HK Day 1

We started off our first full day in Hong Kong by going to the dentist's office for my consultation appointment. My oral surgeon is great. He happens to hail from Winston Salem, NC and got his degree in dentistry from UNC, so an obvious choice. How did I end up with an American oral surgeon in the middle of Hong Kong you might ask? As it turned out American health care is so screwed up that not only patients get ripped off, but doctors hate it too. I thought at least one part of the care-receiver/care-taker relationship was winning out, but apparently the doctors don't want to operate in the American health care system so much that they're willing to move halfway across the world to practice in another country.

After the consultation, Shelley and I went out exploring. After one day, I have to say that Hong Kong has to be the best big city I've ever visited. Shelley and I were trying to compare it to other large cities we've been to. I mentioned Bangkok when we were driving in, but Bangkok is a lot more spread out and the roads are wider. Shelley mentioned Seoul, but Seoul has a much more organized feel to it. Interesting enough, the closest thing this city comes to anywhere else we've ever been is New York City. Take away the dirty streets and rude people you've got Hong Kong. Actually, Hong Kong is more international than even New York. Walking down the street you're just as likely to see an Indian or European as you are to see a native. Equally as interesting is that at not once did we ever consider large cities in East Asia that we've visited in comparison, because Hong Kong is nothing like East Asia. Nothing. It is a different country altogether. It is more like New York City than it is anywhere else in East Asia. This is what a typical street looks like:

After walking around the financial district, we took the tram up to the Peak. This tram ran straight up the mountainside on the back of Hong Kong island to the top of Victoria peak. Literally straight up like a roller coaster. The tram has been running since 1830, and it is a must-experience when you are in Hong Kong. And when you get to the top, the view is worth every minute of the trip:

You can see both sides of Victoria Harbor. The city just goes on forever until you hit the mountains on the opposite side.
However, there was one point today when we thought "maybe East Asia is infiltrating this place":
There is a freedom here that doesn't exist in East Asia. In East Asia, this could never be hung up by a random crazy conspiracy theorist. Afterwards, we walked to Mid-levels which has a giant escalator that runs up the bottom gentle slope of the mountain and has shops on both sides. Supposedly it is the longest escalator in the world, but it is more like a series of airport walkways that you can hop off at each break. One great fact about Mid-levels is that it runs parallel to this thoroughfare:

We finished off the night with Josh and Danielle at Tony Romas. Since I'll be drinking my meals for the next 48 hours or so, I decided to go out with a half-rack of baby back ribs. We'll keep you updated as we check out new things over the upcoming days! Next up, wisdom teeth surgery.

HK Night 1

Well, we made it safely to Hong Kong today. We haven't taken any pictures yet, but we will be sure to take plenty tomorrow to post. Our first impression of Hong Kong is that it is North Carolina/Virginia hot and humid. We live at 6,000+ feet, so even when it gets above 80, which is rarely does, it is a dry heat. I forgot what it was like to choke on the thick air.

It took us a good while to get to our hostel. For one, we can't speak the dialect here. I thought that wouldn't matter since this place was British owned forever, but none of the cab drivers understood my English, so we ended up just taking the subway, which was probably quicker anyway. Our cell phones don't work here either, so we have yet to track down Josh and Danielle who came in on an earlier flight than us and we're staying in the same hostel!

Either way, we finally got checked in around 8:15 and went out looking for some dinner. The first thing you see when you walk out of our hostel is a giant Outback Steakhouse sign, but being so hot, I didn't want to melt into a pile of cow grease on the walk back to the hostel, so we went for lighter fare. Only we couldn't find any. We finally settled... actually settled isn't the right word, we went for a corn dog and cheese fries with a strawberry banana smoothie... which i was willing to melt into grease for. We followed that up with a trip to the grocery store. The following purchases were made with little thought: deli ham, deli cheese, sandwich bread, tropicana orange juice, fresh milk. Why am I telling you so much about our culinary choices in such detail... particularly boring culinary choices you might ask? BECAUSE WE CAN'T GET ANY OF THIS STUFF WHERE WE LIVE!!! Who would have thought that honey ham and kraft singles, a corn dog, or a strawberry banana smoothie would be blogworthy? They were certainly the highlight of my day.

