Guy Meets Hong Kong

Hong Kong. So far, not so great. It's been a roller coaster ride since my arrival. I left Beijing not knowing how to feel. My first destination was Shanghai, where I stayed for a few days. I had an alright time, though ultimately I don't think I would want to live there. I just didn't really enjoy the overall feel of the city. I won't go into details because it just seems unnecessary at this point. Occasionally, I would acknowledge my departure from Beijing, but I just could not fully comprehend it. Even now, it seems so weird to think that I've left Beijing. I'm not trying to live there again, so I may visit at some point, but who knows? I feel like my time there was so brief. It's already sort of a distant memory to me. I know that a year and a half is not that long in the scheme of things, but it's a decent amount of time. I mean, that was my home for that time period. I don't know, but anyways. I'll discuss Hong Kong and what's going on here.

Goodbye filthy Beijing, Hello Paradise!

So as promised, someone from the company that I was going to be working for picked me from the airport. Everything was on track. He hooked me up with a new sim card for my phone, provided me with all kinds of information about the company and living here in Hong Kong, etc. And man, the bus ride from the airport to the hotel the company arranged for me was awesome. I felt like I was travelling through some kind of jungle. It was a pleasant change from Beijing. It was a gorgeous day and lush greenery surrounded me.

So I'm going to sum this up as best I can. After getting dropped off at the hotel, I got a call from the Vice Principal from the company. He told me was he going to swing by, and we would have dinner and then meet up with some other people from the company for some drinks at one of the guys' apartments. I wasn't feeling that a whole lot, but come on. You can't turn down an invite on your first night with a new company. So I hung out there for a while, had a good time, met some people, and then made my way to meet up with some friends I met in HK during my last visit. Had a good time with them, though I wasn't thrilled about getting back to my hotel at 6 in the morning. Oh well, guess I'll sleep when I'm dead. Haha.

Worth my life…right? Right.

The next day I set out with two people from the company to go searching for an apartment for me. I gave them a range between 5-10k (HKD). Problem with that was, everything we looked at was 10K and more. I figured before my arrival that I would be paying close to 10, but even so. Some of those prices were throwing me off and not worth it in my opinion. Besides that, every apartment was virtually the same apartment. Literally. The only difference seemed to be the view. After checking out a few, I asked to check out this other area I had heard of a little on the outskirts of the real city parts. We made our way over there and checked out one place for 9k. It was a nice place, but the location and view wasn't really doing it for me. The agent told us she had another place that had an ocean view. The only problem was that it was listed for 12k. Despite that, I asked to take a look. She had me at ocean view. So we headed up there with the agents and from the start, the place was really nice. It was much bigger than the apartments I was looking at before with 3 bedrooms. Everything is tiled as well. I was already liking the place from that point, and then……my jaw hit the floor. We headed up to take a look at the roof and see the view. It was incredible. You look straight out and can't even take it all in. You have to turn left and right in order to see the immense beauty that the view offers. I was blown away. I wanted it. Now, bear in mind, all of the places I looked at were 10k and more aside from the other one here in Sai Kung. I could have bargained and played games, but I didn't even want to bother. Instead, I spoke to the agent and asked her what the best price was that I could get the place for. I told her that if the landlord said 11k, I would take it off her hands today. They called him up and sure enough, he said 11k. Done. The deal was all but sealed. The next day, I signed my life away on the lease and dropped a lot of money.

