George Worldwide

Sunday, 30 May 2010

Back on track:)

Hey all,
After almost 2 years of absence, I decided to give this blog thing another try...
I'd say that the reason I'm getting back to it is out of extreme boredome. Having been back to Greece, after my 8-month internship in Den Haag, I feel totally unproductive and out of my sweet Haagse routine. So, what's better than start writing again on the George Worldwide!

During those past two years, I have changed countries plenty of times: Hong Kong- Greece- Holland- Canada- Greece- Holland-Greece... Yet, as it's obvious, Greece remains my "base" where I regain my strength and get ready for new adventures around the world. Further, during those 2 years, I got my second master's degree and completed an internship with the UN-ICTY. I feel proud of it and wish it could last much much longer than 8 months. Who know's though? I might be back there soon...very very soon. Otherwise, from September onwards, I will find myself in the streets of London trying to study law at SOAS:)

At the moment, I enjoy being in Greece despite the fact that I have nothing to do and that I get bored really easily. Let's hope my friends will soon get me out of this bubble and throw me again back to the real world...

Happy to be back!!
GA

Saturday, 7 June 2008

2 days left!

Hi everyone,

I am at the Cafe Habitu at the moment (one of my favourite places in Hong Kong) and I am thinking that only two days left for me to fly back HOME! and by home I mean Europe!

10 months have passed and I feel like it was yesterday when I came here. It was August 31st 2007 when my plane landed in HK. 2 days later my classes started and 2 weeks after I met the gang that I was meant to spend those 10 months with; Nikki, Laura, Ben and Rosie! My relationship with them was that of love, friendship, misunderstandings, cultural shocks, fun, drinks and other interesting stuff... Now I have to say goodbye to all of them and the only thing I can do is to keep the good memories in mind and move forward!

And that is what I will do! I will move on and this time I will try not to get stuck in the past. For doing so, I have the impression that their contribution was significant. With them I've learnt to be more myself than someone else and to have fun and actually enjoy it.

On the other hand, being away from Greece all that time made me realize how important my Greek friends and my family are for me... I have missed spending time with them, going for coffee with them, gossipping with them, studying with them...

Anyway, as I said 2 days left....See you all on Tuesday!!!!!

Greeko!

Monday, 2 June 2008

George is back!!!

Sorry guys I haven't updated the blog all this time but I was in Beijing and my blog was banned!!!!I don't know the reason but a friend told me that all the "blogspot" blogs are banned in China! Anyway...

So, 17 days ago I moved out of my flat in HK and I flew to Beijing in order to attend a 15-day specialization programme on "Current Issues in China's International Relations" at the Peking University! The programme was very interesting! We also had the opportunity to see how mainland Chinese scholars perceive the international system and China's role in it. Propaganda was one of the main characteristics of the programme but it was fascinating for me to listen to those Party-scholars who were trying to persuade us that China is the best country in the world, that human rights in China have improved significantly over the years, that there are no social classes in China and other crap things like that....

Moreover, spending 15 days in Beijing with classmates was an opportunity for me to learn more about them and for them to learn more about me! Now I know that I will miss many people in HK and that some of them will miss me as well...

Time to comment on the current situation in Beijing city! Oh, first of all I want to mention that I was in Beijing 2 years ago and I did not like it at all... Same impression this time too! No one or almost no one can speak English (which was good in a way cause I could practice my basic Chinese)! Pollution, pollution, pollution.....yellow sky and dust in the air! Millions of cars and bikes that do not follow any rules and that can hit you anytime! Visa, MasterCard, American Express?????? what is it????Only Chinese credit cards....! Last but not least, the people: they look at you like you are from another planet! They spit everywhere and bump into you while you walk as you do not exist! Yet, all the above do not apply to hotels like Hyatt, Mandarin Oriental etc...but...how many of you would go to Beijing and stay at the Grand Hyatt for 15 days?

Good things about Beijing:1) It is very very cheap with respect to everyday things like food, coffee etc...2) the new terminal of Beijing International Airport! Very impressive!!!

As for how I spent my time there, I have not much to say cause most of the time I was working on my dissertation. Yet, I had the chance to meet a Greek friend there and spend some time together. Apart from that, as I said, I had some quality time with my classmates and especially Shannon, Matt and Bill!

Overall, the Beijing trip was an exciting experience for me...

I got back in HK last Saturday afternoon and I will be here for a week until I leave for Greece next Monday (June 9th)!! This week I am staying with the Wanchai Angels (my British friends: Laura, Nikki and Rosie) cause their flat is huge by HK standards!!

