A month passes... and I end up in Hong Kong 4 times

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It's been a month since I posted a blog entry. It's been a mix of reasons that include actually being busy, pure laziness, and poor internet connections.

I posted a blog earlier about China's Nowism: the idea that it's ok to tell someone last minute about changes in schedules. So two weeks ago, I learned 5 minutes before class that I didn't have class for two days because of midterms. I also learned that I got the next week off because the students had military training. So I had an 11 day vacation. Even though this vacation was longer than my National Holiday (9 days), I was unable to plan anything because I was told last minute.

I still have failed to post my Hong Kong (HK) blog, but I have managed to go to HK 4 times in the last month. I live less than a mile from the HK/China border. Between customs and immigration, it takes about an hour to get through to the other side. Once across the border though, it's another 40 minute train ride to the actual city of Kowloon and a couple transfers to the actual city of HK on HK island.

When I was in highschool, I told myself that I was going to live one of two places, Hong Kong or Singapore. I loved the idea of an Eastern Society with a Western influence. I know that Singapore is one of the cleanest cities in the world. Hong Kong is a thriving port unlike anywhere else. So naturally I would end up in Shenzhen, right across the border.

Things I love about HK:

They have more western food (restuarant and groceries). There are signs in English everywhere and even the metro lists stuff in English (but this is true for Shenzhen too). I love the mix of cultures. The number one language I hear in HK is Cantonese followed by Tagalog, and then English. The amount of Filipinos in HK is staggering. At least a hundred thousand maybe more. It's good cause I get to practice my Tagalog listening skills.

Things I hate about HK:

Tradtional... As China reformed the education system, they reformed the entire writing system to make it easier. The new writing system was known as simplified. Simplified is used everywhere in China. So if you're in HK, Macau, Taiwan or Singapore, it will be traditional, which is too complicated for me to read. I also hate HK's dense population. Hk has a population less than half of Shenzhen but the population is so confined it makes it makes me uncomfortable. Every time I ride the metro there. We are packed fries in a fry carton. Since HK is in southern China, the native Chinese there don't speak Mandarin. They speak Cantonese, which I can't speak. Although English is an official language of the administrative region, not everyone can speak it. I went to McDonald's and the worker didn't understand that I wanted a Big and Tastey. Another worker had to translate.

What was meant to be a recap blog ended up being more about Hong Kong.

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