Swiss Hit

I like Switzerland. Granted, I've only been once (today), I didn't see all that much (the inside of a hotel and a training room) and I didn't stay for long (22 hours, approximately) but even so: I like Switzerland.

I got an upgrade in the hotel, everybody in the workshops I ran was friendly, Swiss Air were quietly efficient and gave me a lovely sandwich and, best of all, I went on a tram! Can you believe I'm lucky enough to get paid to do this?

Life goes on

As you’ll know from previous entries, S’s father died last week. I don’t want to write too much about that because it’s not my place to do so - it’s private and I don’t want to intrude. But there is something about what happened which is stuck in my brain and I’m hoping that, by expressing it, I might shift it a little.

After he died - and by that I mean literally right afterwards, in the first hour afterwards - I was struck by two things. Firstly by how much waiting around there was: things needed to be organised, paperwork squared away, there was a process to be followed, much of which didn’t directly involve the family, requiring them to stand around and wait, although it was never very clear what they were waiting for. 

The second thing that struck me is so banal as to be almost beneath comment and that’s the fact that, even in that strange hiatus while we waited, life just... went on. The TV carried on playing and we half-heartedly watched it. Doctors and nurses bustled up and down the corridor. The family made small-talk, occasionally able to manage a chuckle at some joke or memory; we stood around, shuffled from foot to foot, looked at notices on the notice-board and everything just carried on as normal.

Many years ago, when J and I were together, I was there when her grandmother died: I watched it happen and I remember being struck by the same thing. Life, for those remaining, just carries on. I don’t mean just on the macro level - the world keeps turning, the sun comes up the next day, all that - I mean for individuals, too.  After someone has died, even though the world has stopped for them, even though the world may be incomprehensibly different for you, life still goes on. You carry on breathing; your heart keeps beating; you have to occupy your time.  And that was the thing that struck me, really.  I mean, what are you supposed to do afterwards? I felt like everything else should stop, too.

I’ve been lucky, so far: I haven’t lost anyone close to me for a very long time. I’m overdue and it terrifies me.  Each New Year’s Day, a small voice in my head asks “is this the year it happens?” It scares me and I think the thing that scares me most is that, after it happens, life goes on.

Hellos and goodbyes

Well, I’m mostly packed and, after today’s outings, I’ll be heading back to the UK. I’ll be back to HK for more meetings at the start of May and I’m very much hoping that, when I make my next visit, I’ll have my investment visa, allowing me to work here - meaning I can finally move out.

This latest week in HK has been something of a trial – there were a lot of firsts.  It was the first time I’ve been to HK and not stayed with Mr & Mrs L and I wasn’t sure what difference that would make.  I’ve never been to HK without staying with them and without spending the majority of my time with them.  As I flew here, I was asking whether I really loved HK or whether I just loved spending time with them and that the city was immaterial.  As much as I love spending time with them, I’m pleased to be able to say that I love the city.  This week was very different and I saw a very different side of the city but still a whole lot of fun.

I also got to meet most of S’s family – including her daughter (never have I wanted an eleven year old girl’s approval so much), her cat, her sister and two of her three brothers.  Meeting her siblings was unexpected and occurred under very sad circumstances.  S’s father was in hospital and sadly died yesterday morning.  It was a terrible thing to happen but also a bit of a release for him, as he was suffering and the doctors didn’t seem to know what to do for the best.  I was very glad that I was here to support S and I did, briefly, get to meet him (with the family’s approval) at the weekend.  I’ve seen pictures of him (S looks a lot like him) and he seems like he was a very cool guy; I wish I could have known him better.

