Monday, September 16, 2013

Heading to Hong Kong

There are a few things that everyone who has had the pleasure of moving to a foreign land has experienced.  They're not always pretty, but they're part of the package.  To be clear: this package must weigh under 50 pounds and contain no more than 3 oz. containers of liquids.

Here's how these things played out for me this time around:

1) Packing:  Always a tortuous endeavor, things were no different this time.  The major dilemma is, of course, with a life's worth of stuff, how exactly is one to pack it into a suitcase that must weigh less than 50 pounds? Then there was my confusion about what exactly it means to be a "humid sub-tropical climate."  I gathered enough to realize that there probably wouldn't be a white Christmas for me this year, but I didn't honestly know enough if that translated to year-round sweating, or if nice sweater may eventually be appropriate. Regardless of one's packing technique though, I knew I would inevitably get sick of the limited wardrobe soon. It's a funny thing-- most people only wear a fraction of their wardrobe on a regular basis, but knowing that's all you have is often an intimidating prospect.  My biggest concern was how much underwear I could cram into my suitcase to create the most distance as possible between loads of laundry.

As for the other accoutrements, I had my priorities.  There are some things that I just really wanted to take because, well, I just didn't feel like figuring them out once I got there.  I know I can get things like toiletries, Q-tips, plug convertors, etc. in different countries, there's enough to worry about when you first arrive that I just wanted to have them taken care of, even if they take up a bit more space.  There are just some things you like to throw into your suitcase at the last minute that make packing slightly less overwhelming. If I didn't have to bother buying Q-tips for a year, maybe that would distract me from the fact that it would be several months before I had a chance to see anyone from home. Probably not, but how much space do they really take up? I also like to have some money of the country where I'm going before I get there. It makes transportation a heck of a lot easier when you get there and save the trouble and cost of an airport conversion.

2) Traveling: I have to say there's nothing so great as a bajillion hour flight that takes off at the crack of dawn. Take that and add in airline food and the fidgety stranger sitting next to you, and you'll be begging for your next circumnavigation of the globe.

My flight from Detroit to Toronto was on a plane about the size of windup car, and the co-pilot had to strain to see over the dashboard.  Now, I'm all for young, successful go-getters, but the open cockpit of this plane revealed a woman about my age that was flipping through the owners manual before we took off and looked way too excited for this not to be her first time flying.  Don't worry though, things turned out all right.

Now, my flight from Toronto to Hong Kong was just a hoot and a half. After getting ousted from my original seat to be replaced by my neighbor's child, I ended up next to the two people on the plane with bladders of steel, who apparently never needed to get out of their seats. Not one to be a burden, I got up for a total of 3 minutes on the entire flight.  My shoes would not go back on my feet when I landed.

All of this was fine. (Who needs blood circulation anyway?) The part that was minorly concerning to me was the announcement about an hour before Hong Kong as we were bumping through typhoon-effect turbulence kindly "reminding us where the emergency exits are located on the plane." Um, ok. That's reassuring. Alls well that ends well and we touched down just fine.

3) The Airport:  Often a place where one finds the most interesting of people, airport experiences can often make or break a journey. Fortunately, this time was relatively smooth.  An interesting feature I found in the Hong Kong airport was that they ask you to take off your hats as you walk by a checkpoint so that they can take your temperature as you're entering. If you get red-flagged, you're entrance into the country is apparently in jeopardy. Do watch out for that.

I made it through the first test just fine and presented my passport at customs. With lots of clacking on the computer and a surprising amount of stamping and scribbling, but very little actual questioning, I made it past the booth.  I dragged my suitcase off of the carousel, found the green "New Territories"taxis and was on my merry way.

Of course, the fun and undoubted challenge of moving to a new land just begins at this point...

Why I'm Here

Telling people that I was moving to Hong Kong afforded me a unique array of responses. Most of them fit into one of two categories. Some people were pretty geeked about it:  "Wow! Asia, that's so awesome! I wish I was doing something cool like that." And then there were those who were less enthusiastic: "Oh, neat. Wow, um, that's bold.  Why not somewhere different, like Spain."  As much as I appreciate everyone's input, it definitely made me second-guess about everything that I did.  As if I don't do that enough anyway or haven't thoroughly considered my decisions.

