Things I will miss about Hong Kong:
-not needing a car
-beautiful beaches thirty minutes away
-scenic hikes on the weekends
-best dim sum ever
-cheap food
-my students
-new friends
-street markets
-street food
-trams
-california fitness
-beer, chocolate, instant noodles, phone credit, and bill payment services all at 7/11
-being and islander
-having my laundry done by someone else for 5 UDS a load (washed, dried, and folded)
-tropical fruit
-criminally cute babies
-the party scene
-the NPC (north point crew)
-frozen yogurt
Things I won't miss about Hong Kong:
-ridiculous air conditioning
-strangers calling me "Missy"
-people that walk like zombies
-over priced drinks
-getting wet from the street workers hosing off the sidewalk in the morning
-the pollution
-possible lead paint
-typhoons
-100% humidity 100% of the time
-british binders
-british things in general
-everyone owning the iphone 4
-the smell after it rains
-the smell in general
-a/c leakage onto my face
-the b.o.
-stepping on dog poop all of the time
-the biggest cockroaches I've ever seen
-UFO's (unidentified food objects)
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
The time has come; it is time to prepare for another big, life-changing move: back to America. I have booked my flights and I will be flying Asiana to Seattle and Southwest to BWI. Who’s excited?!?! Me, that’s for sure! I will be arriving June 1st but I won’t be awake until June 2nd, so don’t call me :P.
Summer has begun in Hong Kong so let the hiking and Beaching begin! Last week it was Ching Ming festival and every one in Honk Kong got the day off to go pay tribute to their ancestors….or that’s what they were ‘supposed’ to be doing in any case. Most of the students that I talked to said they slept, played computer games, and did homework (the standard HK secondary school kid answer). Some students said they went to Sha Tin to make temple offerings and other students said that their parents flew to China where their ancestors were buried. I went on a very nice hike. The weather was overcast and warm with low humidity aka: perfect. We went by MTR and mini bus out to Plover Cove Country Park near Tai Po to complete the famous Bride’s Pool walk. After a lovely walk through the forest and a small detour to consult a map, we finally found the waterfall and pool. It was a sight to behold so we scrambled up to the top and hung out for a few hours. Several people walked past and wondered how we got up there and there were several photos taken of us. When it started to get cold, we headed home.
The forest walk.
The waterfall!!
If you squint one eye you can see Becci and I at the top of one of the falls. Photo taken by Peter.
The past two weekends have been filled with some quality beach time and I am proud to say that I haven’t gotten too horrifically burned! I will definitely miss living only a short bus trip away from beautiful beaches!
A bit out of focus but you get the idea. This is me playing some hardcore beach volleyball!
For Easter break (only 11 days away!) I am looking into going to Singapore…..but any flights will be last minute as I am currently broke due to purchasing tickets home!
Summer has begun in Hong Kong so let the hiking and Beaching begin! Last week it was Ching Ming festival and every one in Honk Kong got the day off to go pay tribute to their ancestors….or that’s what they were ‘supposed’ to be doing in any case. Most of the students that I talked to said they slept, played computer games, and did homework (the standard HK secondary school kid answer). Some students said they went to Sha Tin to make temple offerings and other students said that their parents flew to China where their ancestors were buried. I went on a very nice hike. The weather was overcast and warm with low humidity aka: perfect. We went by MTR and mini bus out to Plover Cove Country Park near Tai Po to complete the famous Bride’s Pool walk. After a lovely walk through the forest and a small detour to consult a map, we finally found the waterfall and pool. It was a sight to behold so we scrambled up to the top and hung out for a few hours. Several people walked past and wondered how we got up there and there were several photos taken of us. When it started to get cold, we headed home.
The forest walk.
The waterfall!!
If you squint one eye you can see Becci and I at the top of one of the falls. Photo taken by Peter.
The past two weekends have been filled with some quality beach time and I am proud to say that I haven’t gotten too horrifically burned! I will definitely miss living only a short bus trip away from beautiful beaches!
A bit out of focus but you get the idea. This is me playing some hardcore beach volleyball!
For Easter break (only 11 days away!) I am looking into going to Singapore…..but any flights will be last minute as I am currently broke due to purchasing tickets home!
Friday, March 11, 2011
Home stretch?
So it seems that suddenly I am two thirds of the way through my far east adventure. I feel like I just got here! However, recently I have been getting excited about going home. Just this morning I was thinking about what book I want to read on the plane (something by Margaret Attwood I think) and other mundane things like selling the mattress that I bought at Ikea. What really set all of this off was giving notice to my landlord....well we haven't given notice yet, but the time is nigh. I think that the first non-family related activity I want to engage in is driving a car. Yup, sounds good.
