I have hit about the midpoint in the semester, and at PolyU that means midterms.  Since they do not have regular exams throughout the semester, they pile all of the exams and projects for around this midpoint. Sadly, this means that these next few days/two weeks are finally not as adventerous for me.
      The midterms here, unlike in America, are held on the weekends.  I had one midterm on Saturday night at 7pm (not my ideal way to spend a weekend, and I'm hoping I did well), and thankfully I don't have anymore.  Instead, over the next week, I have to give a 10 minute presentation, a 20 minute presentation, write two papers, and thankfully have an in class midterm. Other students are not as lucky, however, because they do not have the luxury of taking fewer classes due to being an exchange student.  From an unofficial poll I took from talking to the locals, the average course load is about 7 or 8 classes, or about 21-24 credits.  My local friend told me that Hong Kongers are very hard workers, and I can clearly see that its true.  So for all the college students out there, myself included, consider ourselves lucky that we are only supposed to take up to 18 credits as a maximum.
       Although not as eventful as the past two months, there are still some fun things that I am looking forward to during this hectic period.  I was able to go to the peak (the tall mountain that overlooks the city) again yesterday to walk around and I plan on going hiking during the next two weekends to find some great views and some great beaches.  At the Peak, there is a 2 mile trail that goes around the mountain, which is not very special except for the fact that it is called a "Life Trail."  This means that along the 2 mile trail, there are exercise stations set up for runners, including a sit up station, a pull up bar, arm workouts, calf raises, etc.  I was not dressed for the occasion, otherwise I definitely would have tried it out!  But I did finally go to a nearby outdoor basketball court (which I should have done on day 1) and I played some pickup games with the locals, which was a lot of fun and something I definitely want to do regularly.
       Additionally, I am thrilled to have joined a program here called "Let us talk" that brings people together that want to learn/practice new languages together.  I want to learn/practice more Mandarin Chinese, so I was paired up with 3 students from China that want to learn more English, with the intention that we help one another learn the others' language and culture. Ideally I will practice enough that I will be able to go to Mainland China at some point and put what I know to the test!
       Other than all of that, I would say that I am sufficiently settled in here and I almost know this city like the back of my hand! It's a beautiful city and I am thankful to have this opportunity to see not only a million skyscrapers, amazing mountains, the best skyline, a great view of the harbor, a new great culture, and much, much more.  I hope everybody stayed warm throughout the winter and hopefully it starts to get warmer now that its March, God bless!
   

                                                  The view from the path at the Peak

                         The clock tower (as seen in previous posts) decorated for the Chinese New Year

                               The local basketball courts that are only a 15 minute walk away