Chopstick Dreams and Bamboo thoughts

It's been one month today and I can still remember the smell of incense hit me in the throat as I dragged my three heavy bags up five flights of stairs at 408 Lockhart Rd. No evevator, no help, just me and the sacks. It was Saturday and I was so glad to leave the small and cramped hotel room and head to my new home and start unpacking my life from those three bags. My roomate was still in Thailand when I arrived at the aptment, so I unpacked as fast as I could so I could get settled in right away. Most of my afternoon was spend placing things away and investigating my new home or shall I say compact house in a box. Lots of new reneovations and very clean, but very space conscience compared to your average two bedroom, Canadian apartment standard. My bedroom or where I sleep can be compared to a celebrity clothing closet and I can probably take three large hops and be at the other end of my apartment. I'm conviently located in the latter end of Wan Chai and so close to the Causeway Bay shopping district. Wan Chai is a very unique area but the noise sometimes is hard to ingore, especially the annoying taxi drivers that honk their horn like obsessive compulsives every night right outside my roomates bedroom window. Yes, it is tres busy. Lauren (my roomie gal from NS) and I are only about two blocks from Causeway Bay, a mega size sprall of endless clothes shopping, cell phone shops and eateries. Oh, did I mention shops; yes, there are many hardware shops. If you are ever in need of some new toilets, or taps, just walk down the stairs of my apartment, turn either right or left and you can have your choice of any style, any shape, any size toilet you want. My friend Andrew, says we live in the toilet district and before coming here I figured he was refering to the smell, but no, he was being serious. There are many, many toilet shops which one can shop! A real plumbers dream!

Most of my first week was spent trying to settle in and taking in all of the novel things in my environment. There are still many undiscovered nooks in my immediate and distant surroundings, but as time goes on, I eventually get around to scoping things out. Hong Kong offers a variety of interesting sensory stimulants when walking about. For instance, the huge variety of smells. Just an aside though about the air here, the air quality in Hong Kong is total crap and it's starting to show in the skin on my face. Walking down the street, the smell of sewer is very strong and prevalent. And some of the street food smells passing by the dia pai dongs (mini food stalls or back room eateries) reek with the most rank and sour smell. I later found out what the odd looking things are boiling away all day in those wok-looking pots and surprise, surprise, it's animal innards! Yay! Gee, I love that smell, NOT! Anyway, the waves of sewer smells or the whiff of animal innards, hit you like the ocean swells rolling in from sea; one right after the other, crashing into you every 30 seconds with not much of a break in between sets. If it's not the smells that slam you in the face, it's the hoards of people that will plow you over while trying to cross a busy intersection or street corner. I have never witnessed crowds of people like the ones I experience coming home from work crossing Canal Rd. East to Hennesey Rd. during rush hour or on Sundays. Sunday's have to be the worst for packs of people. The Phillipino Amah's (nanny/housekeepers) who employed by some of the more prosperous people in Hong Kong, are given Sunday's off as their day of rest. Some of the places on Hong Kong Island are the most densley populated in the world and I can say for certain, I agree.

Now, for my place of work, well I would like to save that for another entry at a later date. I will explain my place of work or Victoria International Kindergarden perhaps on my second or third entry, so stay tuned.

Apart from the cultural adjustment, I have been experiencing some emotional challenges and shocks that I never dreamed of going through all over again. Missing my family and some friends brings back vivid memories of my very first time away from home, in Halifax during my first year of university. But, good news, my emotional and psychological state have been subdued the past week and a half after I had time to process all that smacked me in the face since my arrival.

The past two weekends, I have been going to the huge Starbucks located on Leighton Rd. to re-establish my morning coffee/paper/people-watching ritual that I enjoy so and have done many times in Halifax at Uncommon Grounds on SouthPark St. or at the Trident bookstore/coffee shop on Hollis St. It's a great coffee shop to relax, see other westeners and also to take in a bit of Hong Kong community flavor. But, as I go exploring more and more each day, I am stumbling on more coffee shop/ cafe's where I thing I will enjoy my weekend coffee just as much.

Hong Kong still carries on with a British way and clearly displays it's former British presence from the road designs and the cars HKers drive. It's bizarre the number of one way streets in the city. Most times you have to drive around in so many circles to get from point a to point b, and the drivers, did I mention the drivers???? Horrible! I recommend taking gravol before entering a cab or on the public transit busses. Aside from the wierd and bizarre things I see in the city, there are a couple of beautiful parks within the city itself and some of the most exotic greenery and flowers on display. I find peace and solace in these parks as the thoughts of nature and planting bring me back to my plants and flowers I have nurtured back at my mom's place in Cape Breton.

Currently, it's about 9:20 on Friday evening and I am in my jammies with a sore throat. This fast, go-go lifestyle and settling in is starting to catch up with me. A couple of early sleeps and some relaxation time this weekend should help remedy the exhaustion I have been experiencing since I left Vancouver. I still have many, many more details and excursions to share. I'm hoping to share at least one blog entry a week with you explaining some of the feelings, perceptions, and outings that I have been experiencing in Hong Kong. So check back on Sundays, and hopefully, I'll have more news and information posted and let me know what you think. Hope you all enjoy!

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