So, many of you might be surpised to see this post since I proclaimed I wouldn't be posting during my trip. However, I sit here at the top of Victoria Peak in Hong Kong in the midst of a massive rainstorm and am waiting it out before I venture outside again to walk down the mountain.
So for many of you who don't know, I am on this trip due to a chance encounter with a colleagues brother who was on the HRS campus back in January. This guy was recruiting students for a program called Rustic Pathways which takes kids all around the world for summer programs. I jokingly asked the guy whether or not there were employment opportunities. His response was "Yes, we always need flight escorts." So, I applied and was hired to meet a group of 17 students at SFO, make sure they got through security and then onto the plane bound for Hong Kong. On the Hong Kong side, I simply had to get them through immigration, customs, the SARS body temperature check (!) and then pass them off to the program officer here in Hong Kong. That being done, I meet the students in two weeks and fly them home. For my efforts, I got a round trip ticket for one-third of the price.
I'll leave the details of my wanderings here in Hong Kong for an official posting with pictures. However, to give you all a tease of whats to come. Tomorrow, I fly up to Yichang to take a three day four night cruise on the Yangtze River. After than, I'll be joining a six-day biking tour through the beautiful countryside of Guangxi Province. I will then return to Hong Kong for a couple days (and plan to take a side trip to Macau) before flying back to San Francisco.
Hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July! The day didn't exist for me as I boarded the plane at 1AM July 4th and arrived in Hong Kong at 630AM July 5th. No promises on me posting again before my return to the US on the 19th of July.