Half way through!

Monday March 29th, 2010
Wow! What a weekend! And what an experience so far!
Everything is going so well and better than expected that I’m wondering when the down fall will happen. This is too good to be true. Everyone is super nice to us. We keep being invited for suppers and outings. And people are just so happy to do this for us. I can’t get over the generosity and the kindness people have here. Honestly! I’ve never been this nice to visitors who come and see me…
For example, just this week-end we, all eight of us, went to get massaged with Amy and Mr. Lee, our principal! Which principal do you know would take a bunch of foreigners to get massaged and shopping all day? Not many! And he brought us all for morning tea at 8 am. O.K. so here’s the deal with morning tea. The meal is just as big as at supper time! There was an abundance of food. And not regular morning food, it was basically the same as supper food, except we ordered desserts. And the restaurant gave us a whole bunch of extras on the house. It was just scrumptious! Ummmmmmm. Then we headed off to Shen Zen to get massaged. But first, pit stop at the market. Just super cheap everything. I went nuts! I bought so much stuff. At those prices you can’t go wrong. Then we went and got massaged. I received a two-hour long Chinese massage. The best part, is that half way through, another girl came in and gave me a facial/face massage. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so relaxed at once. It was the greatest massage experience of my life. And it was incredibly cheap. I just couldn’t ask for more, but of course there was a lot more to come, especially with Amy around. She invited us all for a traditional Chinese supper. We feasted off the delicious food. Then we did more shopping and, finally, we got home at 11pm! I must say I was pleased about returning to Hong Kong because China is really another world. People hassling you in the markets, literally begging you to buy something from them. The bathrooms were pretty dirty and the people drive on the other side of the road. It was really overcrowded and it had less charm than Hong Kong. I finally felt a bit of culture shock since I’ve been here. Hong Kong has been so welcoming that I don’t really feel that I’m on the other side of the world. Of course the language and the beat are different but the over all experience of living in this city has been so enjoyable that I don’t feel that I am that different from the others. That’s a good thing, right? I think I would actually be able to live here.
Ooof what a week-end! Monday mornings are tough, but this one is even tougher.
Oh and I might add that I went to Macau on Friday. So maybe that’s why it’s a bit rougher than usual! Haha! But everyone seems just as exhausted as I do. I have one word to say about Macau, golden! I couldn’t get over the Venetian hotel! Jeez. Can you imagine a hotel/mall that has a river flowing through it. Honestly, I never imagined that I could relive being in Venice without being there. There were gondolas and people dressed up like the old Venetian days. Just amazing!
So 5 weeks in and I’m still having a great time. I haven’t really felt homesick. Maybe that’s because I’ve never felt homesick when I travel. There’s so much more to come and only 4 weeks and 3 days to go. I can’t wait for this Thursday because I’m leaving for the Philippines. Boracay here I come! And then Guimaras here I come! Kim and I are going to have a blast and a half. That’s another thing, I am so fortunate to have an 11 day break in the middle of all of this. Can I ask for anything more? I’m so grateful for it all.
I hope everything is going well in Montreal. Can’t wait to hear how you are doing.
Lots of love
Vanessa