During the whirlwind of our first few weeks here, I wrote a blog about my initial thoughts regarding moving to and living in HK. It was interesting to read it again recently and see what I think about life here now, fifteen months on. No matter what the circumstances of moving are, the time periods prior to and just after relocating are always going to involve elements of unpredictability, uncertainty and excitement so it’s not until you have lived in a place a bit longer, you really get to truly understand how you feel and what you think.
Culture Shock
Moving to another country is seen as a major life event but it has never seemed like it. My husband and I have a fairly relaxed attitude to life and on the two occasions we have moved both of us said ‘let’s just do it and see how it turns out’. We like to think in terms of ‘What’s the best thing that can happen’, not the worst thing.
Culture shock? We had never heard about this. There are many explanations of what the phenomenon ‘culture shock’ means and it is usually described as having four phases (honeymoon, frustration, adjustment and adaptation). What I don’t agree with is that it is almost looked at like an exact science and assumed that everyone who moves to a different country will experience each phase, albeit at varying rates.
I personally don’t feel as though I have experienced the phases as they have been described. It’s more of a collection of feelings that can come and go at any time. Of course, settling in and calling it home doesn’t happen overnight and it’s been more of a transition moving to a new continent and culture but ‘home’ is always going to be where we all are as a family and that is what has always remained constant despite where we are in the world. One of the most special things about living this life and everything that goes with it, is that we have shared the unique experience together.
I wrote the first blog in the ‘honeymoon’ or ‘tourist’ phase as I prefer to call it, but there comes a time where you need to stop acting like a tourist and get back to your actual ‘real life’ We had never been to Hong Kong before we moved here and maybe that was a good thing as we had no expectations or pre conceived ideas of what it would be like. You can’t make the mistake of thinking just because you had an amazing holiday somewhere, it would be a great place to live. Having said that, when we lived in Switzerland we did manage to maintain the initial holiday euphoria virtually throughout the whole six years we were there.
General thoughts about life in Hong Kong
I’m going to start by saying ‘I haven’t fallen in love HK’ – there I’ve said it! I am an eternally optimistic person and like to find the positives in any given situation so I don’t say this lightly. I seem to be in the minority saying this though. Most people absolutely do love it here. Maybe they compare it to where they came from so in that sense their experience will be different to mine or maybe their priorities in life are different. Don’t get me wrong, there are many things I really like (which I’ll mention later), it’s growing on me and we have absolutely no regrets about coming here. We are lucky in the sense that it was our choice to come here and will make the most of all the opportunities that we create for ourselves until we leave.
I do think we came at the right time. By that I mean with regards to our careers, the age of our daughters (who were 15 and 13 when we arrived) and the fact that it is our second move and not first. It will be the last place we will live as a family, as we have always known it since the girls were born with all four of us under one roof. That certainly adds a new perspective to the whole experience here and makes us even more aware of how we spend our time each and every day.
I’m always exploring and I much prefer the outside world to the inside so I do struggle with the humidity and air quality. However, for about five months of the year when the humidity and temperatures drop, it’s really nice and at the time of writing this blog we are probably experiencing the best time of the year as far as the weather goes. I’ve spent some beautiful days recently at the beach, hiking and even just wandering around exploring the more urban areas.
As a Physical Education teacher, I spend around 3-4 hours a day outside so the weather really is a big deal to me. At this time of year, I feel very fortunate to be outside so much each day, but when the heat and humidity return it is so draining. Then again we did have the rain, wind and snow to deal with in the UK- that’s why we left for our first expat move to Switzerland! But, we are fortunate that as teachers we get a lot of holidays so can always spend Christmas in the snow and avoid the rainy typhoon season in July and August. In fact, throughout the year we probably only spend about 9 months here, the rest of the time we are making the most of HK’s proximity to lots of new exciting travel destinations and getting our cold ‘fix’ in Switzerland.
No comparison
I think a mistake people make when they move somewhere new is to overly compare it to where they lived before or try to recreate the same life in a different place. I guess resistance to change depends on the circumstances of your move. We chose to move here for a completely different experience and lifestyle in a new culture. Having said that, I’m not going to lie, I’m always excited about the sight of a Marks and Spencer Food and even more so of a yellow sticker!
Wherever you go there will be familiar things that you think you want, but you don’t really. It’s just the excitement of seeing something where you don’t expect to see it. But by sticking with only what you know and resisting change, you might be limiting your chances of finding a replacement you may find out you like even better.
