Sunday, July 8, 2012

Going Home part 4

We’re back in Hong Kong. We had a great time in Minneapolis. We saw most of our friends & family and spent a lot of time getting up to date with the old neighborhood.

The last time we were home, the Metrodome roof had just collapsed again. They spent millions of dollars replacing it, even though the whole place is going to be torn down in a few years. We first left for Hong Kong during a terrible winter when it snowed every day and there was very little sun. While we were back, it was sunny & warm every day, and a little hot from time to time. It’s mostly hot in Hong Kong, but it’s more humidity than heat. Summers in Minneapolis get hotter than anything in Hong Kong. We just don’t have that unbearable humidity.

Nicollet Mall reminded me what a shopping street can be like when people are polite to each other. Hong Kong has more than enough shopping streets, but they’re all overcrowded and full of cheap trinkets, and the people selling the cheap trinkets are usually pretty aggressive when they see white people.

Nicollet Mall is a clean street with friendly people who won’t try to rob you blind. The prices are the same for everyone, no matter what color your skin is. There’s a great farmer’s market during the summer with the freshest produce you’ll see anywhere, and the skyway is the greatest thing in the world when it’s too hot or too cold. Hong Kong has a very limited selection of fresh fruits & vegetables.

It was nice to eat the foods I grew up with. Hong Kong has some great food, but there isn’t much variety outside of Chinese food and Chinese food claiming to be international. The best thing about food in Hong Kong is that it’s dirt cheap. The prices in Minneapolis almost shocked me at first, but the variety and quality more than make up for it.

This was the first time we could legally drink in our hometown and Ryan made full use of the bars and clubs on Hennepin. I don’t care about bars in any country. We’ve been legal in Hong Kong, Rome, Amsterdam and Macau. The novelty has worn off for me.

I missed all my American friends when I was in Hong Kong, and it was great to see everybody. But I found myself missing my Hong Kong friends while I was in Minneapolis.

People talk about culture shock whenever you move to a different country. I guess I experienced some of that when I first went to Hong Kong. It’s a very different culture in every way. There’s also reverse culture shock when you go back to your home country. I didn’t feel that. It’s different, but it was pretty easy to get back into my old habits. I suppose it helps that Minneapolis is the friendliest city in the world.

4 comments:

  1. I miss Minnesota. Going back for a visit in Sepetember and really looking forward to it. There are things I like about Minnesota which are hard to describe and which I have never found anywhere else. Even if I never live there again, it will always feel like home to me. Glad you got a chance to go back.

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  2. The funny thing is that Americans from other states seem to look down on us - as though we're all eskimos who talk funny and live in a frozen wasteland, but we all know how great it is.

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  3. WELCOME BACK !! I THOUGHT YOU LEFT FOR GOOD LOL..IT'S NICE TO SEE YOU WRITING AGAIN!!

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  4. No, I'm still here. I'm sure I'll leave sooner or later - I just have no idea when that will be.

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No hate, please. There's enough of that in the world already.