I had an interesting conversation the other day with Elliot about the public transportation system here, and I realized that I have never felt as confident about using public transportation as I have in Hong Kong. I can get anywhere in the country. Granted it's a small country, but I have never ridden buses, trams, or transit-railways with such confidence and frequency. Really, city planners need to study what's going on here. It's amazing because you really don't have to own a car. I know that people say that about cities in the US all of the time, but absolutely 100% you don't need a car. There are grocery stores every few blocks, pharmacies next to the grocery stores, and countless street markets around every corner. Maybe they should outlaw personal vehicles in Hong Kong? I don't think it would cause much stir.
I had an interesting conversation the other day with Elliot about the public transportation system here, and I realized that I have never felt as confident about using public transportation as I have in Hong Kong. I can get anywhere in the country. Granted it's a small country, but I have never ridden buses, trams, or transit-railways with such confidence and frequency. Really, city planners need to study what's going on here. It's amazing because you really don't have to own a car. I know that people say that about cities in the US all of the time, but absolutely 100% you don't need a car. There are grocery stores every few blocks, pharmacies next to the grocery stores, and countless street markets around every corner. Maybe they should outlaw personal vehicles in Hong Kong? I don't think it would cause much stir.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
CNY
To herald the year of the rabbit with all of the pomp and circumstance that it deserves I have acquired a sunburn…in February.
This Chinese New Year’s vacation has been excellent. For the first few days I slept, ate, and went to the gym. I’m talking some serious down time and it was much needed and appreciated. After waking up at noon for about three days, I decided to do something with my life and headed out to the new territories with Becci and Elliot to hang out with some friends (Gavin and Rachel). Gavin just moved out into “the country” last week and wanted to show us around his digs. So we prepared for a day trip and MTRed it out to Long Ping which took the better part of an hour. Once there we tried to grab some lunch but the fact that most businesses are closed due to the holiday turned this plan into more of an odyssey. After much walking and searching a place was finally found. Luckily, Gavin speaks just enough Cantonese to bridge the language gap and lunch was served. Following that, we walked out to a hill trail and began our ascent up a “mountain” path. We walked over a series of trails and enjoyed a wonderfully hazy view of Shenzhen and the HK wetlands park. The weather was brilliant and fun was had by all. For dinner we enjoyed some al fresco dining and a particularly lovely fried squid dish.
This wonderful journey was, of course, followed by a day of rest. Then, on New Year’s Day Elliot and I went to have a lovely Chinese New Year dinner at my student’s house. We arrived and were bombarded by gifts of Lai See or lucky money which is given to single people by married couples. Since my student’s entire extended family was there we said thank you a lot. We shared a lovely family style dinner of stew and then proceeded to play gambling games. My student’s family taught us big 2 and we taught them Texas hold ‘em.
The next day, Elliot, Becci, and I attempted to go to Macau but we did not factor in the problem-causing New Year holiday so instead we spent the day in Cheung Chau one of Hong Kong’s outlying islands. We walked all over the barbell shaped piece of land and took in the breath-taking scenery and ate some delicious food. The highlight of the trip was hiking out to the “reclining rock” and spending some quality time napping. The nap was a necessity since on the hike out to some rocks I slipped on some algae and managed to get my shoes and socks wet. This was the real first taste of warm weather bliss for the three of us. Elliot and Becci browned a bit and I got sun sick! After returning home via ferry, I had to ask Elliot to go out for some Panadol and some water.
Today as I sit here writing this, I am on Lamma Island with Elliot in a condo-style, village hotelroom enjoying the breeze and the silence now sporting significantly more freckles. The weather is mild and clear holding steady at seventy degrees. On Tuesday Elliot, Becci, and I are going to Macau, and on Wednesday Becci’s friends from England are coming to visit.
Happy Birthday Dad!
This Chinese New Year’s vacation has been excellent. For the first few days I slept, ate, and went to the gym. I’m talking some serious down time and it was much needed and appreciated. After waking up at noon for about three days, I decided to do something with my life and headed out to the new territories with Becci and Elliot to hang out with some friends (Gavin and Rachel). Gavin just moved out into “the country” last week and wanted to show us around his digs. So we prepared for a day trip and MTRed it out to Long Ping which took the better part of an hour. Once there we tried to grab some lunch but the fact that most businesses are closed due to the holiday turned this plan into more of an odyssey. After much walking and searching a place was finally found. Luckily, Gavin speaks just enough Cantonese to bridge the language gap and lunch was served. Following that, we walked out to a hill trail and began our ascent up a “mountain” path. We walked over a series of trails and enjoyed a wonderfully hazy view of Shenzhen and the HK wetlands park. The weather was brilliant and fun was had by all. For dinner we enjoyed some al fresco dining and a particularly lovely fried squid dish.
