Art, Violins, and the Finer Things in Hong Kong

Art, Violins, and the Finer Things in Hong Kong They say a Hong Kong second is a New York minute. After spending the past two months here, I wholeheartedly agreeâ€"so many days have gone by in a blur, and I’m somehow halfway done with my semester abroad! In an effort to slow things down, I treated myself to a weekend of art and enjoyment. After I got out of class on Friday, I met up with some friends to go to an art studio that was hosting an “art jam.” For a small fee, we could hang out in the studio and paint whatever we wanted to, with all of the art supplies provided for us. I stared at the blank canvas in front of me for about ten minutes, deliberating what I should paint. I wanted to create something that would always remind me of my time in Hong Kong, and the first image that came to mind was of the traditional red-sail Chinese boats that I always see in Victoria Harbour: I’m not a skilled painter by any means, so I just applied a series of random brushstrokes and hoped for the best. I got a bit lazy when it came to painting the city skyline in the background, so I ended up cutting building shapes from newspaper and gluing them on. My attempt at  painting Me and my more artistically-inclined friends The next day, I went to a recital featuring Ray Chen, an internationally celebrated violinist. My friend Heidi is a huge fan of classical music and is a talented violinist herself, so it was really fun spending the evening with her. I’ve always enjoyed classical music while studying or relaxing, but I never knew it could be so exciting live. It was surreal getting to experience the show in Hong Kong, tooâ€"I think it was the first time I was in a room full of people who were all completely still! It was nice to  get out of my own head and appreciate beauty in different forms this weekendâ€"it gave me a new sense of perspective, and Im ready to take on whatever the second half of this semester has in store! Ria Class of 2018 I'm studying both Finance and Information Systems and Information Technology in the Gies College of Business. I’m from Los Altos, California.