last night in hong kong (for now)

The past couple of weeks have been an absolute whirlwind for me. I've finished teaching at ICS, said goodbye to the kids and my colleagues, packed up my office, have had several farewell dinners and send-offs with dear friends, packed and cleaned up my place, and have moved out of my current flat. I am definitely ready to be home for the summer and take it a little bit easier.

I feel as if one chapter in my life is coming to a close, and although I'll be here next year, things will be quite different, as I'll be in a new job and a new part of the city. Some of my best friends have left Hong Kong now and life is transitioning for me, yet again.

I have had my fair share of Hong Kong-esque experiences lately, where things are a contradiction of ease and convenience mixed with irrational policies and black-and-white thinking. For example, this morning, I had to take my school things (books, files, etc) to my new school to store there for the summer. I had too much to take on the train, and my friend suggested that I hire a "man with a van". So, he made a call and 20 minutes later, someone shows up, throws my boxes in the back of his van, and takes me clear across town in rush hour traffic for 8$. Contradict that with my situation this afternoon, where I went to return my security ID card at my apartment complex to get my refund. Shouldn't this be something that I can do in a few minutes? No, they say it takes a whole month for this to process and I absolutely cannot get my 20$ refund. I tell them that I am leaving Hong Kong tomorrow and I will not be here in a month. They do not believe me and tell me again that it cannot possibly take less time than one month to process. That is the policy, after all. We finally get a manager, and after 30 minutes of debating, I walk away with my money.

The other annoyance in my life is the rain. It has been raining every day, almost all day, for the past 4 weeks. I have been keeping track, and there has literally been 2 days in this past month with no rain. There are puddles everywhere, the ground is soaked, and my umbrella has been worked to its end. I am ready for the dry, summer heat of Colorado.