Thursday, April 05, 2007
New York on steroids
...that's probably the best that I've heard Hong Kong described as.
There are just SO many people here. It's pretty nuts, particularly this one district called Mong Kok, which directly translates into "Busy Corner". Let's see, what's a good way to describe it... take Robson and Thurlow, make it about 2.5 times bigger, then pack it with the dense crowd of people you might find right after fireworks, but add to it the semi-organized chaos of people going in multiple directions. And this is on a normal day! (My dad, on the other hand, likes to describe it this way: "If everyone there had swords and sheilds, then it would look like one of those epic Middle-Ages battles you see in the movies").
Several of my relatives here have asked if I would move to HK, but I don't think I can. Too much noise, too many people, super fast-paced; I don't think I could deal with it long term. Even just being here for a little while I feel a bit 'claustrophobic' and a bit crazed by the constant information overload. I'm also slightly annoyed I haven't been able to perfectly communicate here... although I speak Cantonese, I don't really know enough of the idioms/slang and true mannerisms to get my point across effectively. The style of humour is totally different and people are much more 'in your face'.
Nonetheless, I'm enjoying it here while I can and eating as many "weird" things as possible. That being said, I'm also really looking forward to some plain yoghurt and granola! :P
There are just SO many people here. It's pretty nuts, particularly this one district called Mong Kok, which directly translates into "Busy Corner". Let's see, what's a good way to describe it... take Robson and Thurlow, make it about 2.5 times bigger, then pack it with the dense crowd of people you might find right after fireworks, but add to it the semi-organized chaos of people going in multiple directions. And this is on a normal day! (My dad, on the other hand, likes to describe it this way: "If everyone there had swords and sheilds, then it would look like one of those epic Middle-Ages battles you see in the movies").
Several of my relatives here have asked if I would move to HK, but I don't think I can. Too much noise, too many people, super fast-paced; I don't think I could deal with it long term. Even just being here for a little while I feel a bit 'claustrophobic' and a bit crazed by the constant information overload. I'm also slightly annoyed I haven't been able to perfectly communicate here... although I speak Cantonese, I don't really know enough of the idioms/slang and true mannerisms to get my point across effectively. The style of humour is totally different and people are much more 'in your face'.
Nonetheless, I'm enjoying it here while I can and eating as many "weird" things as possible. That being said, I'm also really looking forward to some plain yoghurt and granola! :P
# posted by doris : 8:31 AM
