EIL Intercultural Learning

After an eventful twenty hours of travelling, which included a mad dash through Amsterdam Airport that resulted in a broken flip flop and some memorable encounters with Airplane cuisine, we finally arrived in Hong Kong.We were given a warm welcome by the Hong Kong delegates, almost as warm as the heat that embraced us on leaving the Airport terminal. After checking into the magnificent Y-Loft on Hong Kong Island the delegates brought us to a restaurant where we sampled our first piece of Asian cuisine, and which was of course the beginning of our ongoing battle with the notorious chopstick. Food fell onto the table, our laps and onto the floor, little of it made it to our mouths, but the bit that did was …. interesting. We then haggled (or at least attempted to) our way through the night at Hong Kong’s most famous shopping market on Temple Street.

After a much needed sleep we headed to the Hong Kong Jockey Club Drug Information Centre. There we learned how similar to Ireland more and more young people in Hong Kong are turning to drugs in order to cope with life in modern day society. We then took a group photo, a feature of the trip which would soon become a most notable one - standing in 100% humidity we stand for almost thirty photos - each delegate giving their camera to their respective leader - with so many photos to upload on the internet we expect to bankrupt Facebook. Round two of our battle with chopsticks commenced at a Shanghai style restaurant that evening. All of us were intrigued to learn that different types of Chinese food are associated with different regions, for example traditional Hong Kong food is much different to traditional Shanghai food. Before crossing Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour on the iconic Star Ferry, we experienced the “Symphony of Light”. This was a spectacular light show which expanded across the water front as we walked along “Star Avenue”, the Hong Kong equivalent to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with little knowledge of International Cinema within the Irish delegation, the only names we recognised were Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee Day three was the most hectic, with visits to the Hong Kong Coastal Defence Museum, the Hong Kong Legislative Council and an amazing trip to the Peak, the highest point in the city with fantastic views all across the unique region. With a Western style meal being served we used a fork and a knife, two items we had begun to think did not exist in this part of the world.Our journey continues in this bustling city tomorrow, as does our mastering of the chopstick!