Let's start from the beginning. In the spring of my junior year of college, I spent a semester studying at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. At the time, I had plans of pursuing grad school right after graduation. However, I think it's a general principle of life that it never works out as planned. I realized that, when I was living with international students from all over the world, what the beauty of having a common language was. I have written about this before, but the main idea is that sharing a language allows cultures, heritages, and additional languages to be shared as well.  As English is currently the default go-to language in many regions in this day and age, it convinced me that I wanted to help aid this effort by teaching English.

Long story short, I started doing my research. Before I knew it, I was Skyping a representative from the International TEFL Academy when I was still in the Netherlands to see how I should best go about teaching English as a foreign language. With a lot of research and very little persuasion, I was sold. I knew that I wanted to teach English abroad for a bit after college and that I should get a TEFL certificate to do it.  Once I got home that summer, I enrolled in the few month class and practicum experience that would get me there.

Initially, I was pretty sure that I wanted to go to Spain. A major issue with doing this in Spain, though (as well as many other western European nations), is that it's very difficult to get a work visa to do so legally in these regions if you're not from the EU (European Union).  Not to worry! I found a program through the Spanish Ministry of Education to apply for that would help me bypass this minor snafu.

But then things changed.

While meeting with my study abroad advisor, I was introduced to a new opportunity: Hong Kong.  My advisor showed me a job that she had seen advertised the previous year to be an English tutor at a university in Hong Kong. My first thought? "No thanks."  My second thought? "Why not?" While I had no huge desire to go to Asia at the time, I figured it was an opportunity worth pursuing.  I didn't really know a whole lot about the region, so this was the best time to find out.  I had already checked out Europe, and was planning to study in Central America for the summer, so I suppose I was due for another, uh, corner of the planet.

The thing was--I knew I would love going back to Europe, and I didn't really what I could expect from venturing into Asia.  I thought I could at least pursue the job and then figure it out later. It wasn't until I got offered the job that I seriously thought of it as a real possibility. It had seemed so obscure up to that point.

Nevertheless, I made the choice to take the route that made me the most nervous. More than anything, I think I was trying to challenge myself and take advantage of a chance to explore another part of the world. Both jobs presented their respective pros and cons, but that's true no matter what you do. I guess you could say that Robert Frost says it better:

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

So far, I don't regret it.  It has most definitely had its ups and downs, but I think I'll turn out better in the end for it.  If not, well....no "if not." One way or another, it will inevitably be a growing experience, and it will lead me in the next direction towards a new adventure.

Friday, September 6, 2013

The Gist

So, I've decided to keep a blog to document my experience in Hong Kong. I wasn't going to do it. In fact, I had no intentions of blogging when I studied in the Netherlands either. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have done it if it weren't for the study abroad office. In retrospect though, I was glad that I had it after the fact.  This time, I'm still on the fence.  If anything though, I think it's therapeutic. I like to write. If I don't make friends, well, at least I can talk to myself on here. I cannot promise that it will be anything interesting to read, but it is what it is. If anything, maybe it will be a useful place for my family to see the pictures that I have been meaning to upload, but never quite seem to get around to.

Here's the thing though. I can only write about what I see, think, and know. Quite frankly, I cannot speak for all people in my position and my interpretations of my surroundings are, well, just that- my interpretations.  Any broad generalizations that may arise along the way are made based on personal anecdotal evidence, but not cold hard facts. And almost everything is most likely going to come out stream-of-consiousness.

Since I've actually been here just about two weeks now, I am going to have to do some of this in retrospect.  I suppose I could have, and should have, written earlier, but I've been doing my best just to keep on top of all the details and hurdles that accompany moving to a foreign country with nothing more than a suitcase, a contract, and an address.

Ok, there's the disclaimer. Take it or leave it.  And I hope you enjoy.