What a day. Our day began like any other of this week. Our early morning breakfast was followed by our 30-40 minute bus ride to Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Today was our second day of separating into our specialty tracks. The marketing and management students had their second lecture with Professor Larry Franklin and the Finance students had their second lecture with Professor Wilhelm. Today's discussion in finance focused on law and finance. In particular we looked at the origins of common law and civil law in various countries.
One aspect we dug deep into was the importance of having a well established legal and financial system. One of the articles assigned to us by Professor Wilhelm discussed the importance of having both in order to stimulate economic growth. However, China has neither, yet the country has seen astonishing economic growth. This left us in a deep discussion of is China different…?
After class we headed back to the hotel. During the afternoon, we all went our separate ways. I chose to take a much needed nap. However, that evening we all met up for a trip to the extremely popular Hong Kong Jockey Club to watch some horse races. This was truly an awesome activity. These races take place twice a week and attract an extremely diverse crowd. The stadium was filled with Americans, Europeans, and of course Asians. Everyone was rushing around to place bets on the 8 races that night. Several students decided to test waters and bet their Hong Kong Dollars on their horse of choice. Some looked at the odds, some looked at the records of the horses, and others simply picked the horse with the name they liked the best. Even though the majority seemed to lose money, we all had a great time at the track. It was an awesome cultural experience that we will all remember.
June 10th, 2009 was a fun day for people all over the world. Here in Hong Kong we spent the evening at the tracks experiencing horse races, while back in Virginia, my sister celebrated her birthday. Happy Birthday Carissa.
- Jeremy Szuch
One aspect we dug deep into was the importance of having a well established legal and financial system. One of the articles assigned to us by Professor Wilhelm discussed the importance of having both in order to stimulate economic growth. However, China has neither, yet the country has seen astonishing economic growth. This left us in a deep discussion of is China different…?
After class we headed back to the hotel. During the afternoon, we all went our separate ways. I chose to take a much needed nap. However, that evening we all met up for a trip to the extremely popular Hong Kong Jockey Club to watch some horse races. This was truly an awesome activity. These races take place twice a week and attract an extremely diverse crowd. The stadium was filled with Americans, Europeans, and of course Asians. Everyone was rushing around to place bets on the 8 races that night. Several students decided to test waters and bet their Hong Kong Dollars on their horse of choice. Some looked at the odds, some looked at the records of the horses, and others simply picked the horse with the name they liked the best. Even though the majority seemed to lose money, we all had a great time at the track. It was an awesome cultural experience that we will all remember.
June 10th, 2009 was a fun day for people all over the world. Here in Hong Kong we spent the evening at the tracks experiencing horse races, while back in Virginia, my sister celebrated her birthday. Happy Birthday Carissa.
- Jeremy Szuch
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