Embarassing moment of the day- on the elevator in our hostel, two European guys got on. They stared at my shirt, and asked "I'm sorry, which team is that?" I was wearing my American soccer jersey. I told them "The US" to which they replied "like... the national team?" I said "yeah, out in the second round. But better than last time" to which they laughed and got off the elevator. Shelley claims they laughed because they didn't understand English. I think they laughed because I was actually wearing an American soccer jersey. It was awkward nonetheless, but I think I stood up for Donovan well.

goodbyes

jarred mentioned in his last post the goodbyes we've been saying. i've been thinking recently how strange a life it is here that i can name on one hand the people i know whose life here is their permanent, settled-down life. and then we think of our parents who have known the same people and had the same friends for years and we are reminded how abnormal the continual goodbyes are. i don't think i'll ever really get used to it, and then again i hope i never do because i never want to stop getting to know the people around me well out of fear that they are going to leave. but nonetheless, the last couple weeks have been marked by a lot of goodbyes. some were major and emotional and some not.

on the not-so-major-but-still-important were those other foreigners that came out to near where we live for a bit that we blogged about earlier. we got to know them a little bit and they came over for dinner a couple nights before they left. it was such a sweet time to hear all about their time and their experiences. and the sweetest part was that they really did love it here. after a rough first week, everything turned around- they were troopers in some really hard living conditions, they found some awesome new places out here, and they made some really cool friends. the first time i came to this side of the world i had no idea how much it would change the trajectory of my life, and i love watching new experiences do the same to others.

little update on life

When the school year finishes up, life gets super busy, and thus we haven't blogged in a good while. Shelley and I both finish up our class for the year this week, and then get a nice break. Here is an update on the last couple of weeks:

Right after we got cable, the US lost to Ghana, and now that the semifinals are here, all games are at 2:30 AM. Since we are not European or South American, we won't be watching anymore World Cup games. At least not live. I am not sure what to do with the remaining 11 months and 1.5 weeks of our digital cable. I could watch the ping pong and badminton channel...

I had an opportunity to teach some of our East Asian neighbors how to golf last week. We went to eat Thai food together, and then bought some buckets of balls at the driving range and I gave free lessons. The driver they rented to us was from the early 90s, so I spent a lot of the time offering free lessons to the rich guys around us in exchange for them letting me hit their 500 dollar drivers. It was a great time.

We have said goodbye to 2 of our neighbors in the past week. That has been really difficult for Shel and I. In all the time I have lived here, I have never been closer to an East Asian before. They are truly friends, and luckily we'll get to travel to see them from time to time. Maximus has lost 2 of his favorite uncles, though I don't think he realizes it.

We are getting ready to travel to the big city of Hong Kong! I am having my wisdom teeth pulled there. East Asia's dental offices aren't quite up to speed and skill, especially if it involves sticking an IV in me to go to sleep. Luckily, I can have my wisdom teeth pulled by an American oral surgeon in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, it will cost the same as in America, which will be true of everything in Hong Kong. We'll have to stay for 9 days for the follow up appointment afterwards, which means we'll get to see a lot of Hong Kong. That's okay with us. We've heard about organized streets, grocery stores, California Pizza Kitchen, hiking, and the beach all available to us. That will be a nice break, even if it does involved being stuck in bed with gauze in your mouth for a day or 2.

Shelley has a summer time to do list. I don't know what's on the list, I just know its there. When my wife gets in her mind to do something, I have learned to stay out of her way until asked for help. On that list I'm sure is replacing both bathroom doors in our apartment, which broke in a 2 week period. One was broken on purpose, when the knob quit working and Shelley was locked in the bathroom. After trying several different tricks, I ended up kicking the door in, which being a plastic door, meant destroying the door and frame at the same time. The other door was taken care of by Maximus, who scratched a huge chunk off of it out of excitement when we came in the door. He gets excited when he knows he is about to be let out of the guest bathroom/his room when we are gone.

That is a short update. We'll be sure to post lots of pictures when in Hong Kong. My camera has been out of battery for a while and I haven't taken the time to charge it. Now that the school year is ending, life will be a little less hectic and things like keeping the camera batteries charged and taking pictures will move up on the priority list.

food blogs

i love cooking just as much as my mom and sister, who are both fabulous cooks. but one thing i didn't quite inherit was their love for recipes and cookbooks. well, to an extent. i love cookbooks and love recipes and use them all the time, but i think the fact that i really started cooking a lot my first year in asia majorly influenced 2 things about the way i cook: 1. generalizations and substitutions. just because i can't get a lot of typical ingredients here, doesn't mean i don't make things, it just means i have learned to substitute rather liberally. and, well, i am just kind of a chaotic cook and change recipes to do it my way in whatever way seem best. i think recipes work better as guideposts than lab experiment steps, so substituting for lots of things fits right in. 2. cookbooks weigh a ton. and that means i only have about 3 or 4 that have come with me from america. i love them. especially for basic things. but needing a more extensive recipe collection led me to allrecipes.com, which is where probably over 50% of my recipes alone come from. but this past week, i took the dive into food blogs. i know that they have been all the rage for a few years, but i didn't really get into it until i was searching for an awesome pasta salad recipe with spinach, chicken, peanuts, sesame dressing and a whole lot of other things in it that i made last year, but never wrote down. anyways, i finally found it again and that led me to spend a couple hours (i know, hours) perusing some food blogs. and i just wanted to pass along my current favorites because i think they are really great. the majority of the recipes are really simple, but look absolutely delicious. but a number of them were super creative and i can't wait to try them. and why lie, i'll probably change them anyways :)

here they are:

www.yourhomebasedmom.com

www.ourbestbites.com

and here is another one that my friend marrianne told me about that is interesting for recipes, her funny story, and some pretty cool pictures of the american plains. she makes me think even i might want to live on a farm, and we all know what a stretch that would be.

