好buy咖！
仲要話我做得唔錯tim~~~~ 幾開心咖！
希望我真係可以將我的concept變成事實啦！
咁就最好啦！
雖然我無樹會見到佢開張，但是我希望我走之前
有8成以上的野已經預備好啦！咁就prefect 啦！
當然如果見到開張的話，我會覺得更加好啦！
所以我會用盡我的能力去完成咖！ haha~~~

Fanny

2nd week in Kenya

2008-06-13T01:37:00.000-07:00

Yo! Hello again :)

I am intergrating into the life of the child home..
everymorning after waking up..there would be some kind of exercise..it's either washing clothes with very limited water, going to the river nearby to fetch water, walking up to the little village to get charcol or supplies...

afterwards we would usually go to the primary school to volunteer...we either do some marking or teach a class. We would go into a class and tell them what is china and canada using the most simple english..those little kids are really excited to see foreigners...they call us "mzenguis' foreigners in kiswihili and i love to see their reaction when i tell them china has lots of resources and we like to eat different kind of food such as snakes and frogs...they will grasp and gimme a really scared look..

late in the afternoon i will sometime discuss with the canadian what on earth are we doing here and our plan for the home and trying to figure the situation or we will go to the library with the little kids to play lego or draw...when the older ones are coming back we will chat with them and see how their day was like...

at night after dinner it would be reading, chatting and sleeping..On sunday we go to church though the serve is in kikuyu and i dun really understand what the pastor is saying.

life is simple here and it's like paying attention to every single task u do everyday and appreciating the fact that there is life. .
people here are generally nice thou i am still trying to know them more in depth...they have a special prespectives towards foreigner ..they generally think we are rich and depend quite a lot of foreigners and sometimes i doubt their intention..but i am staying openminded ( haha) and will see more before judging..afterall it's not good to judge ..
i am also trying to plan what to do in africa. my current plan is to stay in the home and do as much as we can till august and in august i might travel around kenya or participate in some AIESEC events..but still dunnno yet and hopefully it will be settled sooon.

i will try to update once every week :)

hello from kenya !

2008-06-13T01:14:00.000-07:00

Hello all :)

I stayed in Nairobi with my host family for 5 days and now I have finally arrived at Najagaa's Child Hope ( The orphange I am working in) and it is in the rural side of Kenya and is very very different from Nairobi.

Luckily there was another Canadian non-aiesecer who is going to the home as he was appointed by some sponsors of the home to figure out how they can sponsor the home.He got quite a lot of insider information and we have mainly been cooperating to see what can be done.

The Home
The home is situated in a village and is a 40 mins bus ride from the nearest town. The home is an old colonial home...70 sth children live in it and it's pretty hectic, esp at night when everyone is back and waiting to have diner.

There is no running water in the home so water is either collected during rain or fetched in a river nearby. There is electricity but light bulbs are rare. The kids have very limited clothing and necessary items. The main food they eat is rice and beans and food supply is running short too.

What I have been doing
In the last 2 and a half days, I have been trying to see how the home runs and what is needed. Been talking a lot to the children and playing with the younger one (who stays at home when the other are at school...my drawing is improving as they always want me to draw from them) so that I can have a fuller picture of what I can do for the home.My JD is to fund raise but it seems difficult to fund raise within Kenya. My plan now is to find out what the need, try to get money, and make sure the money and resources is managed properly for the good of the child ( A lot of NGO in africa mismanage their funding and resources). Have also been visiting the primary school next to it and might volunteer there is affairs at the home is not too busy.

The people i have been meeting in these last few days is so different from the one i met in Nairobi already..In nairobi and mainly AIESECers, their living condition is generally okay and quite westernized. They watch a lot of TV and worry about relationship, beauty, school, gossips. Here in the home, it is so different, a few 17/18 years old girl is managing the home and they work as teachers in the morning and take care of the home at night. They wish to go to college but they dun have the money nor chance

I will only have internet assess once every week but I will keep you guys updated :) I don't have homesick yet and I guess i am slowly detaching from Hong Kong...last night i couldn't sleep so I treated myself with 2 songs on my mp3 and Easonbb's voice sound so strange to me...hohoho..

