Home Away from Home- African Community

Contrary to my original assumption, it turns out that there is an African community in Hong Kong. Although it is very small, it still exists! A few months ago an African looking man approached me on the MTR (the train system) and gave me his business card for his barber shop.  Over the weekend I finally called him and decided to take a few of my friends to get a hair cut. After getting lost, we finally get to the barber shop and I noticed that the owners of the shop are speaking a familiar Ghanaian language. I listen closer just to find out I can understand everything they are saying. By the time it was my turn to get a hair cut, I asked the guy whether he was from Ghana and whether he was speaking Twi and he responded yes. I must admit I was pretty excited but a piece of my excitement was robbed by his indifference toward the fact that we both found another Ghanaian brother. Oh well.. at least I know I'm not alone and I know where to start my search. When I told my mom, the first thing she asked me was whether they know where an African market is so I can get groceries to start cooking for myself, since I always complain to her about home cooked meals. After calling the owner of "ZUCOMA HAIR DESIGN CO. LTD." it turns out that there is a small African community in Tsim Sha Tsui (TST), a stop on the red line.

Little did I know that this wouldn't be the end of my encounters with other Africans. During the International Festival organized Hong KOng Baptist University, my study abroad university, there was a group of African drummer that performed. After their performance I talked to their leader and I found out that the entire group came from all over African, but two of them were from Ghana.  He gave me his business card which was clearly headed "African Community Hong Kong." Talk about getting straight to the point. At least now I know where to get my fix of authentic Ghanaian food and people I can talk to about my experience in Hong Kong from an African perspective.

Learning How to Swim before the Big Trip

Who would have thought that it would take me 20 years and a trip half way around the world to finally learn how to swim. On top of that, screw stereotypes because I learned how to swim from a fellow Ghanaian that was swimming laps around everyone else in the pool.

If you haven't guessed already, I spent most of my day last week, before venturing off to Malaysia and Singapore, doing what most people have mastered by the time they are at least 10 years old. For most of the time that I've been in Hong Kong my New York buddies and I have been laughed at for not knowing how to swim. Thankfully I wasn't the only one. Every time someone asked us to go surfing or do any other water sport and we would tell them that we can't swim they always laugh at us or give us a weird stare like we are lacking common sense. Someone straight up asked us, "How can't you swim that's common sense?"....Well I guess its not if four city boys can't do it. Alright maybe I'll admit it is a little common sense to know how to swim. It's basic survival, right?

To make a long story short without getting into all the detail about how I picked up swimming within the first twenty minutes of getting in the pool, not to toot my own horn but, I pretty much jumped in the pool and became Michael Phelps within five minutes of even touching the water, excuse me if I said twenty minutes before, I really meant five. In all seriousness it took me an hour to get a hang of the breast stroke. My instructor said I was a quick learner but I still need a little more practice. Olympics 2016 hear I come......NOT!!!!

It took me an entire month but....HOMESICKNESS

I did not truly know what homesickness was until yesterday. For some reason I got smacked in the face like ton of bricks with a feeling of worthlessness and unfulfillment. All I wanted to do was go home. It was  combination of having too much fun in Malyasia and Singapore and coming to Hong Kong where I had go back to class and do work. I seriously hope this isn't going to make me lazy when I get back home. What is worse is that I feel like as soon as I get back home I might feel the same way about being homesick. Talk about post study abroad culture shock! I know this won’t be the last time I feel this way but please make this feeling go away!

City Life in Singapore- Stay Tuned....

Perhenthian Paradise- Weekend In Malaysia (stay tuned)....

What is culture shock because I still don't know.

Thank God for the diversity in New York City and the variety of cultures represented at Babson college for helping my transition to Hong Kong go so smoothly. Honestly, I feel like I’ve been l've been in Hong Kong for almost two days already and surprisingly I don't feel ANY culture shock at all. I honestly feel like I can take a bus and I'll be back in New York. I know I told myself that I did not think if I could ever live anywhere else besides the US, but I can definitely see myself living here. It feels like a very large version of Chinatown in the US. 

