After almost 25 years living in Europe, we recently made the jump to Asia and have set up our homestead in Hong Kong. This is the third of a 3-part series on our initial reflections on Hong Kong.
We are home, hallelujah, we are home!!
We moved into our new home two weeks ago and it’s amazing. We really love the space, the area, our neighbors. Andrew’s commute is another thing, but he’s managing.
We just got a used car last week, so that will help immensely, as we’ve been relying on taxis to get to the nearest MTR (metro/ subway) . They’re insanely cheap, but can take 20 minutes or more to order one. We’ve also had to get used to the heavy accents and odd expressions. When you call a taxi company, generally nobody answers the phone, but you hear chattering in Cantonese in the background. When we first started calling, we would say “hello, hello, can you hear me”, slowly having our inquiries getting more and more insistent and louder. We soon learned that no matter how loud we spoke in English, their Cantonese was always louder. So, after a few minutes, you’ll hear something that sounds a little like “wonchangousdoisoiw” a little clearer and nearer to the receiver, and that seems to be the signal to say where you want to get picked up.
“Jade Villa, house number 65 please”.
Always, always, and without fail they always say “Jade Villa”??
Yes, Jade Villa,
Numbah 65?
Yes, 65.
65?
Yes, 65.
Wheah you go?
Sai Kung Town…..
Then you here more incomprehensible chattering in the background for another few minutes until you hear the dreaded
“No taxi, lady, try latuh”.
With a car, we have a newfound sense of clearly decipherable Freedom!
We ended up getting invited to a neighborhood potluck afternoon dinner our first weekend, which was going to be at the end of the cul-de-sac outside. But rain was expected so there was talk of postponing. Instead, we offered to host it at our house, amidst that boxes and general confusion. But Andrew had just gotten his new BBQ set and wanted to break it in (well, a used grill – but in good condition and new to us!). Very informal, many in the neighborhood stopped by, brought a dish, kids got a chance to play. We also had just received our new (for us, but 2nd hand) refrigerator that day – after being a week without a refrigerator, it was exciting to have a place to put leftovers! I felt so empowered for that week, feeding a family of 4 with no refrigeration in sight.
Aisha has joined us as well, home from the kennel/ doggie country club – and so the family is now complete and we’re feeling settled (well, aside from being surrounded by assorted unpacked clothes and things-yet-to-be-decided-where-they-go, but that will be an ongoing task). I think Aisha is still trying to locate where her pool is in this new joint.
Set up all the utilities 2 weeks ago. Landline was put in right away, and we got a great package where local calls – including to cell phones – are all included in the flat price. That may be common in other countries but was never an option in Italy.
I had a downright pleasant customer service experience with PCCW (local phone company) to set up my internet and phone services.
It had me wondering: is this normal??
After an exchange of emails to clarify our needs, a rep called me within minutes and patiently talked me through all the options, was very clear on the conditions, and put through our applications for broadband, wifi and landline services. All within 15 minutes! I was shocked!
I miss Italy in so many ways but it would have taken weeks/ hours of missed phone calls and frustrating non-conversations to achieve the same results. You can call me: Happy in Hong Kong, and now partially connected.
TV will take 4-6 weeks to install, no big deal. But significantly more problematic is that internet is expected to take the same amount of time to connect. As I work from home, there’s only so much work I can get done on my smartphone. Andrew was given an internet device we can use at home, though, so that’s been saving the day. There’s a limit to daily usage so at times has been a battle between my work getting done and the kids building their virtual worlds in Minecraft (them insisting, of course, that their task is more infinitely more crucial).
On a side note on that, Hunter just asked me if I can harvest his Minecraft corn on Oct. 9th. He spent a lot of money investing in it, and if he doesn’t harvest it on that day, he’ll lose the return on the investment. This is no ordinary shoot-em-up video came, clearly! And I have no clue how to even get into the game, so Hunter will be giving me a tutorial later this week.
But, back to the internet. Discovered that the local Starbucks give you 20 minutes of free internet per day and then you have to pay either a daily or weekly rate. But friends introduced us to a great neighborhood place called Classifieds that has yummy western-style breakfasts AND as much free wifi as one’s heart – and business obligations – may desire. As I munch on my homemade granola, with organic Greek yoghurt, elderflower honey, fresh fruit, and toasted hazelnuts; and prepare my next power point presentation to the smooth tunes of Billy Holiday seeping out of the hi-def sound system… I feel a sense of serenity and happiness to be chillin’ in my new hood with the locals.
