And now for something completely different

A lot has happened since I first arrived in Hong Kong 5 months ago. Met some great folks, worked in China mainland, climbed a little in HK, had my pack with new camera and passport stolen, fell in love, and lazed on sunny Thai beaches. All in all not a bad 5 months. I guess the biggest adjustment has been being able to hear different english accents. Now I can't exactly place northern or southern yet, but it took me a good 2 months to fully understand what the heck the english ex-pats I've met here are saying, but a few beers and a couple of late night karaoke sessions later, I think I can understand them, even Irish John.

The most difficult aspect of retaining any Cantonese is that it is only spoken in Hong Kong. Go to mainland China and Mandarin is spoken. A week of saying nee how (hello) in mandarin and I forget how to say Jo sam (good morning) in cantonese. Then when I went to Thailand for 2 weeks all went out the door. But like anywhere in the world a smile is always recognizable.

Just a month ago evenings were spent at the bbq pits on the beach cohorting and drinking a few cold ones with some new found friends. Now the pits are empty and I have resorted to a new addiction. Watching Deadwood. Dad would have loved this show. It really doesn't get too chilly around these parts, however the flats are built for warm temps. There is no heating and all floors are tiled so it gets a bit chilled on the feet and the hot water only lasts about 4 minutes. That being said this is my first winter in Hong Kong and have yet to experience a summer. Which I am not looking forward to 100 degrees and 80% humidity. I experienced it in brief in September, which was the first time I had armpit sweat drip down my leg. Hopefully I'll be stateside for the hottest bit of '09.

It's been nice to get back into cooking fine meals most nights.