Write to me :) Is it raining very heavily in Hong Kong? I read it in ppl's facebook status. haha.

Take care
angieeeeeeeeeeee

third week @Beijing

2008-06-10T07:45:00.000-07:00

進入第三個星期，開始覺得有些不一樣啦！好像是習慣左，但又覺得自己唔係屬於這個地方咖！總之就怪怪的！不知點講！
工作上，就要面對大問題, 我BOSS去左美國, 話要體驗一下外國人的經驗，之後用番係中國wor~~ 希望佢學到的，真係用得到就好啦！而我依家要做的，就大件事啦！老闆只是交代左幾個人比我去contact, 希望佢哋真係會理我啦！如果唔係，我今次飛過來，就白過咖啦！我一個人in charge成件事呀！有點擔心，不過我將我的idea講左比boss聽，佢都幾滿意。之後就左去美國啦！我走左佢先返黎呀！我都唔知有無機會見到cafe的開張啦！
不過我都唔理啦！總之就做好哂一次要做的野，就是啦！不過就一定要有主動性才可以吧！如果唔係日日返去就會呆呆的渡過啦！這個唔會係我想要的結果來的！就算未開得住，我都希望其他的一切都已經預備好哂！
生活上，個日去左大使館區，真係有種很恐懼的感覺呀！每個使館門口都有一至二個的公安站崗，而且仲有條Warraning Line咖！同佢哋說話一定要stand behind the yellow line 真係幾驚咖！個度應該有超越30個的大使館, 很難先找到Ukraine呀！不過好彩的是，之後我一路走，就找到巴士返公司啦！非常之好！仲有，因為明天就是糭仔節，所以我都買了2個來吃，跟香港的有一些區別，不過都幾好食咖！不過，因為這裡唔近海的關係，可以看到划龍舟的機會比較低啦！唔緊要啦！明年一定要去城門河看一次！仲有，我又開始我師奶仔的生活啦！去超級市場買菜，之後自己煮, 不過真係唔好食咖！我都覺得真的不行啦！但是我又唔想日日都係街食wor~~~ 所以幾難食，我都吃落肚啦！始終是自己弄吧！其他就無咩大的事啦！因為太多工作，都無去玩啦！只係呆左家中，好好休息一下啦！

2nd Friday @ Thailand

2008-06-07T20:47:00.000-07:00

前日 (6/6), Nan (VPTM of BU in Thailand) bought Greg and I to the Natonal Museum, Grand Palace, Sleeping Budda and Khao San Road. Thank you so much:)))) It was a very nice trip!

其實昨日我們第一站是去Grand Palace. 但去到時有個穿制服的泰國人叫停我們. 佢同Nan講, 今日有儀式, Grand Palace is closed from 11:30 am -1:30 p.m. 佢叫我們到附近的temple咁Nan係路, 而且the sister of the Thai king died (months ago), so we trusted him. But we were cheated by that guy. He brought us to somewhere we can take a boat trip in order to visit some temple, the floating market, etc. but need to pay 600 baht/person. Greg thought it is okay, but I said I don't want Nan use too much money because of us. so finally, we do not take that. That's why the first place we went what the National Museum.

National Museum is a museum about the history of Thailand. similar to the HK story in HK museum. there are lots of models to take about Thailand history but the scale is not as big as the HK one.What I learn there? I learned Bangkok is the 4th capital in Thailand history. and the full name of Bangkok is 'Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit' and some names of the king la.

After that, we went to the Grand Palace. It is good to be there. It's really a nice place :))) the buildings of the Grand Palace, some are very thai but some are in European style.After this, we went to see the sleeping budda and went to Khao San Road.

小插曲:Greg made a video during the trip. We were very hype. I said I love you to him in english and the other 2 thai girls said they love him in Polish. and now the video is in his blog T^T

4 days in Malaysia~

2008-06-05T19:22:00.000-07:00

Hi~everyone!!

