For those of you who may not have read any previous posts, or who weren't really paying attention, mail in China is beyond a nightmare. The package my father sent me the week before Christmas finally returned to him a week or so ago in Arkansas. He received my Christmas card, but that was because it was the one thing the Chinese post office worker could understand I wanted to mail and was not restricted. Yes, everything is restricted to send or receive in China, or at least that is how they make you feel. The worst part is, if they do not speak English, and you do not speak Chinese, they will get extremely frustrated with you and simply refuse to serve you as they walk away. Yup, happened to me a number of times.
When I was asked to help my new friend find a post office in HK, I immediately enlisted the help of my Chinese co-teacher to get me directions. So, of a Saturday morning, we headed out about 8:10 am and took a cab to Shenzhen Bay Port, where we bought bus tickets, cleared customs for both sides and boarded the #37 bus, whose second stop was "Central". I was told the post office would be close by. We arrived at our stop by about 10:15 am and I spotted a Starbucks across the street from the bus stop! As I was pulling out my map, G told me to look out of the other side of the bus, and sure enough, there was the post office! NO! I could NOT be this easy...right? And a Starbucks???? You know what they say about being too good to be true.
Both G and I had packages to mail, so we both set about addressing and labeling. I had told him not to seal the box in case they wanted to assess the contents, but one of my "packages" was actually an envelope with a birthday card (Happy belated Nikka!). I did not see boxes for sale for the other packages, but I figured they wouldn't be too hard to find. When I approached the counter, the agent looked and me and said, "How may I help you?" I SWEAR the angels sang! I was able to mail my envelope and G was told to fill out a different customs form and seal his box. While he was doing this I spotted what appeared to be padded envelopes behind the counter, and sure enough, I was able to mail everything.
We were entirely finished with our main project and reason for coming to HK and it was only 10:40 am. Starbucks. Nuff said. When we left the bux, (Joe McCune hates when I call it that), we decided to take the escalators up the mountain in HK and were told if we took the escalators up one floor in the building, we would be led to a walkway that would take us to the escalators.
G on the right, TOG on the left.
A tree growing out of a wall in downtown HK.
This was a very successful trip and we managed to find more then one store selling Western food items, so I was able to stock up. We also found a vendor selling actual LIMES! In China, they only sell lemons, and the green things are actually, green lemons. I was informed by TOG that he had a "thing" for Asian women, but Filipino women especially. So, he spent his time talking up some random women we met. I don't care that he is looking to get some, but he is relentless about it. In subsequent outings, he will actually stop mid-sentence to ogle some woman walking down the street. If he were a cartoon character, his eyes would pop out, his tongue would hit the ground, and you would here a funny cartoon sound in the background. Don't get me wrong, he appears dedicated to wanting to teach, but his obsession with hot Asian women is nauseating at best.
In other news, I have quit my third job at the language center because: a) they did not pay me enough, b) they required me to working my days off, c) they sure as hell didn't pay me enough to give up all my weekends. It was an hour commute each way, I worked from noon to 9:00pm, and it just wasn't worth it. It took them a month and a half to finally stop putting me on the schedule, but I tried not to make waves until after payday. They were 2 days late in paying me, and apparently some other employees, and it ruined my plans to spend the entire day off on Wednesday at a spa! I had to settle for getting my nails done, and trust me, it was NOT a mani/pedi, it was a quick trim and paint job.
This was my first weekend off in MONTHS and I must say, it felt good to have NO PLANS! The decision to leave China is absolute and I am now applying for gigs in the Middle East. Not my first choice, but the pay is the best. I can finally save up enough for the down payment on a condo AND pay off all my credit cards to boot. I will keep everyone posted.
Finally, to end on a good note, I was finally able to make it to the Meow Bar in Shenzhen. It is a "coffee cafe" with cats. It is on the 21st floor of an apartment building in an apartment. This way, the cats can wander in and out of the balcony, it offers a stunning view of the city, and you can catch a breeze as well. It was overpriced beverages, but the cats were friendly, and they had free wifi. I don't know that I would return, but I can say, been there, done that.
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