Week 1 (Monday): Preparing for the move in
Photo Selection with interspersed commentary
The main plan for today was to visit the university accommodation, check-in, view the room and buy the bedding. Was also gonna take the suitcase along, empty everything in the new room, then use it to carry all the bought bedding. If I can do all that then it’s been a good day.
On the walk from the MTR (read train station) to the uni acc. there are so many little sculptures. I really like them, it adds character to the path.
The actual check-in was simple. However, I was introduced to a common tactic: locking freebies behind a simple follow. Scan the QR-code, follow on Instagram and get the t-shirt. I did as asked, but will definitely be unfollowing them (whenever I next actually open that app). Why do I feel so annoyed with them ‘forcing’ me to follow them? Because I don’t want to see the overly-glamorous student life they portray. I’ve seen enough propaganda from them in the orientation videos in their presentations so far. I want to explore really living here without comparing myself to an unachievable fantasy. Additionally, often the activities they show as fun (say for example a shot of a bunch of people dancing and laughing in a club) is not something I enjoy. But having seen it, can make me think (subconsciously) that’s what I should be doing, that it is fun and I’m missing out. I get that for some people, that is the experience they’re chasing. But it’s not for me, I don’t need to be fed it.
I mentioned this before but the shops are generally made to be more open. It’s rarer to see a single door as an entrance. More commonly it’s the big shutter that acts as the only ‘door’, if it the shutters are up then there’s full access. This doesn’t make sense to me though as they are always blasting the air conditioning. If one was to walk down the street blind they could tell where the shops’ entrance was by the gust of cool wind.
One of the things that I like about Hong Kong is the green between all the man-made structures. When looking from afar there’s nearly always some plant life visible. In the actual centers of the city less so, but certainly as soon as you go further out.
Continuing the thought about the greenery in Hong Kong from above. I wonder if it’s simply because the plant life grows so well here? Maybe it’s the tropical climate? As when walking to IKEA I saw the buildings end and straight away there were trees and bushes. Real, thriving, dense greenery. Not just the grass and small shrubs that I’m used to seeing in Scotland (and wider Europe), but old trees and big bushes.
IKEA was another experience in getting very confused. The building has at least 8 floors. 1, 2 & 3 are part of the shopping centre, 5 & 6 for IKEA, 7 & 8 are for more businesses. The main lifts in the building went between the first 3 floors, but on the 2nd floor are express lifts to floors 7 and 8. I spent far too long trying to find the lifts to get to floors 5 or 6. I can tell you that floor 7 is definitely not meant for the likes of me in shorts and t-shirt, lugging a suitcase with them, but rather for people wearing sophisticated suits and ties. There was an escalator that went to IKEA, but I had my suitcase and there are signs that you shouldn’t take bulky luggage on them (general rule all over the country). After I was absolutely sure I was not going to find the lifts for IKEA, I went for that long escalator. If someone was unhappy with me breaking their little rule, they are welcome to tell me off and point me to the mythical lifts. I’m done playing the lift game (for now).
Walking through IKEA was more relaxed. I had made a specific list of what I wanted, as in I had the exact item selected and just wanted to confirm them in person before committing. What I hadn’t thought of, was what other small stuff I might want to buy. So when I got the the end of the market section, just before the checkout, I had enough mental free space to think about what else I might want. But I didn’t want to go all back through the market. Instead I took some of the stuff arranged near the checkout and made a mental note that I’d either need to come back, or I’d need to buy some stuff else where.
There exists here 2 main types of buses. The bigger, double-decker bus that I’m familiar with from home. And then there’s the minibus. Seats 19 people and no more. It has it’s distinct advantage that it can go where the big bus shouldn’t. The only practical problem is that they are by no means new. Or at least I’ve yet to see a new one. In my (admittedly minor) experience, they will struggle to gain speed when going up some of the hills. On the mini-bus back from IKEA, there was a stretch of motorway (at least it looked like it, no idea what it’s actually called) and the signs said max 80 (kmh), the Bus was close to 50 at the beginning and after downshifting was just above 40. As for how I know what speed the bus was going, there’s a red seven segment display that shows it to the whole bus. (Note: turns out the speed display is government rule (from 2012) as drivers where forgetting they’re bus drivers and this was to publicly shame them to drive more carefully)
Some(what) disjointed thoughts
Second time I got asked if I’m from Hong Kong, aka a local. For some reason it feels good. Not because I think Hong Kongers are really cool and I want to be mistaken as one. But rather I feel like tourist has bad rep, but locals are good. When realistically, being tourist is not inherently bad, and it’s unavoidable. It is funny though, I was mistaken as a local was when I was lugging my heavy suitcase up the hill on my first day and I was as far from a local as one can be. I was lost, sweating like crazy and hiking up the hill instead of taking the escalator two blocks over.
Wandering through IKEA made me think perfection is not needed. It’s what stresses me out. When I’m just doing the task at a good level that is totally fine. In this context it was that I realised I thought of bedding but didn’t think about the kitchen, I didn’t think of getting cutlery, a plate and bowl etc. Nevermind, getting a little desk lamp (something I definitely want to buy though). I will have to come back or buy them somewhere else.
Also thought it was the right choice to do the shopping by myself. The accommodation had two shopping trips planned where they organise the bus to get there and back. But then I’d have time pressure, everyone would be getting the same stuff, I’d be double guessing my selections. Maybe I would have gotten other stuff I forgot because I saw others getting it. But I’m happy with how it went, not perfect but good enough. The important thing is that I keep moving, don’t get paralysed planning perfection but taking real steps.
On my way back to the flat from the uni accommodation, I was waiting in a train station. I was maybe gonna meet up with a friend for dinner so was just waiting about. It was around 19:45. After not looking at my phone and looking up and just around, I noticed how busy it was. Way more than during the day. There was literally a flood of people coming from one entrance to the hall, flowing and splitting up towards two exits. Upon which a different flood came from somewhere else and it just kept repeating as trains came and departed every minute. It struck me, this is why the trains need to be so reliable and functional. If they weren’t, the amount of people affected and the result of that would be of way bigger significance than in Scotland if a train breaks down (no need to imagine it, happens fairly often anyway)
Technical ramblings
Have had some mention that tags don’t work for them. Thanks for letting me know. At the moment they don’t do much anyway. But once the posts don’t all share the same tags I’ll have that fixed (is what I’d like to say). Realistically, I don’t think it should be that hard to fix but don’t think it’s important at the moment. For now, I’m aware of it, and will fix it sometime in the future.