我以家系馬來西亞吉隆坡,呢3個系UPM(Universiti Putra Malaysia)ge aiesecers, 佢地來接機, 帶我去hostel, 帶我去食飯同買左好多必需品, 佢地好nice 嘎...今日系第4日, internship ge第3, 我地個project name is Standard Chartered Bank HIV/AIDs Peer to Peer Program. 我系malaysia mc office 同另外6個interns一齊做野, 我地每日都會開一次會, 講下尋日做左d咩, 今日要做d咩... 跟住下午會有bookreading, 因為我地要了解多d關於HIV/AIDs. 呢邊d野幾好食, 我鍾意, 而且唔系好貴^^ 我地全部都系住系Mahsa College ge hostel. 我地可以搭的士番去office, 因為可以claim, 哈哈!!! 不過都唔系好貴, $4-$5 蚊馬弊. 尋日我地去酒吧, 因為逢星期4系ladies night, 每位女士可以有一杯免費cocktail~

Kanas

2nd Tuesday @ Thailand

2008-06-04T09:20:00.000-07:00

昨日没什麼特別. 爲了今日可以出一日街, 所以昨日成日都在MC House 工作. (我係一個自律的人:P)唯一特別的是晚上和Suchith (MCP of Thailand) and Greg (MC VPER, my roommate XDD). 去吃晚飯的時候. 我哋三個都不是泰國人. Suchith comes from Sri Lanka & Greg come from Poland.在泰國相遇, 真是有點不可思議.我同Greg都唔識用泰文叫菜, 所以叫菜的重任就落在Suchith身上.Suchith想試新嘢. 佢想叫Chicken with coconut sauce. 但點知來咗雞腳with Red sauce =.= 但最特別是Suchith and Greg 一見到雞腳便變了臉.完來佢地個國家無人吃雞腳的. 唔講唔知, 完來我哋食雞腳對佢哋來講是一個cultural shock. 但我都無想過完來吃雞腳對其他人來話咁特別. 所以E餐飯對我來說都是一個cultural shock.其後又去了吃Roti. E道d Roti 是甜的. 有 Roti with egg & Roti with banana 兩種. 會加上煉奶和糖來吃. 又我來說太甜了. 但佢哋話the sweeter the better. and (they said) this statement is from China, probably from Confucius. 但我都無聴過ge?

2nd Monday @ Thailand

2008-06-02T22:45:00.000-07:00

昨日去了BU (Bangkok University) 的LC meeting. 由於去的巴士是分段收費, 所以我要同個money collector 講我要去Bangkok University. 但佢唔明English, 所以我唯有call Suchith, 叫佢同money collector 講=.= 不過佢都幾好人, 叫我落車, 如果唔係我miss 咗個站都唔知.AIESEC Thailand d 人做事好似其他society jong. 咩都一起做. inspire 我的地方是他們做事好斉心.d 普通member 都會幫手做recruitment. (佢地June開學); 唔好的地方是做事唔夠organize and effective. 開會開3個鐘...

之後去了Siam 的MOS Burger 吃泰版Spicy MOS Burger. 但都唔 Spicy ge. 係咪吃得太多spicy food, 所以都唔覺得佢Spicy. 定係佢真係唔Spicy??

本來打算去Chitlom's night market. 但唔知係咪下雨, 所以無嘢看.P.S. 昨天是Monday, 所以泰國人(大部分)會 dress in yellow in order to show their respect to the Thai king.

First 4 days in Kenya!

2008-06-02T12:33:00.000-07:00

I am in Kenya!
Have been in Kenya for 4 days and been staying with my hosting family and meeting different local and AIESEC people. AIESEC ppl here are nice and really passionate...
Have been seeing some parts of african food, culture, lifestyle but i know it's only a small part of it...will definitely explore more in the remaining time!
I will move to the child home i am working in tomorrow !! It's quite far away from Nairobi and i guess i won't have much internet assess. Will try to keep in touch :)
Take Care everybody!

