Culture shock - Blogabond

On landing we felt rough thanks the the wonderful plane journey and highly edible finnish food so we were looking forward to getting to the hostel to settle down and have a nap and a shower, however upon arriving we were told we could not check in till 1pm. Given that it was 10am when we arrived at the hostel, this caused us some concern. 17 hours of travelling left is in somewhat of a delicate state. It was at this time that we we introduced to the joys of culture shock.

Many people throw the term around but I'll be honest, until that first day in Hong Kong I had never truly understood it. To be thrown into a genuine state of shock by the differences in culture is a daughnting experience. Wandering round Kowloon in the middle of the day, overheated, tired and in need of some cleaning up, we were not prepared to take on a mega city like Hong Kong. When even basic premisis that you take for granted such as opening times of shops and being able to decifer the contents of a KFC menu are not true, it does send you into genuine shock. As a result, the first day or so was quite tentative and we were very withdrawn in our exploration (on a side note though, we discovered that Pizza Hut in Hong Kong is very sophisticated, check the link if you don't believe us. http://www.pizzahut.com.hk/tc/home.html).

Hong Kong offers some spectacular sights and sound. In one day you can

Victoria Peak

take in the remarkable sights like the top of Victoria Peak and then go on to see the traditional backstreet night market just off Nathan Road.

The language barrier is the biggest issue at first. Not even being able to read most signs make getting around and communicating very difficult but the ex-colony status of Hong Kong means there's pleanty of English speakers around. The big test is entering mainland China.

Mal

written by

Mal and Laura on August 9, 2007 from Hong Kong (historical), Hong Kong

from the travel blog: A bit of China and Vietnam

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omg I'm not surprised you were shocked. Post long bloody flight I'd be close to biting someone's ear off.
Hope you guys are 'settling in' as much as you can when constantly on the move.
Oh and some pictures of Laura please...unless she abandoned you at the airport..

a x x

written by anna on August 13, 2007

I'll try, but she's camera shy

written by

Mal and Laura on August 13, 2007

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