Hong Kong is often described as “East meets West” and what I imagined was a streamlined integration, where I thought I would feel at home as I consider myself a mix of the east and west.
Being Asian with an ability speak Chinese, having traveled to many different countries and being able to navigate my way through the quirks of each place. Having visited Hong Kong many times for long periods prior to making the big move, I didn’t imagine that moving would be that hard.
Needless to say, I underestimated.
I’ve learnt even small changes are going to present some challenges and shock to the system, and this at the end of the day was moving countries! Hong Kong has a large expat community however for an international centre it is also rather heavy in Chinese traditions and less integrated and multicultural than where I lived before. I had to start observing, learning and working through the culture shock. I found aspects of life here are interesting and thought it may be helpful to share this in a blog.