This wonderful journey was, of course, followed by a day of rest. Then, on New Year’s Day Elliot and I went to have a lovely Chinese New Year dinner at my student’s house. We arrived and were bombarded by gifts of Lai See or lucky money which is given to single people by married couples. Since my student’s entire extended family was there we said thank you a lot. We shared a lovely family style dinner of stew and then proceeded to play gambling games. My student’s family taught us big 2 and we taught them Texas hold ‘em.
The next day, Elliot, Becci, and I attempted to go to Macau but we did not factor in the problem-causing New Year holiday so instead we spent the day in Cheung Chau one of Hong Kong’s outlying islands. We walked all over the barbell shaped piece of land and took in the breath-taking scenery and ate some delicious food. The highlight of the trip was hiking out to the “reclining rock” and spending some quality time napping. The nap was a necessity since on the hike out to some rocks I slipped on some algae and managed to get my shoes and socks wet. This was the real first taste of warm weather bliss for the three of us. Elliot and Becci browned a bit and I got sun sick! After returning home via ferry, I had to ask Elliot to go out for some Panadol and some water.
Today as I sit here writing this, I am on Lamma Island with Elliot in a condo-style, village hotelroom enjoying the breeze and the silence now sporting significantly more freckles. The weather is mild and clear holding steady at seventy degrees. On Tuesday Elliot, Becci, and I are going to Macau, and on Wednesday Becci’s friends from England are coming to visit.
Happy Birthday Dad!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
-tiger+rabbit=2011
Chinese New Year is just around the corner and there are rabbits everywhere! Although the holiday itself is not until later this week, things are kicking off here in Hong Kong. Today is the first day of my almost two week vacation and the weather is gorgeous! Elliot and I plan to go to Victoria Park near Tin Hau to view the largest new year's flower market, then perhaps we will go get our fortunes read at the Mo Man Temple in Sheng Wan! During the coldest part of the year, the city has come alive in a way that I haven't seen before. There are more hawkers and beggars on my street than I have seen my whole tenure here, the decorations are all red and gold splendor, and yesterday when we went to go see the new Jackie Chan film (Shaolin) there was a gymnastics exhibition in honor of the new year. There's a lot to look forward to including a parade with floats, a lion dance, lantern shows, fireworks, and FOOD (not rabbit).
Ok, that's enough talk now for some action.
Ok, that's enough talk now for some action.
Monday, January 10, 2011
I'm not dead I swear!
It has been too long since I have updated! I can only offer the lame-o excuses of busyness and laziness. I could have taken the time to write a blog, but instead I chose to watch bad movies that haven't been removed from Youtube. I think that I deserved those movie nights! It has been all go, go, go here in Hong Kong: exams, Elliot's arrival, Christmas, New Years, exams, Chinese New Year, more exams!
Okay, okay, enough with the complaining. Elliot is here! He arrived safely from Texas via New Jersey. Most of my friends went to Thailand for Christmas and New Years so I had Elliot all to myself! We did a whole lot of nothing and it was awesome. We did try to go and see the big Buddha on Lantau island (twice) but there were problems. First, we were waylaid by Jehovah's Witnesses. They were actually really interesting to talk to and we ended up discussion religion for a few hours during which the weather deteriorated and we decided to call it a day. The weather is important because the trip to the Buddha includes a cable car ride which is useless in poor weather. The second time we lost track of time and we were just too late!
For Christmas Eve dinner we ate Vietnamese food and it was delicious! Then, on the way home from the restaurant we encountered dueling carollers. There were two or three separate groups: one had white 'we <3 Jesus' t-shirts, one had tambourines and microphones, and another had choreographed dance moves. These rival carollers were parading up and down the streets looking for unfortunate pedestrians to serenade. They managed to corner us at least a few times each because we had to walk past them several times to go to the corner store, MTR, etc. Each time we passed the wishes of 'Merry Christmas' became louder and more frenetic. Luckily, we made it into the apartment before the situation turned into a tragic replay of West Side Story.
For new years, we bough tickets to a party in a hotel ballroom on Lantau island. It was really nice with an all you could eat and drink buffet. The MTR ran all night so we didn't have to worry about late night transportation.
