I realized I finished off on a pretty negative note last time.
So all hasn't been bad.
I can be super cliché and say "there's always a silver lining" or "there's always a light at end of the tunnel", but...
Actually, I just did.
Anyways.
I've been surviving in Hong Kong, somewhat happily.
Excuse me for my mini hiatus, but I actually haven't been bored for the past week.
Well.. I was kinda so bored I decided to do something that's absurd to do in the holidays, I decided to get back to studying - yes, you heard me right.
Not only that, I decided to study something I talk a decent amount of crap about, something along the lines (to my limited knowledge) of commerce - insurance.
I could go even further, and I will, the lessons have been in cantonese, which I probably understood 20 percent of (cause of the terminology - my canto isn't that bad I like to think).
Well for the record, I can say that after this course I won't have any crap to say about commerce anymore. I actually quite thoroughly enjoyed studying something completely new to me - it's given me a new perspective of something I mindlessly talked rubbish about. So I'm sorry to all my commerce mates I might have offended in the past. Though to be fair, I still don't think I'll spend the rest of my life doing something in that area.
Welp, that was a long 'excuse me'... that's the result of me holding off blogging for too long.
There's alot more to come, so brace yourself.
Three years ago, I'd had enough of Hong Kong.
I had decided I liked New Zealand better.
The constant traffic fumes were gross.
The heavy smokers at every corner were f***cking annoying.
The constant reek of sewage was horrible.
It's still the same.
This year, I didn't want to go back.
But out of pure respect for my extended family,
I made the right choice to come back.
I'm really glad I did.
There's so much to appreciate about a new environment no matter now bad it is.
Trust me.
I was dreading having to sleep in a cramped room with my family - I like my privacy.
I was dreading my grandparent's bathroom which is tiny and horribly hard to use.
I was dreading feeling uncomfortable for more than a month.
It was uncomfortable at first.
But I eventually got used to it.
Not only that, it made me so grateful for what I have back home in New Zealand. It's actually such a luxury I never realised I had.
That probably sums up so much of my trip in Hong Kong.
I also hate crowds and I'm pretty sure Hong Kong is one of the most crowded cities.
But after awhile, I couldn't help but appreciate the fact that there are so many people in one place. The diversity of personalities and their way of life is astonishing.
In such a densely populated city, I came to realisation that each person was unique...
How much more unique am I in a far more sparsely populated city?
It not only made me appreciate the people around me more, but myself too (and that's for another blog post another day).
Instead of staying at home playing pokemon as I had planned, I ended up eagerly going to a new place everyday, and it was definitely a good decision.
It's amazing how much I can be amazed at once I decide to give everything a chance and let my perspective widen a bit.
I made it clear I'm a 'tourist' by coming here...
There's so much more I can be in awe of, the public transport efficiency, the amazing efforts of the city to sustain a rapidly growing population with limited space, being surrounded by monoliths of buildings everyday and so on... but you've got the idea.
The point is that beauty is just one step away from where you are, no matter how much you beg to differ, you've just got to see things from a different perspective.
Some memorable highlights from my trip have been:
- Actually socialising with my relatives. Surprise, I haven't been hiding in my room.
It's been amazing to just interact and exchange between people who are very different to me, but are also closely linked.
- Observing Hong Kong's flora and fauna. I pretty much searched up all of Hong Kong's zoos and planned to visit them all. I can't begin to express how much I enjoy looking at amazing plants and staring animals down.
My grandma's tortoise.
- I feel that shopping should be on here, but as I've already stated in a previous post, I have very mixed feelings about it. I've been very controlling on myself with what I buy this year, cause I just feel it's what I want to do. I have somewhat enjoyed visiting some awesome shops though, namely Donguri Republic, Hong Kong's very own Studio Ghibli store that sells authentic products!
Blurry photos for the win.
- While I'm at it, I saw a freaking chipmunk today! (Even though I was told it was probably illegally sold to someone in Hong Kong in the blackmarket via China etc...) But wow, all the movies are true, chipmunks are so hyper!
Literally took me 100 shots to get a clear picture of it, it just kept jumping around non-stop.
But man, they're pretty darn cute.
Let your heart melt.
Well I think I should end it here.
If you read this hoping to get something out of this, here's this: I hope you make an effort to enjoy life where you are right now no matter the circumstances. If you're in a place you don't like, try look at your circumstances from another angle, and I'm sure you'll be able to find something to appreciate about your life.
Until next time~
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