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Published: August 8th 2010
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Stanley Main Street, where all of the good restaurants are! Today was one of those "Hong Kong days," as a new friend of mine called it. This is not exactly a pleasant kind of day. It is the kind of day where nothing works, you can't find what you need, you can't talk to anyone who can help you, and you just feel a little lost. Not exactly the best kind of day.... 😊
Before I tell you about that part...I should tell you about the GOOD things that happened to me this weekend. First of all. I FINALLY met Marcia Barham begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting, the teacher I will be working with. She is a wonderful lady and has already helped me so much. I basically spent my weekend with her and her husband in their "flat." (Eventually I'll stop using the quotes and actually start calling it that!). We spent all day Saturday just doing errands and exploring the city. I am feeling like I know my way around a little bit better. Then we rented some movies, went back to the house, drank wine, ate and watched! It was lovely. I spent the night over there and woke up this morning to coffee and breakfast and one more movie.
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Little get-away in Stanley When it was time to leave, I was not eager to make my way back through the heat and crowds that surround my place in Stanley. I am located in the heart of Stanley market, which is a great shopping area. This is fun, but it is also not so fun on weekend days when there are people everywhere. All the people from the city come out here to the beach, and all the tourists come to shop in the market. So, needless to say, it is a LITTLE busy. 😊
I had to come home today before 2:00pm because my cable/internet was going to be installed! finally! I was a little nervous because I don't speak much of the Cantonese language yet, but I thought that the person who came would know what needed to be done and even if we didn't understand each other it would work. That was sort of the case. The person who came did not speak or understand English very well. I, of course, only know words in Cantonese like "hello" and "thank you" off the top of my head. He put everything together, installed my modem, and moved on to the TV.
He set up my modem to be connected to my computer....BUT I had a router and wanted wireless. He told me that he does not do that- he just sets up the modem. Okay fine. I didn't ask him for help because I didn't think we would understand each other. He left and I thought it would be very easy. Just plug them into each other. No luck. So I tried to call the modem company- they can't help me with the router because that's a different brand. Fair enough. So I found a CD to install the router. Sweet, right?! That should work. Well, for some reason it doesn't. So I call the router company. A man with a very thick Indian accent tried to help me. Now, I know I will get better at understanding accents, but at this time I just CANNOT do it. I felt so bad, but I just could not understand him. So after like 30-45 minutes of that....he tells me to call the modem company back to get some information. I try, but they don't understand what I am asking for. And frankly, neither do I!
So I decided to wait. Cool
down. Read. Relax. (Breathe!) and try again later. So I tried the CD downloading program again. It got stuck on a step. Tried again...it got a little farther. FINALLY. after like 5 hours, I pushed through and made it through the whole downloading process. And I am officially set up with wireless internet. 😊
Now I know a lot of that doesn't seem like a big deal, but it was a big deal today. I am in a different country. A lone. I don't know a lot about banks or computers or phones or really anything here. I don't know where to take my trash out. I just figured out how to use my washer and dryer (and the whole time I thought they were going to explode!). Today I just felt very alone and very helpless. It is the first time I have really wondered what I was doing here. Now, I gave myself some time to cry and I got through it. I read my book, ate some food, and tried to relax. And now that I did manage to figure out the washer/dryer and how to set up the internet, I feel pretty proud of myself.
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MY classroom! I did that all on my own. And this is really the first time I have had to do those things. I have lived at home or with other people since.....birth, so now I have to figure a lot out by myself. And it can be really frustrating, but it can also be really rewarding. That is actually part of why I took this job. Because I wanted to force myself to learn how to manage on my own. And I knew it would be hard. But I also knew that it would make me a much stronger, independent, and confident woman.
I am sure this is not the last time that I will have one of those "Hong Kong days," but I do know that I will make it through it and that at the end of this time here, I will be the strong and independent person that I want to be (and am already becoming....) 😊
Thanks everyone for your love! I know that I am not alone in this- that I have all of you behind me.
Sorry for the long post! 😊 There are some pictures to make up for it!
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mom
non-member comment
I can feel your pain
Your experience brings back memories of the Philippines-there were always lines to stand in for this and that and sometimes you just wanted to cry because it was so confusing and you just wanted this one thing done. I love your classroom-and I spotted my jewelry store! Becky is having surgery Tues. and so sad today Roxanne said her mom has 3 to 6 months to live. I'm heartbroken. I love you sweetie and so proud of you-you are amazing. Love mom