Impressions

Well, it's been almost a week since I got here and I have one more day left before I have to go home. As you might have been able to garner from all my enthusiastic posts, I quite like the place. It has been very much unlike any other place I have been to so far in all my travels. There is a vitality and a vibe to the city that is very unique and very much alive. I've not seen or felt this even in Seoul. People here are less reserved and more willing to let loose and to enjoy themselves. They do not seem do be as driven and are able to live for the moments. They talk and laugh much more, too.

It's also wonderful to be able to eat Chinese food again. Real Chinese food. And, by the way, if you have ever eaten real Chinese food back in an authentic Chinese restaurant in Toronto, it's the same. Just as good. Chinese BBQ meats is one of my favorite things and I did not realize how much I missed it till I got here. So, as mentioned in a previous post, I eat it every day. Yummy! I will miss it when I leave. There is no real Chinese food in Korea. They make some strange version of it that tastes good to the Koreans, but tastes terrible to me. It's not real Chinese food.

It's also nice to be able to communicate fluently for most everything and even to have a conversation without struggling to find just the most basic of words only to be partially/fully misunderstood. I didn't realize how much I missed that either till now. My Korean abilities SUCK! Mostly through my own fault, but it is what it is for now. Plus, English is so common here that almost everyone I have dealt with speaks it. Even if they did not use it when dealing with me, they would use it on the next customer.

There are also lots of people from different cultures here, too. Mostly, from China, England, India, and the Philippines. And, not as tourists, but living and working here. It is more cosmopolitan than I had thought it would be. And, most communicate in English.

Well, these are my impression of Hong Kong. I don't want to leave. If I could make a living here, I would stay here. I'll have to look into this some more when I get home.