Downtime...

The last few weeks, including our first one here, have been pretty high-paced for us, so we'll be walling ourselves in for a few days to recharge the old batteries. During that time, I'll mostly be video gaming (specifically: Mass Effect) and Katherine will mostly be working on her final dissertation revisions and preparing to teach her first course, Language and Society. Not quite fair, but she'll actually get a week vacation in about a month when Chinese New Year arrives, so it'll even out then.

We've adjusted to the jet lag, Katherine is no longer hobbled by her ankle, Fui Fui is constantly playful again, we've gotten a good feel for the surrounding community, and we have equipped ourselves with all the basic day-to-day necessities. I'm also able to go out on my own and navigate, purchase, eat, etc in Cantonese, so no need to worry about me feeling trapped in the apartment (if any of you were worrying about that ;>).

Life in Hong Kong has begun!

A shockingly sweet surprise from home!

If you asked me to make a list of things I never expected to see in Hong Kong, this would be near the top...

Are we in Winston-Salem's Chinatown?! No! Apparently, Hong Kong now has four Krispy Kreme stores, all which make fresh doughnuts throughout the day! Let's see the six we picked up...



From left to right: (top) Cappuccino Kreme, Cinnamon 8, Original Glazed (bottom) Green Tea, Fruitful Mandarin, Original Glazed

The also had a number of other unique flavors (Almond All Over, Strawberry Angel, Neapolitan, etc) and served freshly squeezed mango juice (among other juices, coffees, teas, and smoothies). Fortunately, it is far enough away from where we live that I won't often have cause to stop in, but tonight was a special first-day-of-work celebration with Krispy Kreme. ;>

Katherine's first day on the clock...

Today was Katherine's first day as an assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong and, since I had nothing more pressing, I joined her. ;> It was mostly administrative (filling out forms, etc), but we ran into many of her colleagues and had a great lunch with the School of English leadership. Great people.

I secretly shot a tiny video of Katherine filling out her "pink form" (for payroll, etc) so you could get a quick look into the day and see a touch of Hong Kong U colonial architecture...




The first time Katherine ever visited Hong Kong U (when she was in Form 6, equivalent to 12th grade), she took a picture right in front of this fountain. Now her new office will be only a few doors away from it.

Bamboo construction...

Instead of iron, which is what we're used to seeing in the States, Hong Kong construction companies use bamboo for scaffolding due to its combination of strength and flexibility. You see it everywhere, including right outside our apartment, so I thought I'd take a short video to give you an idea...




...there plenty of window glare, and my Macbook Pro isn't the easiest to point-and-shoot, but hopefully you can make out the bamboo. Mostly I did this as a quick test of creating a blog video with Quicktime on the MacBook - not too bad. You'll see more (and more interesting ;>) videos later.

Our moving FAQ...

I think it's time to give some answers to frequently (and not-so-frequently) asked questions! In no particular order...

1. Where and what is Hong Kong?
   Have a look at the wikipedia entry - it's much more thorough than I can be here. ;>
2. Why are you moving to Hong Kong?
   Katherine was given a fantastic job offer from the University of Hong Kong, so we put on our little booties and marched right over.
   
3. How long will you be in Hong Kong?
   Katherine's initial contract at the University of Hong Kong is for three years, so we'll be here at least that long. Near the end of that, we'll see how we've enjoyed the experience (from both the working and living perspectives) and decide if we want to stay longer.
4. What will you miss the most?
   Friends and family are top of the list, but I expect I'll also miss things like Eastern Carolina (and South Carolina) pulled pork BBQ, good pizza (though Hong Kong may have some - I'll dedicate myself to discovering it), all sorts of Cajun food, and immediate access to certain sports / TV shows / movies. There will probably also be some life details, which we completely take for granted, that we don't yet realize we'll miss.
5. What are you most excited about?
   Katherine is probably most excited to return to her family and start her new career as a professional linguist. For me, it's probably the chance to learn and grow in a place so completely different from my life's sphere of experience. I'm also really, really excited about the food!
6. Speaking of food, what's it like in Hong Kong?
   Incredible. No other way to describe it. You have access to the best and most varied Chinese food in the world, but also countless other cuisines. Food may be the single best reason to visit Hong Kong (other than to see us ;>)!
   
7. How about the weather?
   Right now, during the fall and winter, it tends to be in the 60s, but can get as cold as the 40s or as warm as the 70s. The humidity is low too, so it's rather nice. The summer is a completely different story (very hot and humid) and Spring brings typhoons.
8. Where are you living?
   To give us the most flexibility, we decided to start in a fully-furnished service apartment and, after three months, find something more permanent. The apartment is a quick walk (under 10 minutes) from the University of Hong Kong and has access to lots of nearby conveniences (grocery stores, farmer's markets, boutiques, bakeries, restaurants, public transportation, etc).
   
9. Can I come visit?
   You bet! In fact, we very much want you to! Things are a little squeezed in our service apartment right now, but as soon as we have a more permanent place (no later than May 2008), we'll have a guest bedroom with your name on it. All you'll need to do is reserve the time and save up for the flight.
10. If I clean your place every day, can I live with you?
    Maybe. How are your cooking and market bargaining skills?
    
