Wednesday was a HK holiday. The transformation in the city streets was easily seen. People rushing about wearing black were exchanged for relaxed patrons wearing everyday casual wear. Walking with their friends and families. The weather also made a drastic change. It was almost chilly...almost. I decided to head down to Central again, and I'm glad I did. Now though I took the subway. Much faster & the subway is amazingly easy to navigate. I exited in the direction of 'Statue Square' or something like that and found large numbers of people hanging about in the park. I thought, oh they must do this on holidays. Then as I wandered around, I notice that it's all just women. There are groups of women all over, on the sidewalks too, gathering and having little picnics. Cool, I thought. Must be part of this holiday. Streets are closed and there are groups in the middle of the streets. Some are dancing and singing, most are just visiting. No men (or very few). And oddly enough, no children. Hmm. Strange. I meandered about and later at the hostel George and Mhari reported that they saw the same thing at Victoria Park (where they were playing tennis balls :))
Now, this is where working here and knowing people in HK comes in handy. The first person I had a chat with at work explained it to me. On holidays and Sundays the guest workers get together in Central and Victoria Park. Since they don't have their own places to gather with friends they do this. He said most of them are from the Philippines. Silly me, I didn't even pay attention to nationality :)
So, last night was my first night working, and it wasn't all that bad. Once I was there and going full speed I didn't even realize it was the middle of the night... after all, 3 could be 3 in the afternoon, a perfectly normal time to be at work. I got a coffee (more like an americano) right before work, and it did a good job. I was jonesin' for another around 4 but was afraid it would keep me up. I went to sleep after 7 I think and up about 2. It will take me a while to get into it, but I'm usually feeling sleep deprived anyway, so thats ok. ALSO, when I got back to the hostel around 7, people were up! Henrik our Swedish flatmate was packing to leave and Iswarya said they'd just gotten back from partying about an hour earlier. So when I got up today around 2 many of them were still getting up and feeling the effects of their endeavors the night/morning before.
Right now, it's raining. I can hear it but haven't been out yet. It sounds like it's raining hard too. I'm meeting Doris for dinner around 7 before heading into work. She is letting me borrow a phone too, so I have a local number which is great! Ok, I should shower before it gets to be too late. Would like to venture out in the rain perhaps too ;)
Now, this is where working here and knowing people in HK comes in handy. The first person I had a chat with at work explained it to me. On holidays and Sundays the guest workers get together in Central and Victoria Park. Since they don't have their own places to gather with friends they do this. He said most of them are from the Philippines. Silly me, I didn't even pay attention to nationality :)
So, last night was my first night working, and it wasn't all that bad. Once I was there and going full speed I didn't even realize it was the middle of the night... after all, 3 could be 3 in the afternoon, a perfectly normal time to be at work. I got a coffee (more like an americano) right before work, and it did a good job. I was jonesin' for another around 4 but was afraid it would keep me up. I went to sleep after 7 I think and up about 2. It will take me a while to get into it, but I'm usually feeling sleep deprived anyway, so thats ok. ALSO, when I got back to the hostel around 7, people were up! Henrik our Swedish flatmate was packing to leave and Iswarya said they'd just gotten back from partying about an hour earlier. So when I got up today around 2 many of them were still getting up and feeling the effects of their endeavors the night/morning before.
Right now, it's raining. I can hear it but haven't been out yet. It sounds like it's raining hard too. I'm meeting Doris for dinner around 7 before heading into work. She is letting me borrow a phone too, so I have a local number which is great! Ok, I should shower before it gets to be too late. Would like to venture out in the rain perhaps too ;)
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