A Short Update Without A Clever Title

It has been a long time since I have written in my blog but I haven’t abandoned the venture, I swear! I’ve actually been sick. It’s weird because no one else around me seems to be sick. At first, I thought it was a bug Harold brought from Canada, but he was fine when he arrived (though he has started to feel sick over the past few days… my fault, I’m sure)… As it turns out, I think I can trace the source of my illness to our lovely friend, Black Mold. Ewwww! I have a dark purple water bottle so I didn’t notice until it got pretty bad. It’s weird though seeing as I only ever keep water in there and I make sure to wash it regularly. At any rate, in my efforts to keep my sick self hydrated, I think I was actually creating the problem. What a catch 22 situation!


So, as you have likely picked up from the last paragraph, Harold has arrived in Hong Kong! I couldn’t be happier. I went to meet him at the airport and I really don’t think I’ve ever been so glad to see anyone in my life. His first week here was sort of blah because we were plagued with the lingering effects of a typhoon’s tail-end. Luckily, the sun is shining now and “rainy season” is almost done. The past few days, we’ve been sitting under palm trees at the pool and planning our wedding.

Before Harold arrived, I spent the weekend at Nicole’s flat and had a wonderful time with her. We hit the town and painted it red. We ate (oh boy, did we ever!), drank, and bar/restaurant hopped in Soho until the wee hours of the morning. We took a ferry ride across the river and watched the buildings put on an incredible light show with shooting lasers and pulsating lights in time to music. The weekend also included shopping, visiting a temple, sipping martinis in a very posh lounge, seeing a live band, dancing, and just a lot of general merriment. The bar scene here is much different from Windsor (and certainly much different from Nanaimo, in that HK actually HAS a bar scene). Everything felt very safe. People were just out having fun and no one was looking to break the law or have a fight. Actually, there don’t seem to be many laws here, and I think that’s why this system works. For example, you can walk around the streets or stores openly drinking a beer. When no one pesters you about the petty little things, there is no forbidden novelty to it and no drive to rebel or abuse your privileges. It’s very much a “live and let live” society with a huge reliance on the honour system.

You know what does need some rules though? The English language. People always say this but you never REALLY notice how ridiculous everything is until you try to teach it. I started teaching this week (yesterday). So far, I’ve only actually taught grade 4 (today) but yesterday I went to different classes to introduce myself. I can’t believe how good it feels to be back in the classroom. This is where I belong… not behind some ridiculous till, in a uniform, small-talking about the weather with a bunch of ingrates. The children are so sweet… and so POLITE. I’m teaching grades 1-4 in their own classrooms, much like the French teachers back home. I also have my own room called “The English Wonderland.” I’m having tonnes of fun decorating it. There is still a bunch of organizing and planning that needs to be done, but once I’m settled in, I know I’ll be very happy here (and I’ll have a lot more to say on the matter).

In other news, we are planning a Christmas trip… anyone care to weigh in on our destination? We are debating between Perth, Thailand, and Bora Bora.

Confucius Says: Man who slings mud loses ground

Today rocked!  I finally ventured out of walking distance.  I don’t know why I was so afraid of the public transit here.  Well, actually, I do know why I was afraid... Hong Kong has light rail, MTR (subway), regular buses, double decker buses , 3 colour coded cab companies (depending on the region), and ferries.  The reason for my fear was simple... I was afraid of getting lost!  However, it turns out that everything is very clearly labelled in both Chinese and English so now there are no more worries.  

Where did I go?  I went to Hong Kong Wetland Park.  It was SO amazing!  Tin Shui Wai used to be completely marshland so there were tonnes of wonderful little swampy animals.  There was one area where there were butterflies EVERYWHERE; they must have been attracted to some sort of plant.  I saw two snails whose shells alone would fit in the palm of my hand... I realize that is an expression commonly used to denote a very tiny size, but for snails, that’s massive.  There were crabs, fish galore, a crocodile (in an enclosure), and even a giant water snake swimming along the mangroves (I emailed the park to find out what kind it is).  

Ok, I’ve saved the best for last.  When I was in grade 4, I did a project on fish.  It’s funny because I’m fairly sure we picked our subject animal out of a hat at random.  As fate would have it, I became hooked on fish... and it wasn’t just “guppy love”.  In fact, my fish research touched me so much that it prompted 9 year old me to beg my parents to let me be a vegetarian so I wouldn’t have to eat fish.  They let me drop fish from my diet but sadly wouldn’t let me off the hook with other animals until much later in my teens.  But, I digress.... a few types of fish became my favourites: my own little pets, catfish, sharks (as anyone who had the pleasure of being around me during shark week would know) and mudskippers.  (Wow, this was a long intro to a short story... Sorry, but it is important you understand just how amazing today was for me.)   Mudskippers are a fish in the goby family that breathe through their skin so that as long as their body stays wet, they can stay out of the water.  They walk along (and jump, dig, run, and roll) on land using their front fins.  Today, I got to see mudskippers in their natural habitat!!!!!!!!!!  They were so cute and hilarious.  They were actually playing right in among the crabs.... I seriously could have watched them for hours.  I’m in love!

