How's The Glass Looking?

While I could be quite content staying in this hotel, there is a whole other world out there to explore. I haven't updated much because, to be completely honest, I haven't been particularly happy since arriving in Hong Kong.

The general atmosphere is not a pleasant one for me. The pollution and dirtiness is shocking at times, as is the uncivilised and rude behaviour of the citizens I see everyday. There seems to be little community spirit or respect for others. To back this up, it's common for people to stand side-by-side on escalators and not moving to let others past, spit in public and I even saw a man grope a girl on the street. The food is pretty foul, and tap water undrinkable (tastes like potatoes straight from the soil) and we've all had dodgy stomaches. One of my coworkers even had food poisoning from chicken in a restaurant. Foul indeed. Pun wholeheartedly intended.

Still, there's something intriguing about this place. It does have some interesting sights and manneristics and I would like to understand more about how the system works.

It's difficult to give more of an explanation to how I feel because, although I've been here fifteen days, I've been working 12 hour days (including travel) for most of it, so I haven't had much free time. The shorter week at Nova did allow me to acclimatise to my surroundings, so time is definitely a factor that is going to figure heavily over the next month or two. I'm not a quitter and, besides, how crap would it look on my CV to leave so quickly.

I will attempt to keep the blog going, as it seems sad to finish so suddenly, but it's been difficult to find the enthusiasm. I don't want every entry or picture to be negative but I do want to be honest.

It's very easy to give a positive first impression of anything, and no-one would really ever question it. But to say a negative thing makes people combat it with a "give it time" type line. Imagine a child going to summer camp for the perfect analogy. But that is what I'll do; I will give it time. Please bear with me.

Mum sent an article from the JC by a tourist who seems infatuated with the city. Or is it territory? Country? I digress. They write a line which I think explains why my reaction has been so difficult to those who have visited Hong Kong:

Retail is king in Hong Kong; it has shopping malls in which you could lose an entire city. The stuff they sell is rubbish, mostly.

And there is where the difference lies. For tourists, the excitement shrowds the rubbish that lurks underneath. But for permanent residents, the rubbish is the base of what everything exciting has been built from. If you sit down, and take a big gulp, the glass looks half empty.

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AMENDMENT

I re-read the above and it comes off much too negative. I hope to find at least aspects that I enjoy and will try and focus on these. And if my opinion changes, and I fall in love with the place, I will not proudly deny it. Maybe that would make for a more interesting read on here; to see the transition. But I don't know what will happen.

And then there's that word from the above quote; mostly.

Not entirely.

Mostly.

There is, as I wrote, "something intriguing about this place".
Time will tell.