第二個星期的北京的生活！

2008-06-01T22:05:00.001-07:00

無想過咁快就過左2個星期，一切都好順利，沒有太大的問題！
只是有時真的會掛住屋企，排住朋友，希望佢哋都會係我身邊！
不過講真，人係要學獨立，唔可以下下都依賴別人, 很多時最終都係靠自己！
黎左2個星期，最大的感受真係要學識照顧自己呀！
第一個星期，我都自己講，有點亂是正常，但是唔可以維持太耐！
因為咁樣，生活只會越來唔掂！所以我都唔比自己咁樣落去！
我要維持番我係HK時候的生活。
所以我會去街市買餱，去超級市場掃貨，這個才是我黎咖！
不過其實真正的區別唔係太大咋，所以我都好快適應到啦！

講番先，
工作上真的沒有大問題了，只是覺得短時間內，未必可以完成，
但是我會盡我所能，一定要係走之前，見到CAFE開張之日！

生活上，
係剛去的周六和周日，我都kate分開左呀！
佢去買UIBE(hosting LC)一個學系的同學，協助佢哋完成一套電影啦！
佢2日以來，都係拍片，所以我都要自己找節目啦！
星期六，就同UIBE一班的@ers，去左動物園啦！
真係很好好好好好玩呀！見到很多很多唔同的動物，有點我仲要係未見過啦！
可惜的是，我部相機無電呀！所以只係映很少咋！不過我都有映低我最想見的熊貓，
佢哋超可愛呀！好得意呀！我仲買左2隻識講'I love you'的公仔呀！超越可愛！
玩完一日之後，我就覺得唔係好累，但是佢哋就已經謝左啦！之後很開心咁去吃火鍋，無錯大熱天時吃火鍋，根本是傻的行為，不過我玩得很開心呀！
因為有很多@ers都係由廣州個邊去北京讀書咖！所以我係咁講廣東話，很開心呀！
仲教左佢哋一句很押韻的說話，黎，大家跟我讀一次
「去唱K，唔食K Buffet, 好戇居！」
佢哋講得到咖，不過當中聽到很多笑話出來，真係笑死我！
另外，從他們口中得到，原來佢哋以為，理工是繼港大之後，最好的大學lor!!!
haha~~聽到都好好笑呀！佢哋仲話要考入去理工，難過入清華！
咪原來POLYU收內地生的準則咁高，咁依家係度讀個d咪一定很勁lor~~~
真係失覺哂！

之於星期日，我就自己去左王府井書店買書啦！因為假期同中國兒童節的關係，
超級多人，不過好彩的是，我都找到我想要的書！比你們估下，
我買左10本書，佢收左幾多錢，聲明先有八折discout 咖！

只是$225.5 咋！係咪好抵呢?
雖然全部都係簡體書，我相信我可以睇得明白！
因為實在太重的關係，我好早就返左去啦！
之後就去左吃飯，去超級市場掃貨了！
就係咁，我第二個星期就過去了！ haha!!!

One week in Oradea, Romania

2008-05-28T07:01:00.000-07:00

Hello Hong Kong!! I've arrived in Oradea for a week already. Everything here is so European. They have lots of, lots of church. Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish Church, you name it. The church here is beautiful, especially Catholic and Orthodox. They have a huge Catholic church here and it is the biggest Catholic church around these region. So one of the most common thing here is religion. Everyone has their own religion here, even another intern Galvin from Singapore is a Protestant, so I am kind of the only "no religion" person in the town. By the way, the buildings around here are very European and there are lots of them.

The LC reception here is good. We have an AIESEC member called Ady who accompanies us a lot. Since not everyone here knows English here, it is hard to get around without knowing the route beforehand. Ady is actually not a Romanian, but Hungarian. He is really really nice. He even accompanied us to the dinner without having food for himself. Also there are other AIESEC members who are really cool. I can introduce them later.

We had a busy schedule here. We delivered training session for the NGO conference and we went to high school to present our country and AIESEC exchange. Also we walked a lot and I do mean A LOT. The transportation here is complicated, with no english, so walking is the most easiest way for foreigner to get around. Anyway we got a tight schedule nearly everyday (and kind of random), so many things happened in this week.

So far I like this place, I think I will have a hard time when I go back to HK.

