A big (and very fast move)

Craig (the inimitable Weapon of Mass Imagination) and I have just got to Hong Kong, after what must be one of the craziest weeks we've ever had.

Craig had been applying for jobs in Hong Kong since about February, when we were still in Canada.  Up until about last Wednesday, this had not been going well.  But then, on Wednesday night, I noticed a post on Facebook from a friend living in HK, that a school was needing a native English teacher, and was anyone interested.  Craig put his hand up, and was offered the job on Friday night, and was required to start work on Thursday, September 1st.  So, after a mad rush of a few days, we left Tasmania on Monday night, and Australia early on Tuesday morning, making it the fastest international move I've ever made.  I can't imagine one faster, unless it was prompted by a need to escape the law!

We're currently staying in a hotel while we find an apartment near to Craig's school, and get settled in.  I envision a lot of trips to Ikea (oh yes...they have ikea here!!) and similar stores in the near future. Of course there's tons of stuff to do here too, purely touristy stuff like Madame Tussuad's, Victoria Peak, maybe even Hong Kong Disneyland.  There's also amazing parks, and beautiful temples.  And then the markets...oh my.  I figure I can justify market shopping while we're settling in because we can probably find some house stuff there. 

China is just a few hours away by train, so I hope soon that Craig and I can go to Guangzhou and Foshan so I can show him around the places that I used to go during my time there. 

We've got tons of time though!  The initial contract for Craig is 2 years, so we have no need to rush.  My previous trips to Hong Kong have been only for a week at a time, and were very touristy trips, so I'm really looking forward to getting to know Hong Kong better.  This will probably involve learning a good bit more Cantonese than I already speak, and learning to read more traditional Chinese.  Thankfully, since I was last in Hong Kong, the usage of Mandarin has gone up a lot, so I'm not completely screwed.

I also hope that I will be more on top of things with this blog than I was with my last attempt.  I have noticed that the new blogger is much improved, so maybe I won't feel quite so much like throwing things at my computer while blogging.