Dispatches from Hong Kong: Part 1

Man, that is a long flight. I was struck by the fact that, even though we as a society have acquired the ability to soar above the clouds at almost 600 miles an hour, it still takes 16 hours to fly to Hong Kong. That is how far away this place is. I also found myself thinking about how fortunate I am to live in the age I do. Just 100 years ago, it was extremely rare for someone to venture more than 50 miles from the spot they were born. Most people lived and died in one place, never knowing anything of the outside world. We, however, have the tremendous opportunity to travel as far and as wide as we see fit. I don’t take it for granted.

Arriving in Hong Kong was a surprisingly easy ordeal. I had steeled myself for potential issues with customs or immigration, but the visa line was fast and efficient. The immigration agent took my passport, scanned it, said nothing to me, and handed me my visa. I immediately walked down to baggage claim when my bags were doing laps around the belt waiting for me. They then had two lines for customs, if you had things to declare, you took the red line, if you had nothing to declare you take the green line. So I took the green line and was surprised to find that it led you directly out of the airport. I was outside of the terminals and free to go less than 20 minutes after getting off my international flight. Impressive, Hong Kong. Impressive.

My next task was getting downtown and meeting my contact from the consulate. The plan was to take the train from the airport to a specific train station where he’d be waiting. I was nervous about this plan because I had no number for him nor did he have one for me. But he assured me that we would be the only two black people in the station, and thus, we’d find each other easily. My joke was that we had better hope the NAACP didn’t decide to have a conference in Hong Kong this weekend, we’d never find each other. But in the end, he was right. Not 15 seconds had passed after I got off the plane and I was able to spot him. As I write this I have been in country 30 hours or so and despite walking 3-4 miles into the city today and passing hundreds of people on the streets, I have yet to see another black person anywhere. It is amazing how much we take our ethnic diversity for granted in the US. It is truly a strength that we don’t exploit enough.

The apartment they’ve given me is fantastic. I was prepared for a really cramped summer since Hong Kong is famously space deprived. But this place is probably 1400-1600 sq/ft with an enormous patio that may be 500 sq/ft itself, with an amazing view of the Deep Water Bay and the city below. It is a top floor unit, which is great. There is no elevator, however, so I will get my fair share of steps in this summer for sure.

Sleeping has been an issue. I’m trying to get myself on the right time-schedule out here, we are 12 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time here, but I have been unable to do so as yet. I’m hoping I can get it together before work starts on Monday.

As I mentioned earlier, I took a long walk today. I woke up at 4am and had nothing to do, so I figured I’d see how far my feet could take me. I hadn’t yet gotten any Hong Kong Dollars, so, I couldn’t take the public transport anywhere. I strolled down the windy roads of the hill we live on and ended up heading west towards the high-rises in the distance. After being in the mid-Atlantic region for almost 2 years now, a long walk in a hot, humid, tropical environment was a bit of a shock to the system, but after 30 minutes or so, my body remembered its Floridian roots and seemed to adjust. It took me almost an hour before I realized why the Hongkongers had such strange sidewalk social norms; it’s a left-hand drive country. So, I was that jerk on the wrong side of the sidewalk demanding that people move out of my way; sorry about that guys…

My main goal for this walk was to obtain means to travel freely around the city. So, I stepped into a couple of convenience stores to inquire if they could sell an octopus card (which lets you ride the trains, buses and ferries. You can also use it to pay in stores) to me, but I found no joy. One woman made an air brush motion at me after I asked her about it they way you do when someone asks you an absurd question. She wouldn’t meet my gaze after that. I’m not sure if she even understood my question, it’s not clear that she did. If she did understand me, it was a really rude way to treat someone. In any event, she couldn’t help me. I eventually did, however, find a bank and an ATM so I could get some cash that enabled me to pay for a cab ride home. Our compound is not centrally located here, so it is going to be a bit of a chore getting to the action areas, but my sponsor was able to give me an Octopus card once I got back to the apartment, so I should be good to go from here on out.

One of my goals here is to learn something everyday, I figure that if you can’t learn one thing while living in China for a summer, then something is wrong with you. The thing I learned today: While any building that looks like this in the U.S. is surely serving up some delicious food, that is not the case in China. 

While on my walk today, I stopped in here hoping to score my first locally cooked meal; imagine my surprise (read: disappointment) when I walked in and found nothing but burning incense and a man waving an incense candle around in a ritualistic manner. No one looked at me funny for being there, but I felt as if they could read my thoughts and were thinking, “This idiot walked in here looking for Sesame Chicken, I bet!” I couldn’t get out of there fast enough; my imaginary tail tucked firmly between my legs…