Let's backtrack a little bit. Now, prior to arrival, I had spoken via email with my company many times. There was a lot of email correspondence because I asked a lot of questions and wanted to make sure we were all on the same page. Having done this before, I knew what questions to ask and I knew what I wanted. Everything was set, aside from one little thing. That little thing turned out to be a huge thing. I didn't sign the contract beforehand. Stupid mistake. Big mistake. But you know, I did not foresee any problems, and the boss just stated that we would sign it upon my arrival. I figured that was fine because it would be more official than using an electronic signature. I saw no problem with it. Stupid mistake. Big mistake. I had spoken with two of the head guys from the company about starting work. They both kept mentioning how I was going to be starting right away and working as the head teacher in most of the classes. The schedule was already made and what not. My problem with that was that the contract stated such: 7. Mentoring Relationship: The employee is required to observe classes that are presently being taught by A+ Education teachers. The mentoring relationship with a designated instructor will allow for the employee to become familiar with the teaching methodology implemented at A+ Education. At a mutually agreed upon date, the employee will commence instructing classes as the sole teacher. Also, this was taken directly from an email: 4) Training: You would sit in classes for a couple weeks with another teacher to observe and get some training in the class teaching methodology we use. Having known that such was stated prior to, I was a little concerned and quite frankly uncomfortable with the idea of jumping right into teaching classes by myself. Can I do it? Yes, of course. That wasn't the point. The point was that the contract stated such and the head principal himself confirmed that in email. So when this was brought to my attention, I stated my concern to both of those guys and stated what was written in contract as well. They were both kind of iffy on the whole thing, not really sure what to say. Both said in one way or another that may not be the case. I continued to press with my concern and what was written, yet it seemed my point was just being ignored. Finally one of the guys said something along the lines of, 'Well, if that's the case, we'll just have to cancel the classes.' That gave me some relief.

After signing the lease, and being on this awesome high after obtaining such an amazing little villa, I walked down to the pier after purchasing some Subway for a late lunch. I was sitting there when I received a call from the head boss at this company. He just questioned how things were going, I told him all was well, blah blah blah, and then brought up the same point I had with the other two guys. Right after I stated my concern, he said to me, 'I don't like this conversation. So, you come in tomorrow at 12:00, and we'll see if we still have a relationship.' I questioned his meaning and reluctantly said alright and we hung up. I'll tell you, I felt sick to my stomach. I didn't know what to think. I knew it wasn't looking good, though. And right after signing the lease. Great. Two of the guys from the company swung by later because one had a friend getting rid of some beds. Considering I was prepared to sleep on the floor, I was very appreciative. The timing couldn't have been better. I told the VP (one of the guys dropping off the beds) what had occurred on the phone, and he told me not to think too much and just not to take it to heart or worry about it. That made me feel a little better, but I still wasn't feeling too grand.

I went into the office the next day, and after waiting for a few minutes, I went in and talked with the boss. He opened with something like, 'I really don't feel too good about this.' Maybe I shouldn't have, but I needed to state my feelings so I replied with, 'Well why are you not feeling good about this? I'm the one who shouldn't be feeling too good about things.' Immediately following that reply, he told me I blew it. It didn't matter what I said, everything was turned around on me to make it look like I was the most confrontational person ever. He told me I was. I stated that I was trying to be as non-confrontational, polite, and respectful as possible. To that, he laughed at me. He mocked me, put me down, and told me I wasn't a teacher. He told me that everybody found me confrontational and that nobody wanted to work with me. When I told him that I didn't get that impression from anyone, he told me he didn't care and that those were the facts. It was so belittling and overwhelming that to be honest with you, I was just trying not to break down. It was all so overwhelming. I just arrived. Just signed a lease. Just left everything in Beijing. I remained weak and humble and eventually just bit my tongue and let him speak. When I tried to express why I wanted to observe classes and related the subject to my past job, he told me he didn't care about my previous employment. I told him it pertained to this job, and add to ask him to allow me to speak several times. I had written in my phone what was written on the contract, which he apparently had memorized anyways, and it made no difference. I told him that observing classes was something that attracted me to this job so that I could see other teachers and learn some of their methods, and see some different ways of teaching so that ultimately I could perform my own job better. To that, the boss responded, 'That's it? So what?' I had no response for that. That whole topic was completely ignored. When I had a chance to speak with the other guys, I said to their faces 'Hey, if you had a problem with me, why didn't you just let me know?' Not in a rude way. They both told me that wasn't the case and they both felt very bad and were very apologetic. I called up another one afterwards and got the same story. He disliked me so much that he took time out of his day to deliver me some beds? I may be wrong, but you don't tend to help the people you dislike. The whole situation was mind-boggling and extremely unpleasant. When we he finally finished speaking and I was out of words, he asked me how to end things between us. I had no idea. He finally banished all other costs and fees I might have owed, paid me the promised airfare bonus, and we parted ways. That may not be the end of it, though. We'll see.

