Student Project Perspectives

January 28, 2008

Week 3 - Wow, Fishermen are Friendly

For the past two weekends, my team has been traveling to different fishing ports throughout Hong Kong to survey the fishermen and gain an understanding of the skills they have and whether or not they would be willing to switch careers. It has been an amazing experience because each port that we’ve gone to has been in a part of the city that we wouldn’t have normally seen. Most people assume that Hong Kong is a busy and congested city but we’ve been able to see the less populated side. In fact, over 40% of the land in Hong Kong is conservation land. A few of the ports have been in tourist areas but some of the areas we’ve visited have been in parts of the countryside that are barely inhabited by people. It has been a nice change from the hustle and bustle of our neighborhood. All the people we meet in our travels are always friendly and helpful especially the fishermen. Once they realize that we're not government workers or missionaries, they'll invite us aboard their boat, which in most cases is also their home, and can't wait to tell us their whole life's story. It's rare that they see white people and want to take pictures with us or repeat the few English phrases they might know.

Sponsor News

Unfortunately, in order to make any major changes to the over-fishing problem and in the lives of the fishermen, the Hong Kong government would have to support an initiative to improve the environment and they just don't see the need. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, which is the department responsible for overseeing the fishing industry, admits that there is an over-fishing problem but can not get the rest of the government to pass legislation or make any changes which is why nothing has been done so far. The agency that is sponsoring us being here, WWF, is a non-profit agency that is trying to change things but they don't really have the funding or support needed to do so. But the other day at one of our meetings, our boss Andy announced some great news. The WWF is working to set up a final presentation with the Hong Kong government so we can present all of our findings and ideas to them! It’s going to be really exciting and it’s pretty awesome to know that our project may create monumental changes within Hong Kong.

Cultural Differences

It's been awesome to see such a different culture and I've really enjoyed getting adjusted. We got to hang out with students at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology for a few days for an immersion program and it was really interesting to talk with them and meet people that are my age but from the opposite side of the world with different beliefs but also lots of similarities. Also, because I have curly hair and blue eyes, I tend to get stared at. It was really strange at first but I'm starting to get used to it. Last week, I got sunburnt at the harbor which definitely didn't help. Apparently, it's really rare to see a curly haired, blue-eyed, sunburned person in the streets of Sham Shui Po!

Here are some of the major things I’ve noticed:

• There are stray dogs all over the place because there is no leash law or spay/neuter policy
• There are always so many people everywhere so people will just stop in the middle of the street or sidewalk when you are walking right behind them and you have to watch out
• Jaywalking is a big deal here, most days we'll walk by a group of police officers handing out tickets to people for it
• When you receive or give anything with your hands, like a business card, or change at a store, it is always given with two hands
• Chopsticks are hard! Almost every food still has bones in it and there are no knives so it’s hard to get used to
• People will bow when greeting someone or saying thank you
• Elevators and train doors close very, very quickly and can close on you if you don't watch out

Chinese New Year

Next week is the Chinese New Year when stores close and almost everything shuts down. We've planned a trip to mainland China to celebrate the new year and will be taking a four-day tour of Beijing. We're going to see the Great Wall, the site of the upcoming Olympic Games and Tiananmen Square! I'm really looking forward to it because seeing the Great Wall is something I’ve always wanted to do and Tiananmen Square has so much history. The only thing that may change our plans is the strange weather. Since Beijing is north of Hong Kong, the weather is much colder. Last week, mainland China got hit with a really bad storm and people were stranded in different regions. Things seem to be getting better though and hopefully everything will be okay in time for our flight next week!

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