On the day we arrived (to the apartment by about 6.30 maybe 7PM) we found, of course, no food in the house. I plugged in our Computer right away and got on facebook, email and skype. I gave my friend Debbie our home phone number and went to bed. about 10 minutes later, the phone rang. Very confused as to why anybody would be calling at this time at night (about 8), my mother answered the phone and was very confused to find that the person on the phone asked for a Karis Roper. How on earth did they get our number when even she (my mother) didn't know it. She gave the phone to me and I preceded to make plans for the following day.
The next morning's breakfast consisted of Popcorn.
That afternoon I went shopping with Debbie for about 6 hours plus dinner at Ruby Tuesdays with a bunch of girls from school. They are as wild as my friends back home, only far more Shopping oriented.
I have done nothing for the past 2 days. Went food shopping with mum, but other than that I have not left our apartment.
It has come to my attention that some, perhaps many, of you are under the impression that I plan on eating Chinese food. This is a ridiculous notion. About the extent of my orient food experience shall be expressed on this blog. thank you, and good night. or rather, good Morning.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Judging culture by store aisles
We have been getting a sense of culture by looking at store aisles--what are the items that take up more space than at home? Cooking oil--which comes in six packs. The instant noodle section is enormous. There are many, many types of tea, but Lipton only comes in "witch-doctor" varieties like "mind-refreshing" or "eye enhancement." Black tea is hard to come by. The drug store has a Chinese medicine aisle. There is a six floor complex with only computer stores. Cell phones are easy to come by--we've learned how to put in sim cards to activate phones and get phone numbers. There is this amazing concept called an Octopus card, which is an epic debit card that can be used as a train ticket, as well as being excepted at many stores as a debit card. And it doesn't have to be put through anything or taken out of your purse--you just run your wallet over the scanner. Karis's friend talked about people who keep it in their back pocket and run their bottom over the scanner. Shopping is the culture of Hong Kong.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Our first day
We had a busy first day. Karis spent the morning on skype with friends while I went with my hosts from the university. They were wonderful in getting me through paperwork at the HR office, and settled in my office. My office is actually in the office tower in the Festival Walk mall. And at the bottom of the elevator is a Starbucks.
We went and got Karis for lunch and then managed to get cell phones, go to a grocery store so we had food, and get a bank account established which involved meeting a someone from the Fulbright office with my paycheck, and someone from HR with a letter formalizing my address at the same time at the bank. Everyone has been incredibly helpful and I've had someone with me along the way to translate which has made the process go faster.
Karis ended the day by meeting the friend/classmate she has been corresponding with over facebook and skype for supper. They went off on the train to meet a group of girls from the school. We managed to stay awake the entire day so we slept pretty well last night.
I'm in the office today while Karis skypes at home. I have lunch today with another Fulbright person who is at Baptist University across the street and my first meeting with afternoon. Karis may go off with her friend today to buy her school uniform. It is great having Karis at this age where she can be quite independent!
The word is--chocolate is greatly valued. If you come see us, bring us chocolate chips so we can make cookies.
We went and got Karis for lunch and then managed to get cell phones, go to a grocery store so we had food, and get a bank account established which involved meeting a someone from the Fulbright office with my paycheck, and someone from HR with a letter formalizing my address at the same time at the bank. Everyone has been incredibly helpful and I've had someone with me along the way to translate which has made the process go faster.
Karis ended the day by meeting the friend/classmate she has been corresponding with over facebook and skype for supper. They went off on the train to meet a group of girls from the school. We managed to stay awake the entire day so we slept pretty well last night.
I'm in the office today while Karis skypes at home. I have lunch today with another Fulbright person who is at Baptist University across the street and my first meeting with afternoon. Karis may go off with her friend today to buy her school uniform. It is great having Karis at this age where she can be quite independent!
The word is--chocolate is greatly valued. If you come see us, bring us chocolate chips so we can make cookies.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
We have arrived
After 15 long hours on the plane, we arrived in Hong Kong at 6 p.m. and everything went well. We were checked into our apartment by 7:30. The apartment is very comfortable and actually bigger than I expected with a good sized livingroom/ dining room. We have a nice little balcony as well.
We knew we were headed for Asia on the plane because the food choices were predominately noodles over chicken amongst the crowd!
I saw two Starbucks in the airport so I knew everything would be fine. Karis's first observation was that is was certainly a high tech place--an interesting combination of British (driving on the left, small lorries and cars, roundabouts--things work a bit like New Zealand), Asian high tech (tall buildings with lights, etc.), and Chinese language. It is in the 50s and 60s so it is pleasant.
Karis immediately sent a note to a schoolmate she has been corresponding with here and so our first phone call was from this friend. Karis is invited to a gathering tonight of a bunch of the girls from the high school who are going out to supper as a "end of break" gathering. They are going to the mall, which is across the street.
Our location could not be better--the mall is something of the center for many gatherings in the city and we are right on the doorstep! It should also make grocery shopping easy.
Today my goal is to get cell phones for us, try to get some Hong Kong dollars, go grocery shopping and work at getting a bank account established.
We knew we were headed for Asia on the plane because the food choices were predominately noodles over chicken amongst the crowd!
I saw two Starbucks in the airport so I knew everything would be fine. Karis's first observation was that is was certainly a high tech place--an interesting combination of British (driving on the left, small lorries and cars, roundabouts--things work a bit like New Zealand), Asian high tech (tall buildings with lights, etc.), and Chinese language. It is in the 50s and 60s so it is pleasant.
Karis immediately sent a note to a schoolmate she has been corresponding with here and so our first phone call was from this friend. Karis is invited to a gathering tonight of a bunch of the girls from the high school who are going out to supper as a "end of break" gathering. They are going to the mall, which is across the street.
Our location could not be better--the mall is something of the center for many gatherings in the city and we are right on the doorstep! It should also make grocery shopping easy.
Today my goal is to get cell phones for us, try to get some Hong Kong dollars, go grocery shopping and work at getting a bank account established.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Ready to leave
The bags are just about packed and the last details are finished. Today Karis finished her last speech in her speech class at school and her last two math assignments. When we do our next post, we will be in our two bedroom apartment at City University in Kowloon. Not looking forward to the jetlag...
Everything has shrunk since we went to New Zealand on my last sabbatical--computer is smaller, no CDs (only an i-pod), new Kindle so few books, PDF documents rather than photocopies. Wow! We have room and weight to spare. Anyone want to come along?
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