Also, I definitely became the very height of Chinese fashion today.  I used a sunbrella.  Around here, all the women walk around with an open umbrella no matter what the weather.  At first, it really caught me off guard, but now I see it’s quite practical (especially with my fair skin).  I still want to tan though, while the Chinese women wish to stay as pale as possible... but it’s nice that after I’ve had enough sun I can just put my umbrella up under a blue sky and not look silly at all.  It’s a very trendy sunbrella too... bright pink with cherries and flowers.  

And the biggest news of all: I cooked a delicious meal (with leftovers) and the hotel is still standing in one piece.  I made a bit of a stir fry with egg noodles and vegetables galore (for those who care: broccoli, celery, onion, mushroom, cherry tomatoes, baby corn, snap peas, butter beans, and tofu) then I seasoned it using only fresh garlic and ginger.  It’s so healthy and I can’t believe it turned out so well!  I think I shall make more for Harold when he comes... he’ll be so impressed that I might be able to pass for a good housewife after all.... all the responsibility shouldn’t lay on my wonderful househusband.  

Speaking of Harold, we booked his flight!!!!!!!!  He’s coming sooner than we’d originally planned because everything is pretty much done at home.  He’s been working so hard he deserves to come here early, escape the rain, and relax by the pool.  He’ll be flying out of Victoria this Saturday and arriving here Sunday night.  I’m soooooooooooo happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Be sure to check Facebook soon for some new albums.  Tonight, I will try to put up Harold’s mom’s visit to Nanaimo and also the first HK album.

adorable mudskipper and crab

sunbrella

view from my window

my cooking... wow!

Go Greased Lightnin', You're Coasting Through the Heat Lap Trails

Since I arrived last week, my strengths and inadequacies have really become apparent.  I’ve always been very independent and have no qualms about doing things by myself (though I do miss Harold terribly so I’m not doing anything super cool without him)...  Alone, I have gone to the pool, the gym, the movie theatre, restaurants, the mall, etc... cooking, on the other hand, simply baffles me.  Man cannot live on pre-packaged butter masala alone.  It’s a good thing Harold is the master chef of our household.  I’m excited for him to be here for reasons other than his cooking skills, but a nice home cooked meal wouldn’t hurt.  Just a few more weeks until I see him again!  The cooking situation should improve after tomorrow when I can stock the fridge with vegetables in our new flat.  I haven’t done so yet because hotel living feels so temporary.  I’m excited to move to the other building because rumour has it there are somewhere between 30-50 other English teachers living there as well.  

My visa is still going to take a few weeks to process.  In the meantime, I’m going a little stir-crazy (or just crazy?) thinking about all the huge changes we just made.  Did we really just give up our spacious two bedroom house for a closet sized flat (albeit a huge closet)?  Did I really just sell my perfectly road-worthy car to a junkyard for $80 when I worked 2 summers to buy it and am still indebted to MasterCard for the maintenance and repairs? (We shall never speak of this painful ordeal again, understood?)  And most shockingly, didn’t we just pack up our lives a year ago and move to British Columbia?  Nomads, we are!  Except real nomads have little more in their possession than they can fit on their backs.  We, on the other hand, have so much that Harold is still at home dealing with it.  I miss him so much!

I’m not completely alone here though.  My old foe, Lightning (with whom I have quite the sordid past), has decided to pay me a visit the last two nights.  It was late and I was already in bed; certainly not prepared for company.  But Lightning has never exactly been a courteous houseguest: he has aggressively challenged both my home and school to Fight Club style brawls, he has destroyed my property with no regard for my needs or feelings, and he has even been a bit abusive towards me personally.  Lightning swears it’s only when he’s drunk on summer heat and promises he’ll never strike the same place twice, but it’s really changed the nature of our relationship. 

On a few other notes, the pool here is wonderful... the water is just perfect and it really has that tropical resort feel (which makes sense, seeing as this is a tropical resort).  The gym is small, but seems to be a world class facility.  I also like it because no one makes small talk in the gym.  Small talk just doesn’t seem to be a part of the culture here (I would say it’s just because I don’t speak the language, but I don’t see people talking to anyone else either).  Of all the awful small talk, gym small talk is the worst kind.  It is usually an arrogant mixture of muscles, menus, and machismo, laced with flirtations.

I bought a reusable shopping bag yesterday that says, “Care Environment, Care Your Health”.... Also, I bought a skin cream and the instructions read that I can “apply ointment for scorch from ultraviolet rays.”

Thus ends another blog entry, as equally without flow or excitement as the last one.  I promise the good stuff will start soon; I’m still just adjusting.

