LearningToFly.me

While I spent a good portion of our trip back to the states in the heartland with family, I was able to get a few, very cold days in Boston and it was wonderful. Walking around Boston got me thinking about how this city actually prepared me a bit for our life in Hong Kong. Here’s what I have come up with:

5) Accepting (just barely) a local’s desire to avoid eye contact

Well at this point you know that I am a very proud mid-western – dare I say lady – and what that means in this context is that I smile at and say hello to passing strangers on the daily. In the mid-west, we hold your doors and let you pass, dart an approving head-nod while crossing paths on a trail, and you can bet your bottom dollar we do it all while looking you in the eye.

Now I’m not saying that 4 years in Boston scrubbed the sweet right off of me, but I have become perhaps a little less sensitive to the blatant disregard of my pleasantries. And it’s a good thing, too, because people in Hong Kong are an even tougher crowd than Bostonians. Plus side: there are a lot more people in Hong Kong so my odds of finding a smiling face have slightly improved.

4) Wild, stomach-turning taxi rides

I took taxis in DC pretty regularly and never felt sick. Perhaps it was the allure of living in the nation’s capital, but those rides were always so pleasant. Transition to Boston and the only time I really need a taxi is when traveling to and from the airport. If you have traveled with me (or Dom) you know we kind of push the limits in terms of catching most flights, so I used to chalk up my nausea to nerves, but it turns out it’s statistically proven that Boston taxi drivers drive like jerks. (These statistics haven’t been published yet, but it’s a fact). I also love when I suggest an alternate route and am kindly met with “Lady, I’ve been doing this for thirty yeahhhhs, you wanna take my job.” Needless to say, 10 minutes in a Boston taxi makes me a little angrier with people and sick to my gut.

Taxis in Hong Kong are a friggin fun house. I mean it. The positions I strike just to try and find some balance as we whip around streets at un-godly speeds are awkward at best. God help me if I have a coffee in my hand because it’s going everywhere. The entertainment during these rides, apart from watching me face-plant into the window, is pretty over stimulating. The commercials on the mini-screen are never in English so it’s just a lot of yelling in Chinese, cartoon imagery that would make anyone’s head spin. Hong Kong taxis only accept cash, which I always hope means I can get rid of some of my loose change, but after being tossed around like a sock in a dryer I am just so happy to get out that I’ll likely over pay just to not stay in there for another second.

3) Thrifty Grocery Shopping

I miss Kroger’s. A lot. In Boston, the closest I could get to the selection, convenience and price of the holy K-Roger’s was a Shaws, but it was a 20 minute walk from our apartment. Don’t worry, I used one of these fancy city carts to carry our groceries, but if I was taking the time to wheel all that way, I piled the groceries on so full that 90 percent of the time I ended up needing a cab just to get home.  Oops. Given the distance, we typically shopped at the Whole Foods just across the street or as Dom and I lovingly refer to it, Whole Paycheck.

Fortunately, shopping at Whole Paycheck prepared me for grocery shopping in Hong Kong. We are slowly trying to modify our culinary preferences to accommodate the cost of groceries ( you pay a little more for Western food) and I am always on the hunt for better prices (ahem, Gary Corrigan’s daughter). The good news is grocery shopping in Boston prepared my weak little arms and our wallet for groceries in Hong Kong.  I will say, nothing could have prepared for hauling groceries in 90% humidity. Yuck.

2) Becoming a Professional Pedestrian

That has a nice ring to it – I think I’ll put it on my resume.

After going car-free in Boston, I have actually grown to prefer walking to driving. Sometimes I think, “What if I become like my Grandma Mary who just stopped driving all together?” But then I remember that sweet little Mary did so because she had the vision of a bat and our city was safer for it. Don’t get me wrong, I love cruising around and singing in my car, but that’s just not going to happen in Hong Kong. Luckily, I have invested in some serious old-lady walking shoes and foot massages.

1) Pronouncing the Names of Surrounding Cities

The number one way living in Boston prepared me for living in Hong Kong is that I grew quite comfortable with being corrected when I butchered the name of the town I was traveling to and from. My former job had me crisscrossing the Commonwealth on the regular and my colleges often got a good laugh at me when I would tell them where I was off to next. Now, before you question my reading comprehension skills, check out the video below and you will better understand what I am talking about. 

In Hong Kong, I’m just screwed. I give it a good college try, but I am quite certain I am not pronouncing much of anything in Cantonese correctly. Thankfully, some of the more common spots, such as Lan Kwai Fong or Tsim Sha Tsui have are just commonly known as LKF or TST. I got those!

All in all, Boston and Hong Kong are two incredible, but pretty different cities and we love both for a lot of reasons.