These pictures don't really show Hong Kong. The first one is of me trying to look unhappy for the camera. The second one is me trying to look like the mannequins behind me. I find it very funny. I hope the person taking the picture got what they were trying to acheive with it. :) I have to say that going to Hong Kong made it difficult to go back to the usual here. I read somewhere that if you don't want to feel homesick you shouldn't compare the way things are now to what they were back home. I was trying not to do that but now I find myself comparing things here to Hong Kong. This only leads me to comparing things here with .....back home. Here we go. Yes I'm homesick. I won't talk about it...at least not much. Just one little complaint. I get many stares here. They are not always good. Sometimes I get the stare that says "What are you doing here foreigner? Go back to where you belong." Maybe I'm projecting my feelings into that stare. But how can I not help but feel out of place?
Last Sunday I had it with the bus. We were 15 minutes late to meet friends. Then I had to sit on the back of a bike. It was someone else's bike that Sam was using. It was a girls bike and he was not that steady riding it. I thought to myself: I feel too old to fall off this and not be really hurt. So I got off the bike and told Sam we needed bikes asap. We were actually really close to a store that sold bikes. Some people may say we're brave to ride bikes in such a busy city with so many cars and people but I think sitting on the back of someone else's bike requires more courage. Now at least I have control over my situation. No more crowed buses making me late and no more closing my eyes and holding tight while someone else manuevers through traffic. I'm a bit of a slow poke on my one speed but I enjoy the ride.
A note about the recycling. (You may recall from an earlier blog my issues with finding out what to do with my recycling.) Some days ago I came down stairs holding a bag of cans, bottles, etc. I planned on leaving it by the trash bin as I have been doing but on my way out the front door one of the women who takes care of the building grabbed my hand and the bag I was holding. She pulled me close to her. She looked like she was going to tell me a secret. Then she said in a soft voice "blah blah you can sell it blah blah" (I use the blahs to fill in the words I didn't understand). I said to her; "I can give it to you?" She smiled and took the bag. It felt like an exchange of valuable goods. I was happy to get rid of it and she was happy to take it. Now I just give my bag of recycling to whoever is on door duty at our building. I actually think I'm making friends by doing it. They seem delighted when I hand my bag of empty bottles and cans to them.
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