Living in different parts of the world is all well and good but if you only exist in a cocoon with the same culinary habits, fellow expats or the sanitised version of culture peddled by the tour guides then the experience is not going to be as meaningful or enriching as it could be.
Embrace the change to see the positives
Brunch, coffee, dinner, rooftop bar views are definitely a more common occurrence. Coming here also saw a return to full-time work for me. I’ve always had a productive lifestyle and hate wasting even a minute on something that I don’t feel is worthwhile. Consequently, I’m rubbish at relaxing and I’m getting paid to do what I love.
I don’t go for ‘walks’ as much as I did when we lived in Switzerland although I probably walk as much as or even more and I definitely climb up more stairs, sometimes up to 1000 in a day!
I think knowing how long we will be here for helps focus on what we want to learn, achieve and do in that time. Wanting to make the most of every travel opportunity and knowing that something amazing is waiting for us at the end of our time here. The planning and preparation for that has already started so that’s exciting too.
Living in Switzerland felt like we were living a permanent holiday and here it doesn’t. Not because I’m working more now, it’s just not that kind of place. It’s fast paced and busy, whereas my life in Switzerland was super laid back, quiet, with perfect weather and amazing outdoor life. I sound like I wish I’d not left there, but there are some things that I don’t miss and I’ve gained so much more from coming to live here in HK.
Adapting to change becomes a strength and I’ve come to love the excitement of unfamiliar surroundings, meeting new people, taking on new challenges and expecting the unexpected. Taking on a new way of life is surprisingly addictive and makes even everyday things seem exciting. The prospect of moving somewhere for good actually unsettles me more. It’s like accepting that this way of life filled with wonder and freedom is over.
The main ingredients in life
For me, these are health, happiness and a sense of purpose, so as long as these can be catered for life is good.
I love my job here. It’s unlike anywhere else I’ve worked and it gives me the freedom to be the teacher I really want to be. I work with fun, hard working colleagues and students every day. We live in a nice apartment close to school, close to the beach and also close to many shops, cool cafe’s and restaurants. I love the fact that we have spent the last 8 years downsizing and we have learnt to live with less and less. I never want to live with more stuff than we actually need!
I love it that Hong Kong is a great base to explore the rest of Asia and that flights from here are inexpensive. We already have trips to Philippines, Dubai, Bali, Switzerland, Helsinki, Japan, Gili Islands, Taiwan, Mongolia, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia (either alone or together) checked off since we arrived here. In fact, it doesn’t seem possible that on top of all of those trips, we have also managed to fit in two sets of visitors. I love improving my tour guide skills and am working on an ‘alternative’ experience for our guests arriving in March.
I love finding out about my new home and improving my understanding of the culture, the local people and their customs. Learning the Cantonese language might be a bit of a stretch, although we have learnt one word that can mean about 5 different things which we use to be polite.
I love the fact that Hong Kong is a mix of traditional and modern, East and West and transforms itself from day to night. I love that it is safe and you never think twice about being out on your own late at night. I feel completely at ease with the girls taking taxis on their own and that they feel safe too.
Hong Kong is a vibrant and dynamic city with a surprising amount of outdoor natural scenery, hikes and beaches. It’s a small place really and so easy to get around so I don’t miss having a car here. In fact convenience defines HK on so many levels.
The plugs the same as the British (little things)
I love to meet new people all with their own story to tell and no matter where you go in the world some people will stay in touch and you never know, you might end up in the same place again one day.
I am fascinated with the elderly generation here and in particular their methods of exercising. It certainly is a city full of curious habits.
Quirks in abundance.
I could probably dedicate a whole blog to them. In fact, when we leave HK I will. Here are just a few of my observations I have made in the short time we have lived here.
Mini bus drivers think they are immortal beings. It’s the only explanation for their lack of fear of dying. Want an adrenaline rush? Forget the rollercoasters at Ocean Park and hop on a Red mini bus.
IKEA is a popular spot for dates and naps and just generally a very sociable place to hang out. You can’t go wrong with free WiFi, air conditioning and meatballs. Even more fun now they have the Christmas songs playing.
What people wear to workout in is like a daily dose of style watch and the interpretation of what style is. I absolutely love their individuality though. Same goes for the fashion choices in general here. Anything goes.
The trams make you feel like a tourist and quite old fashioned in a way. They are ludicrously cheap and take forever but if you’re not in a hurry then they are the way to see Hong Kong from another angle.
They just love a queue here. I’m sure people just join a line and don’t even know what they are going to find when they get to the front. Maybe they got this from the British who also have a long standing love of queuing.