11. Where are you working?
    Katherine is an assistant professor in the University of Hong Kong School of English. I'm keeping my job with the University of Michigan Medical School and working remotely full-time.
    
12. How are you handling your taxes?
    I talked to about 30 different accountants (both in the USA and Hong Kong) and found that the Hong Kong branch of Delottie had the best combination of comprehensive service, friendly people, expertise, and reasonable price. Not that it's cheap - it isn't - but I'd rather be safe than sorry with my slightly complicated tax situation (working for a US institution while living abroad).
13. Will you be double-taxed?
    During the first year, it is likely that I will be, but once I establish that I've lived in Hong Kong for a year, then I'll become eligible for a complete US income tax exemption. I'll still owe Hong Kong tax, but that will only be about 12%, which is less than half what I pay in US tax each year.
    
14. How about your banking?
    I looked at a number of international banks but found CitiBank to be the best fit for my particular situation. I'll keep a CitiBank account open in the USA (to receive my paycheck direct deposits) and a different CitiBank account open in Hong Kong (so I can easily move US currency into Hong Kong Dollars at no charge). Katherine will also have an account open in each territory, but her US account won't be touched very often.
15. What's your favorite color?
    Katherine and I, coincidentally, both like green best.
    
16. What stuff are you taking?
    Mostly books, DVDs, clothes, linens, and non-electric kitchen elements. We didn't take any furniture and only a select few electric appliances (XBox 360, PlayStation 3, laptops, hard drives, etc.)
    
17. How did you move it all?
    We looked at about six international movers and chose the Hong-Kong-based Links Relocations to handle the transition (they, in turn, contracted with Meyers Van Lines to handle the USA portion). We weren't in any real hurry to get everything to Hong Kong, so we chose to save some money and have Links put our stuff in an ocean-bound shared cargo container (the container doesn't set sail until it is filled, and we only occupy a tiny chunk). It should take about two months for everything to arrive and, all told, cost around $3,500.
    
18. How did you move your cat?
    Fui Fui flew on our Continental flight in a special pet-safe area of the cargo hold. Before he could fly, though, we had to fill out quite a lot of paperwork (involving our local vet, a USDA-certified vet in Lansing, MI, the Michigan Department of Health, and the Hong Kong Department of Agriculture and Fishery) to prevent quarantine. It was an awful lot of work, mostly handled by Katherine, but it was well worth it to make sure our little family stayed intact through the move.
19. How are you going to use the electronics you brought?
    Hong Kong uses a different power standard from the USA (220V, 50Hz), so you might think it a challenge to make use of what little electronic equipment we toted with us. Fortunately, a large amount of recent electronics are being produced with external transformers (little bricks that sit outside of the equipment and are connected to the power cable) which know how to handle a wide array of power standards. The only challenge really is finding the right kind of cable to swap in (replacing the USA power outlet plug with one that'll fit in a Hong Kong wall). This is true for every piece of equipment we brought except for the XBox 360. In it's case, we need to get a different external transformer and I'm hoping to take care of that in the next day or two.
    
20. How will you stay in contact with everyone?
    Skype, baby! It's a brilliant all-in-one communication tool that will let us have video, audio, and text chats with people all over the world...free of charge! My parents and I have already had a very successful video chat, so we know it works well.
    
21. Why is the sky blue?
    Wikipedia seems to know.
    
22. How will you be watching Hokie football?!
    Really, this question should have been listed first (since I know all of you are most interested to hear the answer), but I thought I'd leave you in suspense for a little while. ;> A good buddy and colleague of mine at the University of Michigan, Vince, has a Slingbox (which allows you to access your TV through the Internet). He offered to let me use it from Hong Kong so I could watch VT play Kansas in the Orange Bowl come January 3rd. God bless him! After the Orange Bowl, I'll have about eight months to figure out how to see all of the games next season (some of which I'll see in person). Go Hokies!

Okay - I think that's a pretty good start. If you have further questions, bring 'em on!

Katherine's poor foot!

Katherine had a little accident yesterday as we were exploring our neighborhood for the first time...


It's a grade 1 sprained ankle. The yellow skin discoloration comes from the treatment she received from a Hong Kong "bone doctor" (a special kind of Chinese herbal doctor who treats these sorts of injuries) about a block from our place. Hong Kong Island is extremely hilly (similar to San Francisco in certain areas) and, as we were window shopping for some necessities, Katherine missed a step on a staircase and took a tumble. Fortunately she didn't hurt anything else and she's resting comfortably at home now.

For the Red Dwarf fans in the audience...

So, when we arrived in our service apartment, I noticed that many of our appliances had a special brand name...












(stovetop, microwave, and refrigerator door, respectively)

Smeg, as it turns out, is an Italian appliance manufacturer. Until now, though, I thought of it only as a slang word dreamed up by the writers of Red Dwarf. I'm so happy to have a little smeg in the apartment. ;>