As I said I am going to Greece next Monday and I really can't wait to see my friends and family as well as go to the beach before I am off again to Geneva in August!

Greeko!

Wednesday, 14 May 2008

Amazing weekend in Taipei!!

It was great!!Our trip in Taipei last weekend was full of drinks, clubs, sightseeing, adventure and quality time with friends.

We arrived in Taipei last Friday night after a very bizarre and dodgy flight with China Airlines. Only 3 of us 6 travelled in the scheduled flight and the rest 3 took the next one. That was because according to China Airlines the flght was overbooked!

After our arrival we went to leave our stuff at the Taipei Hostel where we stayed in a dorm of 10 (that means us 6 plus 4 strangers--->this is definitely a progress for me)!

First night in Taipei and we could do nothing else but go out and explore the nightlife there. Carnegies and Roxy Vibe were the places that we got trashed! Dancing and drinking all night long. We got back to the hostel around 7:30 in the morning.....

Saturday, and our day begun at around 13:00. Saturday was dedicated to sightseeing;First stop: the Presidential Office Building. The Presidential Office has been the seat of Taiwan's executive branch of government since 1950. The current President is Mr. Chen-Shui Bian from the DPP Party but in March 2008 Mr. Ma Ying-jeou from the KMT Party got elected. The latter will assume office on May 20, 2008.

After that we visited the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. Chiang Kai-shek was the first President of the ROC and Sun Yat-sen one of the founding fathers of the ROC.

Our last stop was at the National Palace Museum where we were supposed to meet Murriel (a friend from HK) but unfortunately we didn't...

Saturday evening and for dinner we chose to go to a bizarre restaurant called Modern Toilet! We ate out of toilets and we drunk from a piss pot! Here are some pics...

Second night out and i promised myself not to drink! Thats what i did...i had only 2 vodkas! On Saturday night we went to a posh club called "babe 18" and surprisingly there i had the opportunity to listen to some greek music since the DJ played the greek song for the Eurovision 2008 (if u want to listen to what remix we listened to pls follow the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg9tm1kwWIs&feature=related )!!! Great night...

On Sunday we went to the Fisherman's Wharf where we relaxed and enjoyed every single moment of the so called "je m'en fous" mood!

After a long walk around Taipei we found ourselves at the World's Tallest Skyscraper: "Taipei 101". Taipei 101 claims the official records for: Ground to highest architectural structure (509.2 m) and Fastest ascending elevator speed (16.83 m/s)! We enjoyed the view and we sent some postcards back home to our mothers because on Sunday was the Mother's Day!

Some Sushi for dinner and we all got back to the hostel in order to catch up on some lost sleep! On Monday we packed our and took our flight back to HK at around 14:30!

Overall, i had an amazing weekend in Taipei!

Greeko!

Friday, 9 May 2008

Long weekend in Taiwan!

So as i mentioned in my previous post, tonight i am flying to Taiwan and more specifically to the capital Taipei!
I will spend 3 days there with some of my friends. I will be back on Monday and i really hope to enjoy my time there. Unfortunately , i wont be able to update my blog due to the lack of laptop and internet. Yet, on Monday i will publish a new post and i promise i will post some pics as well.
I am very excited la!!!

Have a great weekend folks!

Greeko!

Ben's Birthday!

Yesterday- May 8,2008-one of my best friends in Hong Kong, Ben, had his birthday! He turned 24. So, the "family" went out to the Peak to celebrate it. We had made a reservation at Bubba Gumps for six people (the "family": Ben, Nikki, Laura, Rosie and me, plus Nikki's sister Natalie). Bubba Gumps is a very cool restaurant at the Peak Tower with an amazing view to HK and excellent food as well as cocktails! Also, the restaurant's theme is based on the film Forest Gump and everything there reminds you of it.
As I said the food was excellent but the most impressive part of the menu was the cocktails. We ordered the large "Tropical Breezer" which is a mix of malibu, lime, pineapple and something else that i can't recall now. It was perfect and that's why we all had a second round!
After our dinner and Bubba Gumps' special Birthday song (This is your Birthday song, this is your birthday song, it is not very long, happy birthday!) we went to the last level of the Peak Tower to check the view to HK from up there. The weather though up there was a bit misty so we were not be able to enjoy the view that much but still it was cool.
That's it...We left the Peak at around 11:15pm in order to go back home and start packing our stuff for tonight's trip to Taiwan!

to be continued....

PS: Happy Birthday Benjo!

Greeko!