But, as S often says, “this is life” (Mr L often says something very similar, which makes me smile) and we have to deal with it.  The funeral ceremonies are on 25^th and 26^th April, which I won’t be here for, sadly, so if you can keep a warm thought in your heart on those days, I’d appreciate it.  So, now it’s back to packing and practicing my Cantonese (S’s daughter is teaching me some handy phrases: Cantonese is brilliant for expressing great disbelief and for sounding really, really pissed off); we’re off for Dim Sum shortly (my favourite) and then out for the afternoon before we come back home and I’ll cook dinner.  After which, it’s the airport and the snowy UK…

Random Thoughts from Abroad (Part Two)

(Or Hong Kong by Foot – Part 2)

Just because you can see it, don’t assume you can actually get to it

I’ve talked about walking around Hong Kong before but the lessons I learned didn’t stop me trying again recently.  I suppose the biggest thing to bear in mind if you do decide to walk around HK is that just because you can see your destination doesn’t mean you can actually reach it.  For instance, I had a meeting in the Bank of America tower recently.  It’s a nice tower – pretty big, as towers go.  Just to help people like me, it has Bank of America written in large letters on the top of it, so it’s really difficult to miss. 

In fact, I could easily see it; I was barely fifty meters away from it.  I was so close I could almost smell the damned thing.  But could I work out how to reach the place? Could I buffalo!  Between the building and where I stood was a multilane freeway, half a dozen pillars supporting an overhead road and a number of flower beds.  Ten minutes later I arrived at the building, almost weeping with frustration and exhausted from the number of stairs I’d had to navigate. 

Lifts

Of course, arriving at the building in which your meeting is being held is not, as I had hoped, the end of the journey.  Once you reach the building you have to negotiate the lifts.  Now, in my experience in the UK, lifts are fairly straightforward.  You get in, you press the button which corresponds to the floor you want and then the lift takes you there.  In HK, things are different.  Because the buildings are (a) so large and (b) contain so many different companies and offices, the buildings have to take a different approach.  So, to speed things up, not every lift goes to every floor.  You can end up feeling really stupid in front of everyone else when you realize that you’re taking a round-trip in the wrong elevator.

So, before you get into the lift, make sure it takes you where you need to go: you wouldn’t be the first person to get to the office block in time, and yet be late for the meeting because you got lost in the lift system.  Oh, and on the subject of being late – try to avoid this, obviously, but also try to avoid being early.  While in the UK, being early is a sign of respect, in Asia it can be as disrespectful as being late because your host may feel obligated to entertain you before the meeting, something he or she may not be very keen to do.

Now wash your hands

Whenever you’re out and about, it’s quite possible that you might need the loo.  Should that happen to you, there are a couple of things that you should bear in mind, lest you get caught short.  The first thing to realize is that, if you need the loo, you’re going to need a key.  With the exception of the big malls, toilets in most places will be locked and you’ll need to ask in a nearby shop for a key; understandably, to get the key, you’re probably going to have to buy something.  In this instance, Starbucks is your friend – there are about a million of them around the city, and for the price of a cuppa, you can have a key. And, as we all know, there have been occasions when that’s felt like a very cheap deal.

Once you’re in there (and here I’m speaking to the male readers) you should bear in mind that the sound of flushing from inside a cubicle shouldn’t be taken as an indication that the occupant has finished or is in any way preparing to exit.  In fact, he’s probably just settling down for round two.  The moral of this story is, don’t leave it to the last minute to find a toilet!

At the end of the day

Switch on the television and you’ll HK TV is really, really bad and mostly seems to consist of large groups of people standing together in brightly lit rooms, arguing loudly. I don't think understanding the language would improve matters although, it has to be said, the actresses do whiney and "pouty" really, really well and the cameramen have got that whole “zoom in on the eyes to dramatic music” thing down to an art-form.

 

The other type of programme seems to be made by children's TV presenters on industrial quantities of LSD and consists of neon colours, flashing graphics and an incredible amount of screaming and hysterical laughter. Again, entertaining but in a certain "what the holy hell is going on" kind of way.  I recommend these programmes, if for no other reason than they have to be seen to be believed.

I don't mean to be all superior about this - god knows, British TV has produced more than its fair share of clunkers - and I genuinely have a sneaking affection for a lot of the programmes I saw. In fact, ten minutes only was all it took to get me hooked on one Chinese soap – I need to find out whether those two women really are long-lost sisters with a shared cockroach phobia.  At least, I think that’s what was going on…