I was sick over the whole thing, and since then I've applied to countless jobs, and gone on a few interviews. I've been eating up servings of humble pie and when I finish, I ask for some more. I really don't want to lose this place, not just because of the insane amount of money I'll lose, but because this is like a dream home for me. I have that amazing ocean in front of me, beaches not too far off, huge mountains behind me, and all kinds of other benefits. I'm outside the city, but not too far away. It's just so close to perfect, or so it seems. Besides, if I lose it, then it means that company wins. Well, if I get completely screwed; I'm going to speak with the Labor Department of Education in HK as recommended by one of the employees. I can also speak with the American Consulate and embassy. I may end up doing one or all of those regardless to take care of that asinine company. I may end up losing it all, but I'm not doing so without a fight. I'm going to go down swinging. Maybe it's all for the better. I mean it is one way or another because I have no desire to work with a company that operates like that. If things start out bad, it's usually a sneak preview of what's to come. That 'relationship' was obviously not meant to be. Perhaps, it was just the initial start of getting me to Hong Kong. I don't know. Right now, I'm not doing anything besides depleting my funds even more every day. I'm eating out every day because I have nothing to cook with, and I'm afraid to purchase anything because I don't know how long I'm going to be here or what will come of everything. It is what it is. Only time will tell.

My mood had been taking a turn for the worse. I was losing motivation, losing drive, and submitting to defeat. Nothing was working. In a way, it begins to take a toll on you. I didn't know what I was going to do. Go back to the U.S.? Go back to the mainland? I turned down a few jobs and interviews purely because of the pay they were offering. It wouldn't have worked. Well the other day, I had been walking back to my place after grabbing lunch. Earlier in the day and various other days, I had spoken with both friends and family concerning my situation. I had been kind of up and down on everything, sometimes feeling positive, sometimes feeling negative. That day turned into acceptance. I had decided to just accept my situation and accept everything that took place. A calmness had washed over me, and I was at peace with everything. I had been telling people two weeks before I would make preparations to leave HK, but I decided that there wasn't much of a difference between a week and a half and two weeks. I got back to my place, and I guess it was around 4:00 in the afternoon. I had followed up with one of the companies I had previously applied for earlier in the day, and I hadn't heard back from them so I decided to call them again. It was another financial company. Well, this time no one picked up. That was essentially my mental resignation. I decided I would go to the interview I secured with the one of the financial companies on the following day, which I knew I would most likely not obtain, and then start making plans to get out of HK. Ultimately, I had decided I would just go back to China, move to a cool area, and continue teaching if need be. That still may happen, but I guess we'll find out soon enough.

God has a sense of humor, though. Shortly after, I decided I would tackle some reading from the 5th book of A Song of Ice and Fire, and take a nap. Literally, right as I was laying down, I got a call from the other financial company. That laying down kind of signified my submission to HK, literally and symbolically. And yet, just before I got fully stretched out and comfortable – bam. Phone call. It was both ironic and comical. I was laughing about it afterwards. Just when I felt like all hope was lost, I got the call I was hoping for, keeping my dwindling flame alive.

So, yesterday (7/12), I had two interviews scheduled that I managed to get invited to. One was a very formal interview, the other was more of a meet and greet/interview. They were both in financial companies, so obviously my chances weren't great. I knew that. I have some sales and managerial experience which could be applied, but my overall credentials and experience in those fields lack. I figured it wouldn't hurt to try, though. I also thought maybe something else could come from them. Regardless of the outcome, I was determined to give good interviews and leave a good impression on the people I interviewed with. I researched both companies, took notes about them, got my outfit together, managed to gather up some reference letters last minute from previous employers, and took care of all the necessary preparations. I knew they were long shots at best, but I like long shots.

