For quite some time now, I’ve had a desire to live somewhere I’ve never lived before. I’ve wanted to venture out on my own and begin a life from scratch. I’ve wanted to get out of my comfort zone and experience something different from all that I’m used to.
Well here I am living out this dream with my boyfriend Mathew. We applied for jobs all over the world and finally accepted a position in HONG KONG. This is going to be the new, different, and exotic experience I’ve been yearning for.
Now that I’m here, I have no idea what I was thinking before. Why in the world did I want to live in a country that I’ve never been before, a country that I don’t know the language of, and a country that is so completely different from anything I’ve ever known?!? Why did someone not enlighten me and tell me the truth about how difficult this all would be??
Since arriving in Hong Kong (six days now), I’ve cried almost everyday. Let me be the one to tell you that Hong Kong is a very, very overwhelming and intimidating place to begin a life. Here are five reasons why. FIRST, there are almost 8 million people here. The largest community I’ve lived in was about 300,000 people. SECOND, everything is spread out all over the place and there is lots of travel time to get to anywhere it seems. I am directionally challenged unfortunately. THIRD, everyone here speaks Chinese. Yes, I should have been prepared for this, but the reality is that I now get to look forward to no one understanding me very well for the next two years. FOURTH, the cost of living is much higher than what I’m used to. In order to start life here, we are going have to fork out a TON of money (3 months rent, commission for the apartment, furnishings for the apartment, bedding, dishes, etc, etc) and that’s a very hard thing to do when we are used to the prices in Thailand. Last but not least, the FIFTH current reason for why moving here has been hard, is due to the fact that Chinese food is just not that good. I’m spoiled from eating my mom’s cooking and her Chinese food is nothing like the food here.
Don’t worry. I’m not throwing in the towel just yet, but let me be honest in saying that the thought has crossed my mind a number of times since arriving here. I know that any transition is hard and that things will get better with time, but it is a bit hard to see that light at the end of this tunnel. Hopefully I’ll see it soon because my eyes can’t handle anymore tears!
So where is the hardest place you have had to move to?
for me, it's thailand! all the excitement of planning and moving and how great it was gonna be didn't prepare me at all. not one bit. the first 9 months sucked. but now we love it.
ReplyDeleteof course, thai food is fantastic and that's so very helpful!
oh, and michael's gonna be in hk in a few weeks... need anything from thailand?
I just saw this...two years later. Apparently I didn't know that I should comment or reply to comments before. :) Oops. Better late than never! :)
DeleteOh gosh, what an emotional roller coaster this must have been! It was tough for me moving from American to England, but I can't imagine how difficult it would be to go to Hong Kong. I would be so overwhelmed by that large and busy city, not to mention not understanding the language.
ReplyDeleteIt was super tough, but time changes everything. I've adapted and now can't imagine life without the experiences I've had from being here. I'm thankful I had a chance to move to a place so foreign to me. I now can better understand and relate to other expats from this experience. :) Luckily 2 and a half years has given me a new perspective.
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