Everything That Happened, Almost Chronologically

I am so far behind on these blog posts. I always mean to write, but our days are so full here, and the 12 hour time difference between here and Boston is a fantastic procrastination tool. I think the time difference is also responsible for lessening my social media addiction; Whenever I do check facebook or snapchat or whatever, it’s usually like 3am at home so there’s not much there. Anyway, I think it’s a good thing.

So, my first official work week started with the Kornhill Centre, in one of the business districts of Hong Kong. The first major difference I noticed between YMCA’s here and in the states is that here the centers are far more family oriented. In the US, the Y is basically a nice gym with some programs for your kids. Here, it’s all about the family unit, and everything is geared towards getting everyone together for a few hours as often as possible.

I spent the week drafting English programs for the kids, meaning I would write lesson plans for different age groups that revolved around English games, movies, etc. I never got to implement any of those programs, however, because I was given this spectacular opportunity which I’ll reveal in my next post J.

On Wednesday I got to sit in on the Chinese YMCA’s monthly meeting, which was awesome, even though it was conducted in Cantonese, so, optimistically, I understood about .05% of what was being said. They started out with a prayer service, which brings me to the second major difference between the YMCA here and at home: The “C”. They are big supporters of the Christian aspect of the YMCA here, not because they are interested in bending the organization towards the missionary mission, but because they find that basic Christian values are incredibly helpful tools in connecting YMCA’s in different countries that may have different languages, goals for the community, and completely different cultures. In this part of the world Christianity is sort of the calling card that connects all of the YMCA’s, but it really doesn’t do much more than that. Although there is a chapel in the camp grounds we’re staying in, I’ve never seen any services. I have, however, heard several excellent bands rehearsing.

Somewhere around Thursday or Friday the rest of the interns arrived, and I moved out of the boys’ dorm and in with all the girls. Our numbers have since grown and now stand as follows: Korea-4, Taiwan-4, China-1, Singapore-1, Germany-3, America-2, Australia-2. We had an orientation that weekend, the highlight of which was learning where the laundry machines were, and that we were going to get meal allowances every day so we could go explore, as opposed to eating inside the camp.

That weekend we all went to one of the beaches in the southern part of the city. A word on the beaches in Hong Kong: You will never be dry. You come sweaty, you swim, you pick up your towel which is slightly damp from the 95% humidity, you sit, and while the water on your skin evaporates you begin to sweat. There is no in between, there is no way out.

Other than that, it was great, and I ate a very pleasant coconut.

There’s also a beach here at Wu Kwai Sha, which is adorable and right next to the camp. It’s very rocky so you have to wear shoes, but the water is always super warm. A lot of families bring their little kids there in the evening to swim and have dinner, and the view of the mountains and the skyline in the distance is gorgeous. There’s also a mystery deistic statue across the bay, but no one knows what it’s supposed to be, since it’s privately owned. I think it looks a little like Jesus, but I’m the only one, which isn’t surprising considering my vast knowledge of organized religion.

And finally, I will close this post with a topic near and dear to my heart: Food. I have located a wonderful food source, right in the plaza across the street from the camp grounds. It’s called a “Wet Market”, and is as close to eating locally as you can get without actually going into the city. It’s in the basement of one of the shopping malls, and is full of fresh, cheap, local food that is absolutely incredible. The only caveat for me is the fact that ordering without speaking the language is occasionally problematic. However, I made fancy scholarly British friends who speak Mandarin (which isn’t the local language here but most of the time it does the trick), and they’re always happy to help.  

Ok, on to the next topics: Culture shock and the Hong Kong dress code.