I am almost at the end of my Hong Kong ETA experience. And what an experience it has been. Unexpected events, happenings, and growings up (hopefully). I will not be updating this blog too much after I get back to the States, since it was created for the sole purpose of tracking my time in HK. I feel the need for some closure on my time here. I've still got two and a half days, but that's nothing. I also still have to pack my room, which is a slightly larger something.



I have spent eleven months outside of the United States and my family and friends back home. I've made new friends here, predominantly among the other ETAs. I've learned how to eat all kinds of food that first off I never thought I'd eat (shark fin soup once only, jelly fish, chicken's feet, etc.) and second off always with chopsticks. I appreciate how wonderful the mass transit system is, though no doubt true appreciation won't arrive until I get back to using not so great and/or non-existent public transit at home. I've discovered new favorite drinks (iced lemon tea, which I can actually say in Chinese, gasp), new favorite restaurants and types of food, and the glory of arriving back in the gray box that is my room after a two hour trek from the main island or Lantau or wherever I've gone. I've eaten more instant noodles than I ever thought I would, a feat for me, since I've always been fond of ramen. Interestingly, I no longer eat cup noodles....I think I burned out after the, oh, I don't know, thousandth cup. I know and understand the glory that is 7eleven, and the fact that it stocks incredibly useful and incredibly bizarre things. I appreciate the various promotions said store(s) have done (Doraemon stampers, Hello Kitty whatever they were, and Paddington bears). I love the prevalence of taxis. I enjoy being able to go to the beach, even if it takes forever to get there. I love the shopping situation here, including my love affair with the store Esprit. *sigh* I got my hair chemically straightened here, and it still looks good even though it's grown out for several months now.



This seems a list of trivalties and not at all representative of what a trip to Hong Kong should be like. And true, if I think about the other 'big' things I did, I come up with lots more: teaching trips in China, Aladdin Jr. choreography and performances, SAPs/WAPs, developing and teaching modules, Self Access assignments, seeing pandas at Ocean Park, formal dinners/meetings with US consulates and donors to the program, two invasive knee surgeries and months of physical therapy, visiting Beijing, teaching primary school children English and seeing how excited they got to see us and play English games, shopping in the markets, eating a lot of interesting and usually enjoyable food, etc etc etc. And these do shape my perception of Hong Kong and my year here. But it's the little things that come to mind as I sit at my desk in the ETA office and think back on what I've done and experienced here.



I know that much, or even all, of my postings have been less reflection and significantly more recounting of this that or the other. This post isn't much different, only more comprehensive.



Also, let me bring something up that dominated my posts from 2007 and even into 2008. I tore my ACL in August of 2007. I had an initial arthroscopy in early September and reconstructive surgery at the end of October. It seems like that was all a bad dream now. Even the constant twinges of pain and the fact that I can't sit or stand or walk for extended periods of time (completely dreading the flights back, by the by) don't serve to make the experience more real to me. At the time, there was nothing more real, more terrifying, more lonely. I remember, feeling helpless and alone after my second surgery, when I had no visitors to the hospital, when all I had was a book (Starship Troopers I think) and a pain that shot from my toes to my hip, when my only visit was the hospital chaplain who came by and spoke with me for almost ten minutes and made me feel that I was not going to die and that this was not the end of the world. All a bad dream now. Admittedly, a dream that can still wake me up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, but a dream nonetheless. Even the painfully bland and unemotional letter from my surgeon means nothing to me anymore. The scars on my knee are vivid and noticeable, but they don't hurt. The feeling in my leg is coming back - it's not completely numb anymore. I can wear heels, I can run down a flight of stairs (not while wearing heels, obviously, being one of the most clumsly people I know), I can dance, and I can go on a trip to China without feeling like I might fall over/not be able to use certain bathroom facilities. I know I've talked about it a lot. But it was a big deal. I had to grow up a lot, I had to put up with a lot of pain, and I had to do a lot of it alone. I was knocked out twice and woke up, feeling awful, but never so happy to be awake. Although it might have been easier, in the short run, to have torn my ACL in the States near people who could take care of me and where the doctors and nurses first language was English, I'm so grateful that it happened abroad if it had to happen, in a country where even though I'm not a permanent resident, they paid for my surgeries. I only had to front the cost of Physical Therapy, overnight stays, and 2/3 of an MRI scan. And I am without words to describe how thankful I am that I had a surgeon who knew what he was doing and did it well, to have had a physical therapist who kept pushing me even when she knew I was in pain and didn't want to go on. Without them, I can't imagine what sort of condition I'd be in now.


Once again, I've lost myself in a torrent of words and have no idea what my point was to begin with. Hmmmmm.

Well, we'll do this in list form for now.

Favorites
Restaurants: Curry King (Tai Po), Ajisen Ramen (all over), Lemon Chicken restaurant (Sha Tin), Funny Drink Restaurant aka Blue Mountain cafe (Tai Po)
Stores: Esprit, Page One, Tai Po Plaza (series of small shops with amazing and ridiculous finds)
Mall: Festival Walk (Kowloon Tong)
Bus: 275 hahahaha, especially on Sunday, ha. ha. ha.
Beach: Lantau one (can't think of the name) or Shek-O
Amusement Park: Disneyland
Prominent animated character: Stitch
Food: dim sum!, chicken curry fried rice with an egg, chicken with lemon glaze, noodle dishes
Music Video: Jay Chou's Cowboy on the Run
Drink: Tung leng cha (spelling?) Iced Lemon Tea
Hospital: Nethersole Hospital Tai Po
Place to be at night: my room, one of my neighbor's room, the office
Chewing gum: Airwaves Herbal Mint

Most useful
Item from home: ipod speakers
Piece of advice: calling cards are a lot cheaper than just calling straight from your phone
Word: mgoi
Article of clothing: umbrella
Store: 7eleven
Book: Lonely Planet China
Thing: Pack of tissues. Always always carry tissues.

Most interesting
Comment: Your face looks fatter.
Outfit (that I have not worn): shorts, boots, and something glittery/frilly/ruffley
Outfit (that I have worn): leg warmers, heels, black halter dress
Bus ride: E41? Any minibus ride, because it feels like death coming at you at every turn
Things I have bought: all my souvenirs, my bright yellow jacket, and my huge silver bag
Trait that I picked up while over here: saying hai-a in a really whiny way

Most common
Comment: You look Chinese.
Food: Rice. And tea.
Difficulty: Lack of Chinese language knowledge/heat/humidity/rain


I'm sure I'll think of other things later on, but this will do for now, since I've been pecking away at this post for almost an hour. Should probably go work on packing. Or dinner. Either would be advisable.

Song I've listened to too many times while writing this: Bleeding Love
Why, why am I listening to this song?