Hong Kong - Part 2

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I have adjusted well to my first few weeks. I started teaching last week. The first thing I needed to do was to find out all the kids English names. There are some real weird ones like: No-no, Yo-yo, Kinki, Chili, Osama, Lola, Wing and Christ. Osama is the name of several of the East Indian students (who speak perfect Chinese - weird). The children call me "Jim Go-Ga", which apparently means "Big Brother Jim" in Cantonese. I brought my lunch to school the first day, only to be laughed at by the teachers. Apparently sandwiches are only eaten for breakfast here, and a can of coke was unheard of at any meal! One lady brought fish for lunch - which was barely cooked. As she ate she spat the bones and parts she didnt like all over the table. The other teachers followed suit.

There are 4 TV channels in HK. 2 of which are in English - they have some good programming surprisingly. But the commercials are different. Many are sponsored by the government and tell people what to do - for example one commercial tells people to cover their mouths when coughing; another may encourage parents to send there kids to university or to feed them enough vegetables.

It is extremely hot and humid in Hong Kong. To combat this there is air conditioning everywhere - in every store, bus, etc. And the air conditioning is turned down real cold. A lot of people get sick moving from the real hot outside to the freezing inside. Anyone who has a cold wears a mask so they dont spread it.

Cockroaches are very common here. You see them everywhere, especially at night. And these are huge, and they can fly. The other night I came home form the bar to find one in my bed. I couldn't catch the bugger, he got away and into a corner. They are everywhere, so Im gonna have to get used to them.

Well, all in all, I am having a great time here in HK. There's a lot to get used to - its far different than Canada or Chile. Eventually Ill get accustomed to the stuff i discussed above, but for now it remains alien!!
Keep in touch.
later
JIM

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