Hong Kong to Honolulu: Water Quality from Two Different Worlds

By Haley Randell

“It clouds up in the city, the weather man complains
But where I come from, rain is a good thing”
-Rain Is a Good Thing by Luke Bryan

Somehow, our class dodged most rain during our afternoon field trips in Hong Kong. But the day after class ended and it was sight-seeing time, boy did it pour. We ran from one building to another during the intense monsoon events when it felt like buckets of rain were falling on us. Hong Kong has intensely developed streets which begs the questions of where does all this rainfall go?

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New perspectives for old problems

By Haley Randell

I’ve been back for about a week but it still feels like a dream. If I still didn’t have WhatsApp beeping at me with messages of new and old friends reminiscing about Hong Kong memories, I would believe that I never went.

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Posters, presentations, coffee and celebrations!

By Haley Randell

It has been crazy. Somehow, our group pulled together two posters on a waste management policy recommendation for Hong Kong in two weeks. We were tasked to see what the holes were in policy, find out the context of a sustainability issue and confidently recommend a policy to the government. We did it, but boy was it a challenge.

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Time to bring it all together!

By Haley Randell

We are in full swing of our class now. The cumulative project of the class in Hong Kong is to create two posters to present at a public spot in the City University of Hong Kong. One poster outlines a sustainability problem and the other is a policy recommendation. Not only do we have to research and create two posters, we are in groups of both Chinese and American students. So it’s basically a mad dash to the finish line. Wish me luck!

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Hong Kongers and American views and learning styles collide

By Haley Randell

Have I been in Hong Kong a week already? I guess time flies when you are studying your noggin off!

Where to start? Well, I love my Chinese counterparts. My group is focusing our research on waste management in Hong Kong. There are three ASU students and three City University of Hong Kong students in our group and I have to say that we lucked out! The Chinese students are super hard working and genuinely fun to be around. I had no idea what I was getting into with studying with Hong Kong-ers (that’s how they say it!) but their English is amazing as well as their knowledge of worldwide waste management. But there definitely are cultural differences that make for interesting group discussions and field trips.

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How did Hong Kong get to where it is today?

By Haley Randell

When you think of Hong Kong, what comes to mind? For me it’s crowded streets and tall buildings. But as I start to expand my understanding of what Hong Kong has to offer, I get more excited and more intrigued for our trip. Did you know Hong Kong has the largest landfill in the world and a crazy amount of protected land in the city boundaries? Who would have thought? Over the two-week course, I am looking forward to finding out more of these gems about Hong Kong—the little tidbits that makes this city unique and thought-provoking.

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