confusion at large

Hong Kong has been, in a word, confusing. Aside from the traditional Chinese characters I can’t read and the Cantonese phrases that don’t make sense, it would seem that I should feel perfectly at home here. It is afterall, inhabited predominantly by (at least) bi-lingual ex-expatriates like myself who are young and here to have a good time. My first night in the city I took a trip to Lan Kwai Fong and was met by a giant outdoor drunken party, comparable to tailgate but without the Halloween costumes. A few streets down I had a midnight snack of red wine and thin crust pizza at a quiet and less drunken Italian bar. The waiters, of course, spoke perfect English and an American couple bantered a table over, sending their cigarette fumes my direction. I might not have bothered to fly 16 hours to the other side of the world. Then again I might have been more inclined to party had I not just stayed up for 24 hours straight (inability to fall asleep in airplanes while seated next to individual with an incessant twitch).

In general, it feels strange to be speaking more English than Mandarin in what is technically a part of China, but is in reality a strange amalgamation of China, Britain (and Europe in general), Australia, and at least from my view here in Cyberport, what must be some failed city planner’s ideal of cyberland circa 5000 AD. Apparently the vision was for the area to become the next silicon valley of Asia (hence the spacey name) instead families moved into the new and glitzy high rise condominiums and it has become more of a daycare with a scattering of office buildings. Men in suits take their lunch breaks while toddlers with their nannies play in the fountains.

In Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, the massive shopping malls overflowing with Gucci and Prada (amongst every other luxury brand this poor college student can’t afford) stare down the petite asian women who debate…to monogram or not to monogram the latest addition to a collection of Louis Vuittons. Food establishments squeezed between the endless shopping malls are an interesting mix of east meets west.  Ruths Chris steakhouse next to a bubble tea shop and the hotel breakfast buffet that displays dimsum adjacent to bacon and omelettes. The bubble tea for one, is excellent, though I’ve yet to be impressed by the cuisine here in general (either totally bland or drowning in sauce).

Between spontaneous trips to the ballet and stumbling upon beaches, theres been a lot of sitting and staring at this view. Theres nothing I can say about the ocean that hasn’t already been said, but I will say that I am grateful for its vast and endless blue and for the ships that sail slowly by, looking for their destinations. And I’m grateful for this chance to relax in an interesting corner of the world. Not sure I will ever know what to make of this place and this taste of international semi-business travel. Yes, the mooching of Mark’s expense account, classy hotels, and beautiful views have been nice, but I’m not much for exploring on my own while he sits in on conference calls and puts together powerpoint pages. Weird that this is a world I’m about to enter, yet currently feel so disconnected from. Here I miss my sense of purpose and feel that I’m aimlessly drifting amidst all these people more similar to myself than I’d like to admit. Or maybe I’m just bad at being a tourist, more inclined to sit here and overanalyze than to make an effort to navigate, plan, and execute.