Advertisement
Published: October 5th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Hello my friends and family! So as of today, I have officially been in Hong Kong for one month. I think the first month in a new city is always the hardest. You have to adjust to the new lifestyle, you have to learn how to get around from place to place, you have to try and meet new people, and in my case, you have to find a job and an apartment asap. I kind of landed here without any idea of what to expect. I had no plan, no job, no friends and absolutely no clue what to do next. This was not in my plans. I was supposed to live in Shenzhen for the next year of my life! I was so prepared. I had done all my research. I found myself a stable job and apartment. I was secure and safe in my new Chinese life. But sometimes the safe route is not always the best route. I'm sure my mom would beg to differ, but at a time in my life where my main priority is to find adventure and then to learn things about myself whilst I do it, I just can't settle. Staying in
Shenzhen would of meant settling. Settling into something boring and lifeless. No thanks, I'll pass.
So week 1 in Hong Kong was fun and scary. Chris was with me for the first 4 days and we had a lot of fun sightseeing and being tourist. We stayed in a fancy hotel and spent our days eating and walking around. We went to the Peak, which is probably the most famous tourist destination in Hong Kong. You take an old wooden tram to the top of this huge mountain and when you reach the top you are dropped off in this big indoor mall. You can walk outside and there are lots of restaurants and coffee shops, and a little area to take pictures with the view of Hong Kong behind you. It was really beautiful. I want to go back at night when the city lights up. Then, Christopher left and I was very sad and day five, six and seven sucked. I was all alone and the reality of it all kicked in. Not being able to afford the nice big hotel, I moved to a teeny-tiny guesthouse. I stayed there for a week and spent every day looking
for work. I got really lucky and found a great job at a really nice learning center in Central, which is the big business hub of Hong Kong Island. They offered pretty good pay and to sponsor my visa, which apparently is a pretty difficult thing to get in Hong Kong. My boss and coworkers are really nice and easy to get along with, and all my students have been really great as well. I teach adults, a few kindergarten-aged kids and then a couple mommy-and-me classes on the weekend.
I spent week 2 finding an apartment. I was so desperate to get out of my guesthouse (and Kowloon) and once again got really lucky in finding a great apartment close to work. In Hong Kong property is extremely valuable and expensive, so the place is 'great' in the sense that it is convenient, the apartment itself can use some work. It's a two bedroom 500sq. ft. apartment, so you can imagine. It took some getting used to in the beginning, but now it ain't so bad. I have a cute little corner bedroom with windows all around and a hot pot in the kitchen for my cookin. Oh and
'aircon' and hot water, so I'm a happy camper. I have a really great roommate named Irene. She's Hong Kongnese and works at Disney. She's really smart and friendly and we get along great. She fills me in on all the cool local spots that I wouldn't know about otherwise. And she's taking me to Disneyland (yes there is a Disneyland in HK!!) for freeee in a couple weeks. It's Halloween in Disneyland all month so I'm ecstatic! (Halloween is my holiday by the way)
So, the last few weeks have been the best. I'm getting more and more comfortable with this big city. I'm making friends and exploring A LOT. There is just so much to do. I found this great running trail by my house, so I am back to running again, which makes me happy and free. I want to start hiking also. Apparently, hiking is the big thing to do here. Since Hong Kong is 70% jungle and greenery there are trails everywhere. So me and my new friends, Kyle and Tanja, attempted it this Saturday. We chose a trail called the Dragon's Back, which is supposedly the best hike in all of Asia (according to
Time magazine). So we took the metro to a bus station then caught a bus up the mountain. About thirty minutes later, after my motion sickness was in full gear, the bus reached its last stop, which was not our hike. Instead we ended up at a really cute beach town called Shek O. I really didn't care. I was just happy to be off the bus. We spent the day at the beach drinking Tsing Tao's and hanging out with a few of the beach locals, who happened to be Aussies. They were older guys, and I mean really old...like you Dad 😉 but they were loads of fun. One of them was on the old soap opera, Dallas. He was a riot.
There's so much more to tell you about, like the amazing food and restaurants, the shops, the markets, the people, who by the way are a million times more friendly than the mainland folk, the nightlife, the amazing transportation, the culture, everything! It's just so awesome. But as awesome as it is, I miss you all and can't wait to see you again. xoxo-rox
Advertisement
Tot: 0.072s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 8; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0468s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Christian
non-member comment
COngrats
I am really happy and inspired by you to travel around the world. FYI, we booked our wedding date for June 26th, 2010. I really hope you can make it, but I will understand if life keeps you in Asia. Please do all you can though because it would just be weird without you at my wedding you know? Anyway, have a great time out there and we miss you too!