Tell 'Em

These things I have noticed: it is easier to feel homesick when you are travelling abroad while living abroad. Living abroad is manageable--but travelling while living abroad is something else altogether. Every new city you enter offers much confusion, exhaustion, and agitation. But once you finally settle your backpack down, change your shirt and head out into the streets-it is like stepping into Narnia for the first time. When we entered Hong Kong, all I could think was how light I would pack for my Nepal trip in February. Oh the vows and promises to God I was making while I trudged the sodden streets of HK. Oddly, our budget hostel was fancy compared to Yangshou-and both cost about 90rmb (a little under $15)--and this came as a relief once we finally stepped into Chungking Mansion. Initially, we staved off swarms of Indian people trying to persuade us to eat at their establishment that night--but after settling in, we realized we needed some Indian grub (aka-we needed colon blow so badly--flying just bungs the ol' bowels right up). The next day we were ready to say hello to Hong Kong-however, our wallets were not, so we attempted a budget approach-which just does not exist in Hong Kong. If there is one thing I know about budget travelling it's that when in trouble, find digestive cookies and make due until dawn.

To be honest, Hong Kong was so reminiscent of Vancouver that it immediately grabbed my guts and churned them into tight homesick knots. I cried while touching a giant Buddha. I wasn't even sure what to ask of him.."Buddha--I have no money to enjoy this city. I want my Mum and my friends. I miss my students. No really, Buddha-I do. Especially Helen. I miss that head. Oh-and B--can you make me poop? I feel so uncomfortable..." He didn't give me what I wanted, but maybe I rubbed his belly the wrong way... Anyway, we made the best of Hong Kong-my favourite spot was this quiet beachside town on the island called Stanley, and it had the best market and view of the ocean. I even found a cheap creme brulee tart to eat while sitting next to the water. It was poignant. I managed to listen to copious amounts of The XX, Sleigh Bells, the Killers, Kevin Drew, Foals, and the new Hanson album (a bit of a let down) while munching my way through Hong Kong. I rocked hard.

These things I have noticed: I much prefer vacations in small places with laid back attitudes. Hong Kong wound me right up! I think I even asked my friends to stop bullying me at one point-haha! We all laugh about it now... And the amount of EXPATS in Hong Kong was unreal! I want to be an EXPAT! I want to have EXPAT children who grow up in Hong Kong and eat EXPAT food!

Even though today is Sunday, apparently we had to make up a day somewhere, so we taught today, and like I imagined, seeing my students was wonderful. 11-11 had lots of stories they wanted to tell in Chinese-and eventually I stopped yelling "IN ENGLISH!" at them and starting praying that the bell would go and I could eat lunch soon. Helen got a haircut by the way. She looks the same. Lots of boys got haircuts actually-so naturally I whistled and catcalled them. I showed my classes some photos from my trip and they were pretty keen on telling me which of my male coworkers I should date or marry. I should have known better. One student told me I looked like a boy in one of my photos and one student pointed out which of my friends are fat. These kids have no soul. Well actually-they do, but the Chinese are very liberal with their descriptions of people, and they just call it like it is. You should hear how many of them describe their parents as "big and fat but lovely faced." God help 'em when they get to North America. I did the same activity in every class (where they partner up and their partner tells the class what they did over the holiday) and it bombed in each class. I love it when that happens; by the last class, I should know better and change things up, but curiosity always kills me. One kid was missing from 11-4 and when I asked where he was, my class informed me that he got married. They were giggling, so I hope that means they are liars. I guess we'll see in a couple days. Maybe he'll have a haircut too.

Oh it is good to be home, and just in time to eat Dumplings for Thanksgiving with my bizarre and brilliant family out here. I've found that free-dancing to Sleigh Bells elevates my mood sizeably, so I am going to go and do that now and forget about turkey and patriots.

Missin' You
xox