P.S.  Upon doing some research, I found, via the Hong Kong Weather Authority website, the statistics of that first lightning filled night.  The storm lasted from 9 at night until 3 in the morning (at least we know it put in an honest day’s work!) and had a grand total of 25,305 cloud to ground strikes and 8063 cloud to cloud strikes.  How am I supposed to compete with odds like that? 

P.S.S.  Also, it seems the storms start like clockwork at 9pm.  And here I was clinging to the hope that it was just the nightly fireworks show at Hong Kong Disneyland.  I guess I can stop wishing upon that star!

Dig to China, Dig to China

Well, it’s been a very long few days. A lot of it is a giant blur... but here I am, safe and sound in Hong Kong. I apologize if this is very rambley... I’m still somewhat jetlagged and my mind is fully in BC. Here is a general overview of the last few days. There will be more interesting, clever anecdotes later in the week.

Pre-Boarding

We had a full day planned in Victoria, as my flight wasn’t leaving until 9pm. We had been whale watching a few weeks ago but only saw the top of one grey whale from a great distance away. Because of this, we were offered the opportunity to ride standby for free later on. We figured that would be a wonderful way to spend our last day together but it turns out that a lot of other people also thought that would be a good way to spend the day. Before we even left home, we found out the boat was full. We were disappointed but it was sort of a blessing in disguise because it allowed us to have a much more relaxed departure from Departure Bay (our neighbourhood in Nanaimo, never so aptly named).

At the airport, I had begun to get a horrible pain in my side. It turns out it was all nervous indigestion. Nothing a few Rolaids and frantic text messages to Priya couldn’t handle. Priya thought it was endearing and lovable (I believe those were her words) that my first thought was I’d need an emergency appendectomy while miles high in the middle of the great blue yonder.

Saying goodbye to Harold was the hardest thing ever. I know I’ll see him in just a few more weeks, but I miss him like crazy (we sure do spend a lot of time on Skype these days). How do I walk away from my fiancé and go through the doors to the terminal? As a going away present, he gave me his grandmother’s locket with a picture of him in it. Now he is with me wherever I go.

It’s All Up in the Air

It should be noted that I have only flown a handful of times (all domestic) and that I’m not a good flyer. I have been known to drive or take the train/bus extremely long distances (Mexico, BC, California) to avoid flying. My first flight was only about 20 minutes long from Victoria to Vancouver. It was a small Air Canada Jazz plane and the flight attendant was awesome enough to sit with me for a portion of the flight and really calm my nerves. After, she walked me to the International Terminal for my next flight. I think I shall write to Air Canada about how great she was.

My layover was 5 hours (during which I struggled hard to stay awake) before my red-eye flight direct from Vancouver to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific. The flight was mostly smooth. I had a window seat and a guy, who clearly hated small talk as much as I do, had the aisle seat. There was a lovely empty seat between us... lots of room to stretch out. I woke him up once because the turbulence was scaring me though; I swear at one point the plane just dropped a few hundred feet.

I won’t bore you with all the flight details... here are the highlights: individual televisions for each seat that were fully equipped with movies (I watched Letters to Juliet and bawled my eyes out), tv shows, music, and video games... amazing food... actually managed to sleep a bit... flying over Tokyo at night was so surreal (it looked like a circuit board full of lights and copper wiring)... right before landing something jumped out of the water near the boat and I think it was a dolphin.

Enter: The Foreigner

Immigration, baggage collection, and customs took about 5 minutes (once I managed to find them in the massive Chek Lap Kok airport... I actually had to take an internal subway just to get there!) Katherine and Belle, two of my new teaching colleagues, were kind enough to meet me at the airport. I appreciate that so much because I would have been very lost otherwise. They helped me buy my Octopus card (used for transit as well as for many other services) and we all took the 45 minute airport shuttle to Tin Shui Wai where we went for lunch, bought a few things, and they helped me get settled in to my hotel.

Harbour Plaza Resort City

Before I left, I booked a room at Harbour Plaza Resort City until September 11th. It is in Tin Shui Wai, the next town over from Yuen Long, where my school is. This place is amazing! It is located right beside the bus station and the light rail trains, there are TWO malls attached to it, a grocery store, multiple restaurants and bars, TWO 7-11 stores (complete with $1 slurpees), a movie theatre, a pool, a gym, tennis courts, a putting green, a huge track, a soccer field, and a very large park with a very neat jogging trail that has built in exercise stops throughout (sit-ups, push-ups, etc). I like it so much here that, after a telephone conference and a video, Harold and I have decided this will be our new home.

Currently, I am in Tower 2, but tomorrow I sign papers and then on Saturday, I will move to Tower 1. I checked out the suite today... it’s small, but big by Hong Kong standards. There will be plenty of room for us both, along with all our stuff... and now we get to stay at this awesome place that really is both a resort and a little city all to itself.

Here's a link to the resort and here is my exploring the grounds:

http://www.harbour-plaza.com/en/home.aspx?hotel_id=hprc&section_id=home&subsection_id=overview