Similarities & Differences

Blog you have said. So I am blogging. Emailing you all back individually is starting to take up too much time anyways. And it’s about time that I start. I have been putting this off for the last week and I fear my perfectionist tendencies will continue to prevent me from writing unless I am up front about the following:  there will be typos, misspelled words, incoherent sentences, and the occasional incoherent thought.  And that’s all this little blog aims to be, a collection of my random observations on living, working and playing in Hong Kong. I will try to keep my entries short and do my best to make them entertaining (at least entertaining to me).

For my first week I will describe the top 10 similarities and differences that I have found between Hong Kong and my home, Chicago/USA.

One

Similarity: It is winter so many people wear puffy coats, scarves, and the occasional hat
Difference: The average high temperature today is 65; average low is 56. I wear a spring jacket.

Two

2.     Similarity: There is an (extensive) subway system

Difference: The subway stations and cars are immaculate. And instead of homeless people walking through cars asking for money, I saw an official train person walking through the train… (wait for it…) CLEANING the train car!  (If that isn’t an idea that needs to be exported to Chicago, I don’t know what is. Mayor Daley, please take note: you wanna create jobs… then get to cleaning the L!)

Three

1.     Similarity: There are traffic cops

Difference: They directing the insane flow of pedestrians coming in and out of the subway… and elevators. (People wait in line for elevators too. No milling around here).

Four

4.     Similarity: People walk here.

Difference: People walk soooooooooo slowly! I don’t know if it’s a height issue… or what. But they could pick up the pace… a lot.  

Five

5.     Similarity: People love designer bags.

Difference: There must be some sort of Louis Vuitton bag law or something because everyone carries those puppies like they bought them on the cheap… oh, wait… they can in Shenzhen (a market area known for the cheap designer bags).

Six

6.     Similarity: I still don’t speak Chinese (Cantonese or Mandarin)

Difference: Everyone already knows I don’t speak Chinese based solely on my appearance. So everyone immediately addresses me in English, and I am thankful for it.  And for that reason, I am turning over a new leaf: generalizations are correct and warmly accepted.

Seven

7.     Similarity: There is Chinese food.

Difference: There is Chinese food ALL the time. J  But as a cheese lover… all I can say is that the Chinese don’t know how to do cheese.

Eight

8.     Similarity: There are black people.

Difference: Ignoring glances in the mirror, I’ve seen maybe 5 African Americans… in the last 11 days. :( If you include Africans… maybe we can bump it up to 9.

Nine

9.     Similarity: There are apartments here.

Difference: They are the size of American walk-in closets.

Ten

10 Similarity: My height: 5.6

Di Difference: I AM TALL! I know what it is to look across the tops of heads in a crowd!