Home in Hong Kong
*The Intro*
I awake first to my alarm, then to birds dancing in the plumeria tree
outside my window. I get up, stretch, eat my yoghurt with fruit, drink green
tea and apple cider vinegar (when I’m in a good mood). Get dressed, careful
not to wear a necklace that I’ve already worn, for no other reason than that
I am determined to use everything I brought with me from California and
India. I walk to work where I am greeted by kind eyes, more tea and a long
list of todos before the day is through.
I am happy. Working hard. Using my brain, gifts and passions. So happy. (And
I would like to add that as I sit at a café and write this, there is a
horrible cover of “I’m Bad” blasting… gotta love Hong Kong.)
*The Disclaimer*
I have had new things I have wanted to update the world on daily… this is
not possible because a person’s only got so much energy. Therefore, this is
a lengthy update. I’ve broken it up into manageable sections. Just pretend
you are eating an elephant. So just read one at a time if daunting emails
freak you out (as they do me)…
*The Travel*
India was wonderful, just about as good as I had expected. I was able to
delay the goodbyes of some of my closest friends for month as we adventured
right up through the center of India with wedding receptions, trains,
cities, countryside and the Taj Majal to top it off (which blew my mind MUCH
more than I had expected).
As the weeks passed the goodbyes added up, until it was just a few of us in
Hong Kong, enjoying an extended layover (some more extended than others). My
plans to show my sister and friends my new home consisted mostly of getting
people to a place where it was legal to throw up. KFC in Bangalore: NOT
recommended no matter how cool it seems to get your Indian friends some
“home cookin’”.
And then, there I was, giving my last hugs goodbye and returning home… to
Teun Mun. I felt a notable peace. This just may have been the right decision
after all.
*The Work*
Crossroads has an amazing work environment. We’re all volunteers, so that
eliminates many negative vibes found in most offices. I find this fortunate
seeing as its technically my first office job. Each office space is themed
for a different nation we work with, each computer named for a different
city, each staff with their own distinct accent and own distinct way of
making fun of mine. You’d think a place where the staff of 80+ people from
Kazakhstan to Cameroon would be more cautious, but nobody takes themselves
seriously enough to be offended when made fun of… someone apologized for
making a generalization about “yanks” today… I found it hilarious. Its
great, there is so much laughter that I have found it more productive to
bring my iPod to work (as to not be distracted by the conversations around
me).
My first three days were marked with training, task sheets and writing
funding letters and working out minor shipping logistics. I love this. What
port is best when shipping to northern Zambia? How do you make a donor
understand the importance of job creation in the minority groups of Moldova?
What are we shipping to foster homes in Zimbabwe who are housing the
children abandoned when their parents had to leave the country to find work
after the government collapsed?
Then a typhoon hit the Philippines, an earthquake demolished parts of
Indonesia, a tsunami swept through Samoa… and just like that, I had a new
job description; Internal Disaster Response Coordinator. Daily meetings,
countless emails to partners on the ground in Sumatra and Manila, patience
building exercises while trying to phone areas* *Baguio as the rain is
pouring down over a makeshift clinic. Taking a two year process and cramming
it into two weeks so a container of relief goods can reach the hardest hit
areas of the Philippines. Days of calling contacts on the ground to find out
the immediate needs in landslide and flooded areas. Getting first hand
accounts and photos of the devastation of thousands of lives. Knowing these
hours I’m spending in front of the computer holds hope for so many thousands
more.
I’ve got my fingers on the pulse of what’s happening throughout the world,
both on disaster relief and ongoing needs like the food shortage in Kenya or
aid work in black flagged nations that I can’t mention electronically. It is
amazing, I know without a doubt that I am right where I should be. Right
were I have worked towards for years. And the people surrounding me, my
colleagues, they feel the same.
*The Life*
To top it off, I’ve been given and urban/organic farming side project. I
have ample places to start my own garden, I live between a mountain and an
ocean (both within walking distance), I have rock climbing buddies already,
live next to organic vegetable and fruit markets and just met a half dozen
surfers who know the one place to get a board and will take me two the two
places to catch waves around here (one of them where it’s more convenient to
camp on the beach than go for one day… uh, awesome.)! Ah, yeah, so exciting
it deserves a killer run on sentence. I really wasn’t expecting to have all
of the things I love here, but I do.
I was at BBQ with a bunch of ex-pats the other weekend. We were talking
about how nuts it is that we really didn’t have to change many of our habits
moving to Hong Kong. These were people from France, Panama, the Dominican…
and we are all able to live like we would have because it is just that way
here. In some ways it’s a shame, but it is also nice to have the comforts of
home. Even not making a salary, having already been used to a minimalist
lifestyle, I’m basically set with a roof over my head and food in my belly.
Strange though, Budweiser is an import, Boc Choi isn’t referred to as an
“Asian green” and buying local means it has a sticker that says “made in
China” (she remarked smugly).
*The Conclusion*
I know this has reached the point of being insanely long… that’s why I’ve
broken it up into pseudo chapters. Plus, chances are you haven’t heard from
me in more than two months and maybe you’re starting to miss me a little?
Maybe.
All these things to say, I appreciate all of your support through the last 6
months of my life and getting me here to a place my soul is at peace.
Emails, coffees, couches, benches, beaches, waves, bikes, cards, late
nights, movies, tears, laughs, beers, teas, dinners, walks, stars, homes,
hearts, arms… all of these things you have given and shared with me. I am so
grateful.
With loads of love being imported to you via the miracle of fiber optics,
courtney anne
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