You can checkout the photo in my facebook. I still got lots of photo and video to upload. :P
Search "Ken Chung" in HKU and Hong Kong network :D

One week in Beijing

2008-05-26T08:46:00.001-07:00

很開心來左北京都成個星期啦！
都無話唔慣既！同香港唔係差太遠啦！
只是這裡天氣真係很乾很乾，
同埋很多塵呀！我個NOSE真係受唔住呀！
日日都好似塞住左咁！都幾辛苦咖！
不過應該會慢慢好卦！

我去左東珍中心返工已經去第三天啦！個度個個都好好人呀！
仲話我d普通話好好tim~~~~
我office係胡同入面咖！都幾得意咖！大家可以去facebook睇下，
我upload 左係個度呀！
由於我讀hotel Mgt的關係，而他們又想開一間關於AIDS的cafe,
所以重任就係我手啦！都幾開心咖！可能將自己讀的，認真的發揮出來！
實在太好啦！我做左個draft的timeline出來

，個director都話ok, 不過都有少少野修改咖！但是我都係第一次比人話我的idea 好呀咋！我要更加努力先得啦！

講完工作，講下生活呢! 都好好呀！
無咩大問題，我日日同kate一齊返工，放工，大家都會當大家係伴咖！
有時我教佢廣東話，普通話，佢教我英文lor~~ 都幾好！
我們仲一齊去街市買餸tim~ 都幾開心咖！我煮左一餐我自己很滿意的食物，
但是佢哋食得太咸啦！所以覺得我整的野是無味咖！不過，唔緊要啦！
最緊要我自己開心啫！係咪?
星期六日的時候, 我們就去左很多地方，
1. 王府井，
2. 天安門
3. 鳥巢
4. 毛主席紀念館
5. 故宮
6. 景山公園
7. 頤和園

暫時係咁多啦！今個星期繼續，不過真係有要detail plan咖！
如果唔係就要搞很耐咖啦！不過都係一個好好的體驗！
好似back packer 咁周圍玩，很開心咖！
講住咁多先啦！下星期繼續！

Fanny

Audrey @ Thailand

2008-05-24T18:27:00.000-07:00

This is 8:00 am in the morning in Thailand. I have wake up at 7:30am this morning.
Why I wake up so early, it is because the life style is totally different from Hong Kong.
When it was 11:30pm last night, I was pushed to sleep.
I think that Thailand do not have night life (夜生活). plaza closed at 9:20 p.m. and when it is only 10 sth at night, the atmosphere just like 1 or 2 am in Hong Kong.
Last night (the night that I arrived here), we went to the central plaza 3 to have dinner. the meal is 30 Baht (without drink), It is around HKD 8.
and I bought some daily necessary here. The prices are acceptable. But for water, because I bought some imported ones, so it cause me around HKD 16.5/L. But for a local one, it is around HKD 2.6/L only.

First week in Beijing

2008-05-23T08:23:00.000-07:00

很開心黎到北京已經有幾日了！
由昨天開始，我已經上班了~
因為交通的問題，我們第一天上班就遲左大約10 分鐘，才回到！
真係不太好意思！
之後就開始工作! 昨日的工作主要都是serach 一些information 是關於condom restaurant in Thailand.因為這裡的NGO，想開一間頖似的Cafe,由於我有係酒店工作的經驗，所以我的工作是寫一個Proposal 是關於一個這樣的cafe 咖！之後讓他們去實行這件事咖！這些就是我工作了！這裡其實是一些胡同的地方，有時間的時候，我會拍下一些照片，讓你們看看的！

講番生活先，
係我正式返工的前一天，我們去左家樂福Shopping，買左很多很多日用品和食物！這邊的家樂福很似吉之島呀！但是價錢都唔係好貴！都可以接受的！
我和kate(美國來的女仔)一齊住在一個叫太平家園的地方，都離我們返工的地方幾遠咖！但是那裡的環境都很好！跟香港的大型屋苑差不多！我有少少覺得這裡的環境比我家還要好一些！除左無Lifti之外！依家我每天上落來回要走10層樓，因為我住係5樓呀！唉！真的苦了我一雙腳！
其他都好好！有街市係附近，可以買餸煮飯！

另外，這邊的消費，特別是食物都比較便宜，
早餐，只需要$2-3
午餐，大約$5-9左右
晚餐，大約$20-30左右
所以都可以節省一點！

另外，交通都可以la~
因為我們坐地鐵返工咖！
這裡是坐幾遠都只是$2 咖！
而且都幾快咖！不過上班的時候，太多人啦！
好像香港咁樣，但是我們都無辦法，
因為我們都一定是這個時間出門口
仲有，佢哋這裡有一個叫交通卡的card,是用來搭車用咖
好像我們的八達通一樣！不過唔可以來買野lor~~~
都幾方便咖！

大致上都係咁啦！
內衣褲，我每天都會洗，其他就應該一星期才會洗一次吧！
都無咩其他大的問題，只係掛住屋企，掛住大家，掛住香港的一切！
他們都話，很想很想過來香港玩！到時要我帶佢哋佢玩wor~~
暫時就係咁多啦！

Fanny @ Beijing

SWAP Updatesssssssssssssss! :)

2008-04-16T09:26:00.000-07:00

7 realized!! 18 matched!!

