Update #1 from HK

Hi everybody!

I apologize in advance for the oddness of this post. Lots has happened since I've been here, but I haven't really done that much.

The flight was 16 hours long, but I slept through most of it. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I got to talk to one of the pilots beforehand, who was this very chill guy from New Zealand, which really put me at ease. Actually, the worst part about the flight for me was the service. I'd heard that HK has an amazing service culture, but this was insane! I'm not going to describe it here because it would take too long. Let's just say that I was in total culture shock before I stepped off the plane!

When I did step off the plane, it was Wednesday night in HK. I found the airport was even weirder. Everything was perfectly clean, well organized and QUIET. No one was angry, no one was frustrated, no one looked annoyed while waiting in the queue for the escalator. It was eerie. Customs took all of 30 seconds.

I found out that the cleanliness could be explained; HK people are crazy about hygiene. Like really crazy about it. Even the MTR, the Subway system here, is SPOTLESS. It really does put New York to shame. And everyone here is really afraid of Swine Flu. Terrified actually. And not in the American "Oh no we're all going to die" kind of way. Public buildings are sanitizing the elevator buttons every hour. A lot of people here walk around wearing surgical masks, for protection. One of the flight attendants wore one. People on the streets. And one woman on the plane had a Burberry printed one. Now I'm pretty sure that I've seen everything.

So far I've been doing a lot of wandering around Hong Kong. Our apartment is in this neighborhood called 'Mid-Levels', which is quite residential and quiet. We're about a ten minute walk downhill to Central, the downtown all-around shopping and business district, and Lan Kwai Fong, the party district. We're right next to the Botanical Gardens, which I walk through most days to get down to Central. Lots of people do Tai Chi there, which is really cool to watch. Hong Kong itself is actually extremely green. The city is built on several islands, and into the hillsides of mountains. There are beaches and mountains and all sorts of things in between.

Walking through Lan Kwai Fong during the day and at night are two very different experiences. Doorways or buildings that look like nothing during the day light up at night, and have tons of people swarming around it. There are more than nightclubs there; there are tons of restaurants, hookah bars, even shopping and a Ben and Jerry's that's open until 3 am. There's also this really awesome Thai massage place on the fifth floor of one of the buildings. I have yet to go out for real, as I am still jet lagged and tend to get tired at 8:30 at night.

There's a place in Central called the IFC mall. I have a feeling that this mall is what the guys who build the Time Warner Center had in mind. It's a mall, with a lot of high end stores, but it also has restaurants, skin care, a supermarket, a movie theater, and a really good gym. It's the kind of place that you go shopping only to look, laugh at the prices, and then buy it in China or at one of the outdoor markets, which are a huge part of the culture here, and apparently a great place to get fake or real designer clothes (because they're all made in China).

One of the weirdest things for me about shopping in HK is looking at the price tag. The exchange rate is 1 to 7.8 from US to HKD, so every price you look at, you have to divide by 8. At first I would have a heart attack every time I looked at a tag thinking "Jesus Christ, they want you to spend $800 dollars on a shirt!" until you realize that $800 in Hong Kong is $100 US. And you feel stupid. Very stupid. Now, I'm working on memorizing certain numbers so that I can do the math quicker. HK$40 is US$5. HK$100 is US$12.50.

I spen HK$1000 on a digital camera. (Exactly US$125, and that included a memory card). We went to this place called the Wan Chai Computer Centre. It was this building full of different electronics kiosks. The catch is that you have to be willing to haggle. Kirk seems to be the master of this, slipping into pseudo-Cantonese by removing all of his verbs and adding 'la' to the end of everything he says. "So expensive la. I am just student. I pay cash." It's hilarious to watch, but it's extremely effective.''

It's very fun hanging out with all of Kirk's family and friends. His dad has been extremely nice to me, as has his wife Myla, who, in true Eastern European fashion, immediately forced tons of food on us. Myla's sister Natasha, a ballerina and very cool, is around, as is Kirk's sister Jackie, a friend of mine. She's also coming to Kenyon in the fall. Kirk's 'Uncle' Albert is here as well, who is possibly the nicest person I have met. Kirk also has a friend from both Primary School and High School here, Charlie, who is working as a bartender. The cast of characters is quite odd and varied and speaks any variety of different languages. Ukrainian, English, Cantonesse, whatever.

So far it's been a really good and relaxing time. I'm just exploring for now, although sometime in the next week I would like to go to Lantau Island and see the big Buddha, and go up to the Peak and take touristy pictures. I know that we're going to the horse races at Happy Valley on Wednesday (I'll place bets for you, Uncle Bobby!) which is really exciting. I thought that we weren't going to be able to see them because they stop the races in the summer for the horses. I think we're also going to Macau at some point, so I'll practice my blackjack skills.

Send me thoughts and questions! I like hearing from people, and now that I've finally got internet access I can reply! I like keeping you all updated. I love and miss you all so much. Please let me know what's going on with all of you.

Peace out cub scouts,
Sophie