[HANASHIR:12101] Hong Kong: my first 2 weeks...

[MoVFTYite <MoVFTYite...>]

Hey everyone!  It's time for another update from this side of the world...  I 
have some catching up to do... (I will try to keep the emails a little shorter 
in the future!)

Things have been nonstop since I arrived here!  I have already spent 15 days in 
Hong Kong!  I think time must move more quickly in Asia.

My first week was spent mostly getting past jetlag, meeting co-workers and 
congregants, looking at apartments (or flats, as they call them here -- British 
influence), and familiarizing myself with the Mid-Levels area of Hong Kong 
Island.

In my second week, I started getting down to business with the high-holy day 
planning, and more apartment hunting.  Luckily, I found an apartment that I 
like!  I just moved in on Monday.  It's a cute little place with 2 bedrooms, a 
bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen.  I'm on the 23rd floor, and my windows 
face northeast, towards the harbor.  The realtor who connected me with this 
apartment was nice enough to call me yesterday and tell me that he knew someone 
selling a bed and nightstand and wondered if I might be interested (my 
apartment came unfurnished).  I ended up buying the bed and nightstand, and the 
realtor and his friend helped me take those items, along with some items that 
the Rabbi and his wife are letting me borrow, down to my apartment.  It's an 
interesting ordeal, trying to move into a place around here...  no easy task.  
If things are large, you have to take them apart to fit them in the elevators.  
If things are heavy, you have to find a way to wheel them down the sidewalk.  
The sidewalk in front of my building has a fence so that people don't run into 
the busy street, so moving trucks and taxis can't just stop out front and 
unload.  Anyway, with some luck, and some very nice people, I have moved my 
things in.  I am still waiting to find a couch of some kind, and right now, the 
table I am eating at is actually an ironing board! (you know, it's not half bad 
-- I can adjust it to any height!)

In Hong Kong, you can find many English-speaking people, which is pretty lucky 
for me.  Still, there are many who don't understand a single word of English.  
The security guy downstairs in my apartment building would be one of those 
people.  I smiled as I walked past, saying "I'm moving in today".  He smiled 
and nodded at me, and as I stepped into the elevator, I heard him talking with 
someone else who happened to be in the lobby...  without even knowing what they 
were saying, I could tell that he had just asked the guy to translate what I 
had said  :-)  

The people who own my apartment are so sweet.  They are a young Chinese couple 
with two sons -- an 8-year-old named Kevin and a 20-month-old named Michael.  
They came over the day before I moved in because the shower needed fixing.  I 
had a great time chasing cute little Michael all over the place with my camera. 
 He couldn't stop smiling and giggling if his life depended on it.  His parents 
told me that they can't understand a word he says.  Neither could I, but 
kidspeak is a universal language... 

After moving in, I walked down the street to the grocery store.  They have 2 
well-known grocery chains here -- "Wellcome" and "Park-N-Shop".  I understand 
Wellcome, but Park-N-Shop?  Most people here don't have cars -- what are they 
supposed to park? The stores here are smaller - and much more tightly packed - 
than the ones in the U.S., probably because the real-estate is so expensive.  
The grocery carts are also small.  I figured out 2 good reasons for this: 1) if 
they were any bigger, they wouldn't fit down the aisles, and 2) you can fill 
your cart, but then you have to carry it all home!  Luckily I thought of this 
before I finished my shopping.  I made it home with some food and basic 
household items... life is good.

Tonight will be my third night in my apartment.  I've already gotten used to 
the fact that I have a fairly nice amount of space -- this is defined by the 
fact that I can still walk into my bedroom when there is a bed in there.  
Sometime soon, I want to learn some easy Chinese stir-fry recipes so I can cook 
in my cute little kitchen.  Traditional Chinese kitchens are a whole lot 
smaller than American ones.  My appliances include a refrigerator (a fairly 
nice one, actually, unlike the college-dorm ones I saw in many apartments!) and 
a gas-powered double burner.  There is no garbage disposal, no oven, no 
dishwasher, no microwave (though I could buy one).  Bathrooms here are small as 
well, though my place actually has a bathtub, and it's bigger than the 
bucket-sized ones I saw in many places!  I am still figuring out the hot water 
thing.  You see, they don't have hot water tanks here... I imagine because they 
take up lots of space.  Instead, they have this contraption that is mounted on 
the shower wall.  When I first saw it, I thought "what is this?  Am I going to 
get an electric shock when I take a shower?"  It's actually a gas heater.  When 
you want hot water, whether from a sink or a shower, you have to turn this 
knob, which lights the gas flame inside.  I guess it heats the water as it runs 
through the pipes.  The trouble is adjusting it -- it seems like you can have 
scorching hot water, or lukewarm water, but nothing in between.  Hopefully I 
will outsmart this contraption soon.

Okay, I suppose I should give you my address, since I have one now!  If you are 
interested in snail-mailing me, this is what you should put for my address, no 
more, no less:

Angela Gold
23 C Midland Court
Nos. 58-62 Caine Road
Mid-Levels, Hong Kong

I should hopefully be getting a mobile phone by tomorrow (Thursday) 
afternoon... and once I have broadband in my apartment, I should be able to 
start sending or posting some photos.

I hope everyone is well, and to those of you who are about to celebrate the 
high holy days, I wish you a happy, sweet, and peaceful new year.

Keep in touch!
Angela :-)


  
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