Stephen

Hey, this is Steve. I'm 19 years old (13.05.80) and this time I'm from Belgium. Pop-quiz: if you are an exchange student in Hong Kong and you encounter a problem, what's the main cause ?
a) your hostfamily b) your school c) your friends d) the AFS-staff? .

Believe it or not, present and future exchange victims, but it happens to be d)? .
The entire year, I stayed with an expat family in Deepwater Bay. My host-dad Richard was from Scotland and works as a Divisional Commander with the Marine Police. My host-mother, Mari, was from the Philippines. I had two hostbrothers, Josh (7) and Liam (2). They were the best family an exchange student could ever have, supporting me when the AFS tribe back in the office was acting difficult again.
I went to the Tang Shiu Kin secondary school, strategically located where Happy Valley, Wanchai and Causeway Bay meet. The school-life was great. That's the introduction I guess...

Favourite place:
The Chungking Mansions in Tsim Sha Tsui, a huge building consisting of five blocks, with cheap guest-houses, restaurants, sweatshops, Nepalese brothels, Indian grocers, Bollywood video stores and staircases with bloodstains on the wall. It is not exactly the most fancy place to go, but the atmosphere and the friendliness of the people make up for that. It is also one of the few places in Hong Kong where you will have a small chance running into the dreaded Tara, since our National Director rather goes to the Mandarin-Oriental for drinks. I mean, what else are you supposed to do with your money ?

Cultural Shock ?:
Not really. It all went a lot easier than I expected. I had some problems with the naiveté of the Chinese teenagers in the beginning, but after a while that wasn't a problem anymore and I accepted their way of life. (I'm sure this is all part of the whole cultural exchange, no ? I mean I had to find at least one sentence the office could use for their lovely newsletters...)
Most disgusting/favourite food:
At home: my host-mother?s delicious vegetable curry and curry chicken.
Eating out: The Indian food in the Nanak Mess, 11F of Block A, Chungking Mansions.
If you like to chew on a piece of concrete in you spare time, go to the African restaurant in Block E of the Mansions. If you happen to be from Nigeria, you'll probably like it. If not, bad luck, but I suggest the Fufu and the Samolina. Even McDonalds sounds like a brilliant dining place after you've been here.

FRIENDS:

Everybody I like, especially the tramp on the corner of Hennesy Road and Percival street, Causeway Bay.

? What did you spend your money on ? :
My car, a Volvo 144D, which I was able to buy for a very cheap price.
A better question, however, would be: what did you spend your time on ? My answer would be, going to all those useless AFS meetings and camps, while I could have done better things, like going fishing or waxing my legs

Biggest misunderstanding:

I always thought slavery had been abolished in Hong Kong.
How many times were you lost:

Naah, Belgians never get lost.
Homesick?:

never

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Favourite place: The Chungking Mansions in Tsim Sha Tsui, a huge building consisting of five blocks, with cheap guest-houses, restaurants, sweatshops, Nepalese brothels, Indian grocers, Bollywood video stores and staircases with bloodstains on the wall. It is not exactly the most fancy place to go, but the atmosphere and the friendliness of the people make up for that. It is also one of the few places in Hong Kong where you will have a small chance running into the dreaded Tara, since our National Director rather goes to the Mandarin-Oriental for drinks. I mean, what else are you supposed to do with your money ?	Cultural Shock ?: Not really. It all went a lot easier than I expected. I had some problems with the naiveté of the Chinese teenagers in the beginning, but after a while that wasn't a problem anymore and I accepted their way of life. (I'm sure this is all part of the whole cultural exchange, no ? I mean I had to find at least one sentence the office could use for their lovely newsletters...)	Most disgusting/favourite food: At home: my host-mother?s delicious vegetable curry and curry chicken. Eating out: The Indian food in the Nanak Mess, 11F of Block A, Chungking Mansions. If you like to chew on a piece of concrete in you spare time, go to the African restaurant in Block E of the Mansions. If you happen to be from Nigeria, you'll probably like it. If not, bad luck, but I suggest the Fufu and the Samolina. Even McDonalds sounds like a brilliant dining place after you've been here.
FRIENDS: Everybody I like, especially the tramp on the corner of Hennesy Road and Percival street, Causeway Bay.	?	What did you spend your money on ? : My car, a Volvo 144D, which I was able to buy for a very cheap price. A better question, however, would be: what did you spend your time on ? My answer would be, going to all those useless AFS meetings and camps, while I could have done better things, like going fishing or waxing my legs
Biggest misunderstanding: I always thought slavery had been abolished in Hong Kong.	How many times were you lost: Naah, Belgians never get lost.	Homesick?: never