1-3 Weeks in Hong Kong

Week 1 – I know no one. I don’t have many expectations of the city, except for the memory of this place a year ago. More importantly, this city has no expectations of me. For the first time, I am in solitude, yet I know that I am not alone (thanks friends and family). I actually prefer the alone time, as it helps me get to know the city itself sans other opinions and other people’s ideas. I buy an octopus card. Then a SIM card. I open up an account at a local bank, investing my money in the local economy. Agree to stay at the hostel for a month. I am moving in.

Week 2 – Still settling. Meet some people I’ve heard about through the grapevines of friends. Get to know eateries that I am willing to indulge in more than once. Checking out the “touristy” things – Hong Kong Park, Cheung Chau beach, the city’s light show. Meeting fellow travelers who come and go. Have an interview with a school. It doesn’t go well. I get to substitute over the weekend, but you can’t teach kids how to understand you if they have no concept what you’re saying. It’s even worse if you don’t understand what they are saying.

A 3-year-old kid, who only repeats everything I say, holds onto his crotch for fifteen minutes; I think he’s scratching an itch. It takes me those fifteen minutes to realize he has to go. I manage to get him to the bathroom just in time, forcing me to leave the other one behind. And for a little kid, he has an awfully big bladder. Crisis now averted, he can’t stop talking to me in Cantonese. I smile and nod. A lot. And I use monosyllabic words. He doesn’t get them, but he understands and leaves grinning.

Week 3 – I’m starting to need living supplies. I use my octopus card generously, going from station to station looking for grocery stores, places that sell stationery, shops that will help me update my wardrobe, etc. I am walking around the city daily, getting more and more comfortable with each step, expertly dodging pedestrians, stopping just short of careening into a halted bystander (though, I admit to running into a few every now and then, just because. Dude, move.) I’ve gotten used to them, and to all the people who don’t speak any English. My pantomiming skills have taken on a life of their own – they are much better now that I have absolutely no idea what is being said. A friend from Vietnam comes to visit, and I show off all my knowledge thus to date. We go shopping, eat delicious yummies (dim sum and noodles and French fries, oh my!), and go to Disneyland, which reminds me of how magical even emotions and nostalgia can be.

Also, I audition for my first play in over two years. It’s a big deal. I’m a bit out of practice, but like the first wobbly attempts of pedaling a bicycle, I remember all the moves.