Not all of my friends went to Thailand and Elliot and I had a great time with the legendary Tyler Faust and his friends that visited him! When the rest of my friends returned from Thailand they were all exhausted and anxious to meet Elliot. It was really cool to hear about their adventures and I have to admit that I am extremely jealous of their experience. Do I sense an Easter Excursion?!?
I have just decided today that I can't go on a trip for Chinese New Year. There is not enough time to plan and flights are really expensive at this point in the game. I think that I need to pour all of my energy into planning for Easter and stay local for Chinese New Year. With my extra capital I'm going to join a gym!
Okay, okay, enough with the complaining. Elliot is here! He arrived safely from Texas via New Jersey. Most of my friends went to Thailand for Christmas and New Years so I had Elliot all to myself! We did a whole lot of nothing and it was awesome. We did try to go and see the big Buddha on Lantau island (twice) but there were problems. First, we were waylaid by Jehovah's Witnesses. They were actually really interesting to talk to and we ended up discussion religion for a few hours during which the weather deteriorated and we decided to call it a day. The weather is important because the trip to the Buddha includes a cable car ride which is useless in poor weather. The second time we lost track of time and we were just too late!
For Christmas Eve dinner we ate Vietnamese food and it was delicious! Then, on the way home from the restaurant we encountered dueling carollers. There were two or three separate groups: one had white 'we <3 Jesus' t-shirts, one had tambourines and microphones, and another had choreographed dance moves. These rival carollers were parading up and down the streets looking for unfortunate pedestrians to serenade. They managed to corner us at least a few times each because we had to walk past them several times to go to the corner store, MTR, etc. Each time we passed the wishes of 'Merry Christmas' became louder and more frenetic. Luckily, we made it into the apartment before the situation turned into a tragic replay of West Side Story.
For new years, we bough tickets to a party in a hotel ballroom on Lantau island. It was really nice with an all you could eat and drink buffet. The MTR ran all night so we didn't have to worry about late night transportation.
Not all of my friends went to Thailand and Elliot and I had a great time with the legendary Tyler Faust and his friends that visited him! When the rest of my friends returned from Thailand they were all exhausted and anxious to meet Elliot. It was really cool to hear about their adventures and I have to admit that I am extremely jealous of their experience. Do I sense an Easter Excursion?!?
I have just decided today that I can't go on a trip for Chinese New Year. There is not enough time to plan and flights are really expensive at this point in the game. I think that I need to pour all of my energy into planning for Easter and stay local for Chinese New Year. With my extra capital I'm going to join a gym!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
mid term
I am coming to the end of the first semester of school here in Hong Kong. I have learned a lot about the culture and to sum it up, I would call it a mosaic. There are definite elements of traditional Chinese culture but there are numerous, colorful hints of Japanese, Korean, and Western (mainly British). There are so many things that are still foreign to me and I struggle with them everyday. However, I feel like I have become acclimated to a pretty large extent. I can buy food at the market outside of my house, navigate the entire country by MRT, bus, and ferry, and I have even set up online banking for my account here!
I am eternally grateful that I decided to take the job in Hong Kong. I feel that a job in Korea or mainland China would not have been quite as much fun. The amount of English spoken here, the selection of food, and the general friendliness of the population combine to create an extremely positive environment. Plus, I still have access to Facebook, Gmail, and NPR.
Elliot has asked me (twice now) if I see myself as Chinese or American. The first time, I said that I was an America and I would always see myself as an American. The second time he asked me I had to take a pause and contemplate the idea. I am and always will be an American. However, I have found myself staring at westerners, wondering why Hong Kongers are staring at me, and harboring a bit of animosity towards tourists. Interesting. Please excuse me while I go have some yum cha (dim sum) and walk down the street in an agonizingly slow, meandering fashion.
I am eternally grateful that I decided to take the job in Hong Kong. I feel that a job in Korea or mainland China would not have been quite as much fun. The amount of English spoken here, the selection of food, and the general friendliness of the population combine to create an extremely positive environment. Plus, I still have access to Facebook, Gmail, and NPR.
Elliot has asked me (twice now) if I see myself as Chinese or American. The first time, I said that I was an America and I would always see myself as an American. The second time he asked me I had to take a pause and contemplate the idea. I am and always will be an American. However, I have found myself staring at westerners, wondering why Hong Kongers are staring at me, and harboring a bit of animosity towards tourists. Interesting. Please excuse me while I go have some yum cha (dim sum) and walk down the street in an agonizingly slow, meandering fashion.
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