The first one went pretty well, although I think I could have done slightly better. There was one time when I completely lost my train of thought during something I was saying, but I still did a decent job. I think I did much better on my second interview. The guy I spoke with had told me he could meet me at the same place later in the day. He was originally going to be on his way to a tennis lesson, but ended up cancelling. It was a little more informal, which I thought could prove to be better. At the very least, I was more at ease and more comfortable. In my opinion, I handled myself well, spoke articulately, spoke accurately about the company with the notes I had memorized, and just made an overall good impression. I believe that the man I spoke with felt the same way because he had told me I was intelligent and threw in some other compliments as well. I really enjoyed speaking with him on both a business and a casual level. Despite my under qualifications, for some reason, he was still willing to come to where I was and speak with me. I'm not sure why because he even acknowledged all that to me in person, but I guess his curiosity inspired him to get a feel for what kind of a person I was anyways. I'm thankful he took the time to do so. He was straightforward with me, which I also appreciate, and told me there wasn't much he could do for me in terms of giving me a job with his company. No problem, I understand. I expected as much. But. Yes, there's a 'but' in there. He wanted to give me the contact information of a friend of his for the potential to work in a position in that company. Great! It's not about what you know, it's about who you know. Right? Right. When someone wants to recommend me to someone else or give me someone to contact, I'm more than willing to accept. I need all the help I can get. Anyways, I was proud of how professionally I had conducted myself.

I had another interview with a school early in the afternoon today (7/16), but after reading over some of the info, and seeing when I would be starting, I had no choice, but to tell the interviewer I would be leaving. I was honest and just told him my situation. I don't want to waste my time or his, but that's all it seemed like I did this morning. Fortunately or unfortunately, I can't be sitting around till August, be it the beginning or the middle. Both are too late for me. If I don't have a guaranteed job, I won't stay here another month. The guy was understanding and stated that we should keep in touch should there be any changes or for the possible future. Sounds good. I'm done applying for jobs in HK. In total, I've applied for 112 jobs since May. 52 of those went out after my arrival. I have not been idle, and I've done all I can. I'm not mad or upset anymore. I guess it will all come down to this last possible job opportunity, which by the way, would be a dream job for me. The guy I'm meeting with is not the actual recruiter, but he can help me fast track things and get a foot in the door if I'm interested. Fingers crossed. If not, that's that. I may lose a lot of money. If I'm lucky, I'll get some back. Either way, I'm content. It's out of my control. Things happen.

"I shall call him Squishy, and he shall be mine. And he shall be my Squishy."

Other notes of interest – I was wondering when I would see a snake out here in Sai Kung. It didn't take long. I saw one a few days ago slithering across the path as I was making my way back to my villa. It's possible it was a cobra, but more than likely a rat snake. As previously stated, with no refrigerator and the fear of buying anything for long term with my situation so unclear, I eat out every day besides breakfast. That's getting kind of old, but at least I have a large variety of places that I can walk to. I've found a few small geckos from time to time in my place. Pretty cool. As one person said on a forum I searched, 'They're great! They eat the mozzies!' I then had to look up what the hell mozzies were. They're mosquitos if you didn't know. Probably some UK lingo.

Last, but certainly not least – I went on an awesome hike, which led me to the most beautiful, cleanest, most pristine beach I've ever been on. I'll discuss that in my next post. It was incredible. If I leave HK, I'll be sure to do some more exciting things before my exit. I'll know soon enough. Preparations for an exit may be starting after tomorrow.

Thank you to all family and friends for your encouragement. I couldn't do it without you.

Stay tuned.

- JD

I know what your thinking and yes, Hong Kong is that awesome and it really exists.