Locate the Westerner

“As the soil, however rich it may be, cannot be productive without cultivation, so the mind without culture can never produce good fruit.” –Seneca Quote

81 Degrees

80% Humidity

One of the things that I have been enjoying the most since arriving in Hong Kong is the opportunity to explore. The work day ends at 1830pm and I sit down in the arm chair in our room and flip through my guide book. I’ve only been here a month and it is already looking like a well used, well traveled document. 

That’s something I love to see in a book, pages dog eared, smudged written notes in the margin. That’s when you know you’ve been making the best of your location. The book comes alive with the experiences that you have had, the personality of the reader coming thru in the scribbled notes. 

Since arriving, I have had a lot of down time. Something I didn’t necessarily expect. While in Antarctica I felt like I was on non-stop go, little breathing time between work and sleep. Granted, I know this will soon change as we prepare to go into full time program mode. At the moment, however, we have been going at a snail’s pace. There’s been plenty of time in the evenings to relax and get caught up on this blog, but I have found myself with little inspiration. Why? I don’t really know. Maybe it’s because I can’t decide what to write about since there is so much to think about. More of my time has been spent with my nose buried in a book enjoying a little peace and quiet, letting my brain meander thru the world of the written jungle rather than write my own written jungle. 

However, when Sunday, our day of rest, arrives, it’s up at the crack of dawn to load the day pack, eat breakfast and hail down the first bus of the day, heading out into the humid world of Hong Kong. The mindless book of the night before replaced by guide book and with map and passport in hand, off I go. 

What am I in search of? 

Cultural Immersion. 

Searching for cultural immersion.

Hong Kong has opened new doors to my idea of adventure. Past journeys have primarily involved time in a remote, backcountry setting doing some intense recreational activity. Here, however, the hiking boots have been replaced with lightweight trail runners, my day pack the only pack resting on my shoulders, my legs exercising the streets of hidden communities around the islands of Hong Kong as my taste buds get a work out sampling the street market wares. I have realized that it is still adventuring, just a new angle off of the old. My lens shutter on my camera has been getting more of a workout than I have, but my heart is content. My brain overloading with the knowledge it is storing away for future use. 

I am ready to expand my world. My current list of goals looks like this: 

• Master the use of chopsticks—ongoing
• Learn Cantonese and use it to get around the city—so far I have mastered hello, how are you, two ways to say thank you, and turn left and turn right
• Eat a variety of diverse ethnic foods—I am hesitant when it comes to things like snake soup and animal guts, but one of these days it may happen J
• See a Fire Dragon Ceremony—Done! Witnessed this at the Mid Autumn Festival
• See a monkey—Done! Came face to face with a curious Macaque Monkey at the 10,000 Buddha Monastery
• Temples—on going—getting a fair amount of temple time where I go
• Water Buffalo—Done! Saw the real thing in Mui Wo after a week of being in Hong Kong
• Meditate while surrounded by the chatter of a foreign language—Done! Sometimes Cantonese can be music to your ears and sometimes it can make your ear drums ache, but it is still beautiful to sit in silence and let the sounds of language flow around you
• See/hear the barking deer that reside in the countryside of Hong Kong
• Hike the longest trail in Hong Kong, the MacLehose Trail which is 100km long

The list will expand as time passes. 

One of the many temples I have stepped into.

A Hong Kong sunset

An interesting mixture going on in this photo.

An interesting game I have found myself playing has been: Locate the Westerner. I have quickly discovered that the closer you are to the main metropolitan parts of Hong Kong the more Westerners are spotted. As you progress out into the outlying islands and the land of the New Territories, the sightings become fewer and fewer. Why, I’m not really sure. Those are some of the areas I enjoy exploring the most. 

Whenever I spot a fellow westerner I find myself smiling. I have to admit, we stand out like a sore thumb. Height, skin color and hair color are a dead giveaway. For one who likes to blend into the crowd, I have come to the wrong continent. Being a westerner, I have gotten my fair share of penetrating, inquisitive stares from locals. It makes me squirm to be under such thorough scrutiny, despite the fact that I know the person isn’t doing it out of rudeness, it’s simply curiosity. My facial muscles twitch with the urge to scrunch my face up and stick my tongue out. The temptation is strong, but I have no desire to insult my hosts while I am a visitor in their country. 

First of all, I never thought I would consider myself tall, but living in Hong Kong, I feel like a giant. It’s a weird feeling. I just make the cut for “average” height, but here I find myself sometimes towering nearly two feet over the adult locals. Many westerners are taller than my 5’5”, so it is easy to look down the aisle of the train and spot all the westerners stooping so they don’t hit their heads against the roof of the MTR. 

I have mastered my fear of the big city already. I have discovered that despite the fact that I am not a city person whatsoever, I can navigate my way around by myself comfortably. It feels good to be able to wander around a city the size of Hong Kong and “know” my way around. Reading a map in the city is the same as reading one in the wilderness, you just have to dodge massive crowds and loud traffic while you’re at it. 

I have learned to tap on the table with one finger when someone asks if I would like tea at meal times. This is the Cantonese way of saying thank you and if you are single it is with one finger. I now cover my mouth when eating if I happen to talk to someone or if I need to use a toothpick to get something out of my teeth. I have become aware of the fact that Westerners have a grip of a handshake that makes Hong Kongers cringe so my handshake has become a brushing of fingers. 

I’ll admit Asia was never necessarily on my list of places to travel until this past summer. Why, I don’t really know. Maybe it was the language barrier factor? For some reason places like South America had always appealed to me more, although I don’t speak Spanish any more than I speak Cantonese. Either way, here I am, in Asia. Whether I found myself in Asia or South America, there was one thing I had been determined to experience, culture. I love the experience of loosing oneself in the midst of the life of someone else. I wouldn’t consider myself a “local” but I feel at peace with my surroundings. 

One of the cutest little old men I've ever seen