Before I start talking about how it feels to be a student in Hong Kong, I want to point out a few differences:

For starters the exchange rate between the Hong Kong dollar and the US dollar is 7.7 to 1 so for every USD I have 7.7 HKD.  This means I have a lot of buying power, which I have been taking advantage of lol!! As hard as it was for me to believe, I have already spent about $500 in less than two weeks. I've been telling myself that its because I need to buy all the essentials and I'll start spending less money, but I really hope that's true.

 Next  I'll talk about the restaurant scene. So there are a myriad of different restaurants here that serve full meals of good food for less that $10 USD. You can even get a good meal for less than $5 USD. I'm no restuarant connoisseur, but I know what I like and so far I've loving everything...except the ox tongue, which was not what I expected. Just to recap what I just said, I ate ox tongue for the first time. For all you Africans, and Latin Americans this may not be that big of a deal, but for me it was a leap of faith. Honestly, it wasn't that bad. I just feel like it wasn't prepared properly. I also ate a dragon fruit for the first time.

 To continue what I was saying about restaurants, at every restaurant, they serve hot tea with the meal unlike in the US where they serve cold water. If you want cold water you have to specify that you want cold water because if you just ask for water, the person serving you will probably serve you hot water. The first few times this happened to me I thought there was miss-communication due to the language barrier but I was informed that I would have to specify. Also if you want to thank your server for the tea, you just tap your pointer and your middle finger on the table twice. (For the sake of brevity, if you want to learn more about why people tap their fingers when tea is poured you can read this article http://chinesefood.about.com/od/chineseteaandliquor/f/finger-tapping.htm). Another aspect of the dining culture that I can't help but say I feel in love with is the fact that you don't have to pay your server a tip. It is seen as disrespectful to pay a tip. Not say that I am cheap or anything (cough cough), but I'm trying to be more frugal to stretch out every cent that I have here.  One thing that made my jaw drop was when I went to the mall and saw that Pizza hut was considered fine dining. To get into a Pizza Hut, you have to wait outside to be directed to a table before you are served. This is truly culture shock.

One major thing that I have observed is how structured the culture is here. For example, I went to the movies the other day and on my ticket it had an assigned seat like professional sports game. Also since the culture emphasizes more community right instead of individual rights, the police have a right to arrest and detain you without cause. So I can get arrested for not doing anything at all, but from what I hear that almost never happens. Most of the crime here is intelligent crime. I will be blown away the day I see a public fight here. 

To wrap things up, I want to point out a few not so shocking aspects of culture the culture.One they drive on the opposite side of the street. Most people don't throw away their garbage in fast food restaurants. I went to KFC once and everyone just walked out with their trays still on the table. Finally littering is a huge offense, you can be fined up to $5000 HKD for litering. Although I haven't seen anyone get fined for that, its still something to be conscious of. 

Sick In Hong Kong...What a tragedy

So I realized today that I have been slacking on posting blog entries so I have to ask for your forgiveness. I have an entire list of things to blog about....More entries will be coming soon.

Anywho, I've been feeling under the weather for the past two days. My symptoms include soar throat, runny nose, head aches, and physical weakness. In other words, I've been coughing so hard its making my throat dry and there was one point when my head hurt so much I felt like I could do telekinesis (start moving stuff with my mind). At first I couldn't understand how I got a cold. I honestly thought I would get a stomach virus before I got a cold. It's 90 degrees every single day! It wasn't until I talked to one of my professors that I realized it happens to many foreigners.  I have what is called a "summer cold." You get this when you sweat a lot due to the hot climate and then go indoors with air conditioners. I guess it wasn't a good idea to turn up the AC before I got to sleep. At least now I know how to save money because I have to pay for the AC every time I use it anyway

After missing two days of allowing myself to suffer and missing one class I finally decided to go the clinic on campus. (Quick side note about missing class before I continue: I'll have you know that a lot of the locals in Hong Kong wear medical masks whenever they feel sick as a way to prevent spreading their sickness. This is because of the SARS outbreak in the past. Many locals fear the spread of disease and we were admittedly advised not to go to class if we felt sick.)  So I went to clinic on campus and I after an hour of waiting I received "consultation" from the doctor and medication all for $30 HKD which is approximately $3.8 USD all without insurance. Imagine walking to the hospital and asking to be treated without insurance in the US and expecting to pay on $3.8, that would be a miracle. To make a long story short I was given three medications and cough syrup and asked to take 4 dosages a day for 3 days and I should be better.