Welcome to UT Austin!

Life in Austin

1. Weather/Clothing

2. Accommodation

3. Places around Austin

Weather/Clothing

• About the same as Hong Kong!!!

• It’s hot! But less humid!

• It’s about 34oC during summer time!

• But when you guys arrived, it’s almost the end of summer and fall begins.

• During fall, it’s about 20oC and usually people just wear a T-shirt with a thin jacket.

• During winter, it’s about 6oC!

• It’s cold! But the wind is less strong!

• Most of the indoor places have heat, so usually people only wear a t-shirt with a huge jacket!

Conclusion on Clothing

• Wear what you wear in Hong Kong, but…………

• Don’t bring too many fancy clothes.

• Because you have to do your own laundry, that means nobody is going to iron your clothes!!!

Accommodation

• Dorm or Apartment?

• Good things about dorms:

- close to campus

- food is provided

- a better study environment

- all bills are paid

- everything is FURNISHED!

• Bad thing about dorms:– you have to share the room with a roommate– you have no privacy– you can’t concentrate well if your roommate

likes to turn on his/her music– you can’t sleep well if he/she stays up late– you might have another “roommate”………– you might not want to share you stuff, but

they will still take/use it without your permission

– your roommates friend might sit on your bed if you aren’t there.

Apartments

• Advantages:

- more privacy, you have your own room

- tend to be cheaper than dorms

- cook and eat whatever you like

- more Hong Kong people around, you can ask for help easily!

• Disadvantages:

- far from campus (usually beyond walking distance)

- have to wake up earlier to catch the bus or you will be late for class

- have to go home early if you don’t have a car

- have to go out to eat if you can’t cook, but you can eat at your friend’s place if you are welcome

Private Dorms

• Dobie

• Castilian

• Goodall Wooten

Apartments

• Brownstone

• Century Plaza

• Rio Nueces

• Villas at Guadalupe

• Riverside

Places around Austin

• Houston

• San Antonio

• Dallas

Houston

• NASA •The Galleria

Dallas

San Antonio

Life at UT

• Facts about UT- ranked 53rd overall in USNEWS.com- ranked 14th in Top Public Schools- one of the best engineering schools in US (civil engineering, chemical engineering, petroleum engineering)- one of the best business schools in US (accounting, management information systems)- one of the best nursery schools in US- one of the best communication schools in US

McCombs School of Business

Go Longhorns!

• We are the best in sports!

• Best swimming program in US

• 3 current world record holders!

• 8 people going to Athens for Olympics

• Eddie Reese is the head coach of US

Aaron Peirsol

• Current world recorder of 200m backstroke

• Best NCAA swimmer in 2002-03

Brendan Hansen

• Current world record holder of 100m and 200m breaststroke

Ian Crocker

• Current world recorder holder of 50m and 100m Butterfly

Best NCAA swimmer in 2003-04

The Trio

Basketball

• 3 straight years advanced to sweet 16

• Both Men’s and Women’s team got into Final Four in 2002-03

• 3 current NBA Players (Chris Mihm, T.J. Ford, Royal Ivey)

T.J. Ford

• Best NCAA basketball player in 2001-02, 2002-03

• Drafted 8th in the 2003 NBA draft

• Starting point guard in Milwaukee Bucks

Football

• One of the top ten football schools in NCAA

• Origin of our financial support

Darrel K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium

The Bevo

Hook’em Horns

Entertainment

• Museums

• Live music

• Operas and Shows

Museum

Live Music

Country Music

Operas and Shows

HKSA

• A non-profit organization to serve all the Hong Kong and Macau students studying at UT Austin or ACC

• Website: http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~hksa/

Events organized by HKSA

• New Students Orientation

• Game Night

• Singing Contest

• Chinese New Year Banquet

• Basketball Tournament

• Outing

Preparation

• Bring enough clothes

• Don’t bring too many valuable stuff

• Don’t bring any food because we have several Chinese supermarkets in Austin

• Don’t lock your luggage or the US customs will break it!

Arriving at Austin

• Pickup service• Taxis and shuttles• American Yellow Checker Cab: (512) 452-9999 • Austin Cab: (512) 478-2222 • Roy's Taxi: (512) 482-0000

– SuperShuttle: Austin direct number: (512) 258-3826;–  National number: 1-800-BLUE VAN (258-3826)

• Capital Metro• Website: http://capmetro.org/riding/airport.asp

Hong Kong Texas Exes

• Website: www.hktx.org

Tips

• How much money to bring?• If you are living in an apartment, you have

to spent about $40 a week on grocery• But if you choose to eat outside, then it will

cost about $150 a week• Phone bills are about $50 per month• Usually, people use no more than $750

per month but there are always some exception

Buying books in Hong Kong

• Hon Wing Book Co. Ltd63A, Tung Choi St.G/F & 1/F, KowloonTel: 2391-0585Fax: 2789-8082

• Man Yuen Book Co. 45, Parkers Street, Kowloon, Hong Kong Tel: 2730-0594 Fax: 2735-1709

Banking in US

• Wells Fargowww.wellsfargo.com

• University Federal Credit Unionwww.ufcu.org

• Bank of Americawww.bankofamerica.com

• Washington Mutualwww.wamu.com

Mobile Phone service

• T-mobilewww.t-mobile.com

• Sprintwww.sprint.com

• AT&Twww.att.com