A new adventure started by a walk down memory lane

I left on Wednesday at 4:15pm from Parkland, WA and landed in Hong Kong on Friday at 6:15 am. It has been a long trip but absolutely worth it. A friend of mine from PLU, Jeremy Zee, met me at the airport and skillfully led me through Hong Kong via the public bus system. About an hour later, we arrived at his home, an apartment on the 7th floor of a complex only half a block from the hostel I will be staying at for the next 3 weeks. After dropping off my luggage we headed for downtown. Taking bus, minibus, subway and ferry, we set out on a detailed tour that didn't even scratch the city's surface. I saw many familiar landmarks and memories rushed back from the last time I had visited Hong Kong in 2008. Running through the tsunami-injured park, pictures by sculptures, ferry rides, "please mind the gap" and life in a different YWCA closer to the water...... (some pictures from these adventures may be found in a previous, but not distant, blog post)

Afterwards, I was able to check-in to my hostel, connect to the infamous world wide web and update friends and family on my whereabouts. However, due to jet lag, I fell asleep around 7pm only to wake up again around 3am. Yet many great ideas come about while sleeping! The sun was still fairly high when my eyes fell low so it was a surprise when I awoke and needed to find the light switch. After finding it, I discovered another switch on the wall... for air conditioning. I thought I was in the room with the broken AC but in actuality I misunderstood how it worked and did not look closely enough to its operation.

The next day (today), I did not do much at all. In the morning I found a McDonalds and supermarket (to pick up peanut butter and bread) after a skype call with my family. I went back later in the afternoon to pick up some watermelon, wandered into a park bench and continued reread The Man Who Stayed Behind by Sidney Rittenberg. Judging by the average age of park goers, I think the bench I found was close to a retirement apartment. Ironically the building's name was Sik Man. It was a great way to spend 4 hours.

On another note, I am finding myself anxious for others to show up for training on Monday so I have some peers to go on adventures. With them it will not be too terrible if I get lost as I am at least with good company. However, a friend from PLU, Teal Flanigan, will be joining me tomorrow on a layover on her way to Sri Lanka.

For those of you interested in funny street signs/the street sign to which the hostel belongs, please see below.