Coming Home!

Craig & I took a ferry from the mainland to Hong Kong yesterday, lugging with us practically all my possessions in the world plus a few of his (skillfully packed into four suitcases, two carry-on bags, a computer case, and two small book bags by Craig). We enjoyed first class service, which included sliced cantaloupe, my favorite fruit here at the moment. I cannot believe I waited until the last week of living in China to try Chinese cantaloupe. It is crispy, almost like a good apple or Asian pear. It's sweetness is explosive but not excessive -- absolutely stunning, especially to someone who had no high standards for any cantaloupe upon trying it the first time.

Anyhow, the cantaloupe was not actually the highlight of our trip here. For me, it was having my Chinese debit card eaten whole by an ATM machine at the stop between ferries. You see, I bought tickets for Ferry #1 from Zhuhai to HK using RMB. No problem. Here in HK, where we needed to buy tickets for Ferry #2, I had to use Hong Kong Dollars (HKD), so I went to the ATM (which was completely undaunting --- this came with no warning) to get some moolah and *BAM* I suddenly had a mini-crisis to deal with. I had no useful currency on me, and no way to access it through my bank account.

I spent about 45 minutes on an emergency telephone (with a 2 minutes time limit on usage that could be enforced with a maximum sentence of $1000 and 2 months imprisonment) being routed from one bank and branch and department to another only to learn that nothing could be done until I physically showed up at a bank.

I went in search of a bank, leaving poor Craig to watch the luggage. This was the best part of the adventure for me. I got explore on my own without the hindrance of bags. [I wished I could bring Craig along, and honestly toyed with the idea of dumping our big bags and bringing along only the computer case... but, no, I opted for patience and found a bank, changed a wad of my RMB to HKD, and went back to the original plan of heading to Discovery Bay (where our friends live) with all bags still in tow.] I walked through IFC Mall, and I felt transported back home to Polaris Fashion Place, but with a metropolitan twist that I never see in Ohio. People were speaking a fabulous assortment of languages in various accents, and most people looked as though they were more ready to be seen than to see. Having punked myself out in a beater, fingerless gloves, cargo shorts, and a mound of messy curls on my head, I felt perfectly out of place. At my height, I guess I am always ready to be seen, but I was sooooo obviously a tourist. Not even teens were dressed like me, here.

Ferry #2 was impressively quick, but we were later told that our ferry was only middling in speed, and could be beaten twice over by higher-speed ferries. Yikes. We were met at the ferry terminal by our friends' daughter and their helper, then brought home to relax and, later, eat a fabulous home-cooked meal of chicken and mashed potatoes. The highlight of dinner was an onion soup that has inspired me to learn to make onion soups as one of the basic staples of my coming month's diet. That will only last until I can get my hands on some early winter squash (that will start coming in season in August, right? Oohhhh, I hope it does. I already miss pumpkin soup!).

It's nearly 9am, so I am getting anxious to move out and see HK!

... I can't believe I'll be home in two days...