I find it sad that the face mask is the HK trademark. But I misunderstood the reason why many people wear them.
Bamboo scaffolding is everywhere and with good reason. It’s cheap and has phenomenal strength. It’s six times faster to put up than steel and twelve times faster to take down. Plus it looks so much nicer.
The common sightings of wild boars and snakes in my PE lessons but never on hikes.
SPF 150!
I love the cute obsessions, the epitome of this is ‘Hello Kitty’ and with 20,000 products to choose from there’s something new to discover everyday. The girls have ended up in the Hello Kitty themed taxi on a number of occasions. One of my daughters should get the fare waived, surely?!
Humorous things
It’s become quite normal now to see a dog in a pram or a tutu, a cat with sunglasses on or grown woman in ‘Hello Kitty’ dresses with ‘Minnie Mouse’ ears. Some very strange methods of exercising and with the option of choosing your own number plate you see some interesting/amusing choices. Names of shops and people (Wing Kee), smoking cigarettes using chopsticks, lift etiquette, people sleeping (anywhere), taxi’s with 6 phones stuck on the dashboard…. In fact, one of my favourite things about living here is seeing these one of a kind things you really wouldn’t see anywhere but HK.
Things I’m not so keen on
Claustrophobic moments travelling on the MTR at busy times. Fortunately, I don’t have to share the morning MTR to work with millions of other people so these times are few and far between but actually any time I find myself in huge crowds is when the city ‘buzz’ definitely loses it’s charm.
To say that Hong Kong takes your breath away can mean a few things. Pollution and air quality is a touchy subject here. I don’t live or work in an area where it is particularly bad but it is noticeable. I can not remember the last sore throat I had before moving here but I’ve already counted more than four in just over one year. This is a really big deal for me as I work and love being outside. You can ignore lots of things you don’t particularly like but not this.
The rent is obscene but then salaries for most expats, and certainly teachers are very high (in comparison to other countries in the World) and tax is low. However, the rich/poor divide is quite staggering and this is what saddens me the most.
Three showers a day is sometimes a necessity. Luckily, it’s dress casual every day of the week in my job and a little bit of sweat never really hurt anyone.
I don’t want to be making huge generalisations but from my observations shopping is the National sport of HK! They love spending money on ‘things’ and there are no shortage of places to buy these ‘things’ and these places are open all hours of the day and night. Buying ‘things’ at 11pm is a perfectly normal thing to do here. I don’t particularly like this superficial and materialistic society.
Excessive use of mobile phones (I know, that doesn’t just apply here) but when you’re living in a city of over 7 million people, things need to keep moving and it really doesn’t contribute to the free flow of people when there are people watching movies and playing games at the same time as ignoring everything else going on around them. I don’t mind google maps or the odd text message but really, Candy Crush, Angry Birds…that can surely wait?!
Fast paced city but with slow paced people. Why do people walk so slowly here. I don’t know but it’s very annoying. It’s called the Hong Kong shuffle and that describes it perfectly.
Helpers carrying children’s school bags and holding umbrellas above their heads! We don’t need a helper so we haven’t got one but that’s not the norm here. 30,000 helpers mainly from the Philippines work here. We both work full time but our daughters are both teenagers and are perfectly capable of carrying their own bags and holding their own umbrella over their heads. If we are lucky, they might even cook themselves a meal and tidy their rooms every now and again.
I really miss the cold and the snow (there I go taking about the weather again). Especially now as the Christmas decorations are starting to pop up all over the place and it’s still 20 degrees!
I know some of these things seem like petty annoyances that can be ignored but the reason why I can’t fall in love with Hong Kong is because the things I value highly are lacking and the things I don’t value so much are in abundance!
Roll with the changes and adapt
For all it’s complexities and eccentricities Hong Kong is where I am and I’m here to make the most of it. Moving somewhere new sharpens your senses, makes you look at things with a very observational eye and makes you focus on the here and now. Everyone will see different things and everyones experience will be different. This is mine.
We are embracing this amazing city and are thankful for the opportunity to be able to choose where we live and for how long.
No experience comes without challenges but I’m happy we decided to immerse ourselves in this fascinating new culture and access to travel opportunities we would never have had if we had stayed in Europe. Even just writing this post has made me question and identify the feelings I have, made me even more observant about what I see around me and making me think about where my life is heading when we leave Hong Kong.
My advice to anyone who decides to move somewhere new – bring an open mind and embrace, immerse and enjoy….