Started a life-changing experience...
Vicki Mo[PolyU] realized to To Share The Life in Turkey on 19 May 2008
Ken Chung[HKU] realized to ASMO in Romania on 20 May 2008
Fanny Chow[PolyU] realized to China Orchid AIDS Project in Mainland of China on 21 May 2008
Audrey Ho[Lingnan] realized to TRUST in Thailand on 25 May 2008
Angie Chung[HKU] realized to NJAAGA CHILD HOPE in Kenya on 30 May 2008
Kanas Chow[Lingnan] realized to Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad in Malaysia on 4 Jun 2008
Lam Chi Yat[Lingnan] realized to To Share The Life in Turkey on 4 Jun 2008

Preparing for the life-changing experience...
PolyU
Rannie Wong matched to Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad, Malaysia
Sophia Tsui matched to Intellect, Russia
Andy Mak matched to Africa YES Project, Uganda
Nick Wong matched to Myself-My World, Turkey
Candy Chan matched to OLAKH, India
Chris Cheung[IDP] matched to AIESEC Makerere University Business School, Uganda
CUHK
Kimmy Chung matched to Sam Tour, Ukraine
Candy Chan matched to Kamal Nayan Society, India
Gloria Lung matched to Local Agenda 21, Turkey
Angel Luk matched to Chinese Academy of Social Science, Mainland of China
Lingnan
Sharon Chan matched to Sam Tour, Ukraine
Frank Ho matched to CNVA, Romania
HKBU
Katherine Tong matched to Step By Step, Ukraine
Kim matched to TURKISH EDUCATION VOLUNTEERS FOUNDATION, Turkey
HKUST
Napo Tsang matched to AZOV REGIONAL INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, Ukraine
Wei Yu matched to AZOV REGIONAL INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, Ukraine
HKU
Stevie[IDP] matched to Shape The Future, Turkey
Janet Man matched to Pro-Health International, Nigeria

Awaiting TNAN...
HKUST
Sunny Wong matching to PACT Foundation, Romania
Jack Leung matching to Green Peace South East Asia, Indonesia
Liz Lo matching to Alternative Lifes Camp, Turkey

Waiting patiently for TN reply, considering others...
Monica Leung[HKU], Angel Xie[IDP]

Matching Process Sharing :)

2008-04-16T07:44:00.000-07:00

Dear EPs!

Hey! As there is still some EPs haven't be matched yet, let's share with you how we matched so fast! Let's me share my experience first!

Actually, my date is very late for SWAP, as i can only go after 13th Jane, so, during my matching process, it is nearly makes me rematch again, i have to communicate with the TN manager there, and Debby help me a lot!Thanks!!>3<

After this, i am also wondering what i need to do there, what is my work field, accommodation and the facilities they provides for me.That's is also very important, and it makes both of the TN manager and me to know what we need.

But the most important thing is, as an EP, we need to check our e-mail frequently, it is because there may be time lag between the country of TN manager and us, so i check my e-mail frequently, i check my email even i see there is a computer that have Internet access. :P Hope all of you can be matched as soon as possible!

Let's have our fruitful and grateful exchange experience!

Cheers!
Sophia :)

SWAP is HOT-TO-GO!!!

2008-03-21T07:48:00.000-07:00

Welcome all SWAPerssssssssssssss!!!

This is a blog just for us - SWAPers! to share our thoughts, feelings, experience, excitement, learning, photos, videos, fun stuff, or anything you wanna share!!

Feel free to write here! You don't have to wait till your internship starts :P
But do write it every week once your internship starts :)))))))))))))))))
Share your amazing internship experience and let the world jealous~!! :P

Yous lovely,
Debby <3