Day 6

Yesterday was my first day of work. It was a long day. I like my job; I have a desk and a corner and so far my work is all manageable. The company is really impressive; it’s in a big office building, with a showroom and a lot of office space. In the showroom, there are tons (thousands) of products; all kinds of things that are made in China and shipped to the United States. This company is so influential between the United States and China that it was a contractor for the Snuggie, an odd commercial phenomenon that started in 2009. The point is this company is on the map for American companies looking to source goods & production capital from Mainland China. (Everyone understands that Hong Kong isn’t a part of China proper, right?)

Other than work I haven’t done many interesting things of late; I’ve been busy. So, this time, I’ll give more details about how I’m living here in HK. I live in Tsim Sha Tsui, in a relatively newly-opened guesthouse run by an Egyptian landlord. Like I said before Hong Kong is very diverse and very crowded. The street I live on (pictured), Nathan Road, is probably the busiest street in Kowloon. I live by Tsim Sha Tsui Station; the entrance is conveniently very close to my building. It’s also about a 10-minute walk to get to the pier. At the end of last weekend, I also went to the Avenue of the Stars nearby (see photo).

Also, at the request of my sponsors, here are some things that surprised me when I first arrived in Hong Kong. Topics written in response to prompts will be found in my blog now and again.

- When I got here, I didn't realize how many people would speak English. It's completely different from the mainland in that way. It's not much different (linguistically) than going to Europe.

- I expected the food to consist of a lot more dumplings and rice than it does. Instead, there's a lot of noodles and soup. And noodle soup. And even some noodle dumpling soup. But it isn't exactly what I'd always been told I'd eat when I went to "中国的南方".

- There is a huge Indian and African population near where I'm staying. It has left its mark on the local culture in terms of cuisine, language, and commerce (a lot of the ownership of places around me, such as the guesthouse where I am staying, is foreign.)