We experienced our first “level 8” typhoon, which is the local word used when describing the tropical cyclones that come regularly though this region. This most recent storm, “Utor”, slammed the Philippines causing rather extensive damage, but it seems it will weaken substantially be the time it hits our shores.
When these storms come, an impressive display of public safety procedures spring into action. They “hoist a flag” indicating what level the storm is gaged at: 1, 3, 8, 9, or 10 (what happened to 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7??). There’s generally talk of “squally” showers, a lovely-sounding British word that essentially means a whole lotta rain. (I thought I spoke British pretty well, but clearly still on a steep learning curve).
The kids were accepted into the new campus of a great school, Kellett International, which is a British curriculum – same as their previous school in Rome. Scheduled start date was on Sept 9 – but the school isn’t quite finished yet (read: it’s a construction site), so it was extended till today, Friday the 13th. Maybe that day is good luck here??
We’re all eager to have the kids into school so that they can get started on a routine (and so we can avoid killing each other with this uber-extended-summer). But we’ve been busy meeting the other Kellett families and having the kids get to know their classmates before the first day of school. We had an outing at “Ocean Park” last week, complete with roller coasters, bumper cars, and other fun stuff. One family invited us this weekend for a pool-party/ BBQ, where we met a handful of families. Another family invited us to lunch at the American Club of Hong Kong, which has an amazing clubhouse facility; more like a 5-star hotel, with incredible kids play areas. Hunter and Giada had a blast!! Kids are slowly getting acclimated and feeling like part of the scene.
Day #1 at school went well. Frankly I think they were both a little shell-shocked at the sheer size of the school, it’s like a college campus, with all the newly built bells and whistles to go along with it. It was like pulling teeth getting details of their first day, but after the first week we hope to be able to report more about how it went.
Andrew is adapting well at work, everyone has been really helpful and friendly. It’s interesting for him to have a completely new story to work on – south-east Asia, though it can be challenging getting used to new ways of doing things in a much more highly-bureaucratic and substantially larger bureau. The office organizes regular social outings to keep everyone connected and let off steam, and those are appreciated. The big downside for his quality of life is really his 1-hour (sometimes +) commute, but it is making it easier now that we have a car.
I’ve been focusing on spending time with the kids while setting up the house and trying to learn about Hong Kong and reach out to people for both the children and for us; plus putting in a few hours of work a day. Fortunately August was slow but it’s starting to pick up now, so – very thankful the kids have started school! Looking to start lessons in Mandarin and survival Cantonese, join a hiking group, start my organic vegetable garden, get the kids – and us – connected to the Italian and French communities, explore more of Hong Kong, and drink gin-and-tonics on our rooftop terrace (with limes picked from our lime trees outside) !
Other random thoughts about Hong Kong living
- the numbers on the bank cash machines are backwards… in Europe they’re written top to bottom starting with 1,2,3 then next row 4,5,6… but here it’s the opposite, it starts on the top row with 789. I didn’t really have my PIN code memorized, I just knew where my fingers needed to go, so I was rather turned around the first time
- cars are also backwards. Not just driving on the wrong side of the road (only clipped the curb once and very narrowly escaped the rapid approach of one oncoming truck) – but also the controls, which on our car are off to the left side of the driver. Normally “drive” is shifting the control up, and park would be down. But for us, it’s the opposite… not too critical when I accidentally had it in park but I’m hoping I don’t accidentally put it in drive.
- I’ve been pleasantly surprise at how little smoking there is! Apparently the mainland Chinese are the big chain smokers, but Hong Kongers are not. 5 points for Hong Kong.
- Everything is air conditioned to an arctic degree. It gets darn hot out there, to be sure, but I’m having just as much culture shock adapting to the sweltering weather as I am to the freezing indoors!
- I found it amusing as I was unpacking my clothes, mostly purchased in Italy and the US… the little tag invariably reading “Made in China”.
Even my clothes have made their way home!
Love and peaceful thoughts to you all.
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