www.thepioneerwoman.com

and ps- i think being paid to blog is about the coolest job ever. pretty lucky people, they are.

not moving

those 2 words placed together have a glorious ring in my ears. this is the first time in 8 years that i haven't moved for the summer. 8 years in a row, since the summer i graduated high school and went to college, i have packed up my life and moved in the spring/summer. but this summer as friends in america and in asia pack their stuff and move on to their next journey for the summer or permanently, i will be waking up in my same bed, cooking in my same kitchen, and reading in my same living room. and i could not be more excited about it! in 3 years in asia i have lived in 3 different apartments, but come this fall there will be no new apartment. no movers. no new landlord. and that is incredibly restful and refreshing. here's to looking forward to another year in my dream apartment!

Vida nostalgia

As you can tell from the title, I am a Latin expert, or at least an expert at guessing Latin. Actually, I have never studied Latin, and I can't claim any Latin heritage, other than my father in law apparently being the Latin state champion of Michigan in high school. Either way, most Latin-based language speaking countries have very talented soccer teams. I played soccer when I was 6, and never again afterwards. I have no heritage of soccer players except for my wife being the soccer state champion of Virginia private schools. So... how is it that I am enthralled with soccer right now? I admit it, I am a bandwagon sporting event fan. If the whole world is in it, I'm in it. So, with that said, I'm currently obsessed with the World Cup.

There is only one problem with this obsession. Since my wife and I don't watch a lot of television, and watch NO East Asian television, we told our landlord we did not want to pay to have cable installed in our apartment, which means no channels whatsoever on TV. Therefore, I have not been able to watch the World Cup. The rest of the world except America are enjoying this once every 4 year event, and we are left out in the cold. So... to solve this problem, I decided it was time to get cable. My plan, have the company turn on our cable for 2 months to watch the World Cup.

So I went to the cable company and told them I wanted cable in my house. After showing them my rent contract and passport, they then told me they could not install cable because I was not the owner of the apartment. If the apartment owner came, then they could install it. Only problem, my landlord lives an hour away from our apartment, and doesn't like to make trips out unless collection of the next year's rent is involved. Seriously, if a tornado ripped the ceilings out of this place, she would tell me "it's not convenient for me to come there. call the HOA and tell them." Luckily, she is also a citizen of everywhere-else-in-the-world-except-America, so when I told her we wanted to watch the World Cup so I needed to turn on the cable, she was more than obliged to come and get it turned on.

Day 2 of attempting to turn on the cable meant that I met the landlord, went and paid for a year of digital cable (2 months wasn't an option, neither was normal cable to a foreigner who didn't know the difference until he got home). I asked when they could come out to install the cable, and the guy at the service desk said, while watching a World Cup soccer match, "On Thursday, they will be on holiday for 3 days." Great timing for buying cable.

Not to be deterred, I decided that I would install the cable box myself. After getting home and following instructions to a T, we had the cable hooked up, and every channel said "no signal." I called the cable company, and they told me they would send someone out on Thursday. Don't they know that Japan and Cameroon are playing!?!? Had I wanted no signal, I would have bought a satellite dish.

Today is day 4 of no cable, and Thursday is tomorrow when they'll send someone out to help. Finally, I will be able to enjoy the World Cup with the rest of the world. Along with that, I will also be able to enjoy the golf and tennis channel and the ping pong and badminton channel. Either way, all of this has made me very nostalgic for America. I wish I could be in a place where I understood the holidays and saw them coming, where the service representative could be completely useless in English, and where TV is such a high priority that service lines are open for 24 hours and they can't even take holidays lest people not be able to watch football on Thanksgiving.

More than that, I miss the summer in America. For my entire life before this, I've had a summer vacation. Even after graduating and working full time, it was still summertime. The swimming pool was open, the tree frogs were screaming, lightning bugs were flashing, the grass needed cutting, the ice cream maker was running (not that the ice cream maker is at all seasonal in Jarred's household), and you didn't have to worry about remembering not to pass a stopped school bus (which in North Carolina carries a stiffer penalty in drivers' license points than if you actually hit a kid).

Here, students still have another month of school, and it is the rainy season, and everyone is taking a 3 day holiday based on an age old story that no one can explain, and there are no swimming pools. This is going to be my first summer where life doesn't really change all that much. We're taking a trip to a fun place in a few weeks, but even that involves the removal of my wisdom teeth.

In spite of it all, I'll be glad to finally turn on the TV tomorrow night to be able to watch the World Cup. All the while, I'll be nostalgic for my family, friends, the smell of fresh cut grass, and rude cable service operators who speak English.