east meets west

So in a couple of days I'll be headed to Hong Kong, my favorite city in the world. It is truly a sight to see. The best way I can describe the looks of the city like this; take the lights of Las Vegas, the buildings of Manhattan and the harbor of Seattle and you get Hong Kong. As far as the culture goes... I'm not even gonna try.

I'm tagging along with my dad on a business trip, apparently I'm going as his translator. I'm ok with that because now he's at my mercy. Maybe I'll come up with some tacky phrase I'll trick him into saying, like "Wo shi ni da ba ba". Which is directly translated into "I am your daddy". I'll keep you all informed.

This is my first trip overseas for a reason other than missions. I'll have no team to follow or lead, no grand reason to "suffer" and no village to visit. It's going be different and I'm good with that. For the first time I'll have no mission accomplish and I'll really have time to really assess my presence there. I can really figure out if East Asia is the place for me and that I'm not just in love with going on short term trips because it's exciting or fulfilling.

Other than figuring out my place in Hong Kong, I really have no expectations. I'm hoping to see parts of the city I've never had the chance of seeing and hoping to see some of my favorite spots more than just once. One part I'm actually pretty excited about: getting away by myself. I'll be with my dad pretty much the whole time but getting away for an hour or two a day to explore the city is going to be great. Don't get me wrong, I love my dad but to spend every waking moment with him might be too much.

My dad and I will be in more places than just HK, we are actually going into China for a night. HK is technically not China but that is for another post. We'll be going in to a nearby major city just to the north. I'm excited for this because now my dad gets to see the China I love. I love HK, but not like I love China. We are going into a city I've never been to but I'm hoping to find some good food and see the city for an afternoon.

I'm looking forward to all this, I'm hoping to learn new things and to refine the things I already know. I know this will never happen but I want to be that guy who knows how to move about HK with no problems, to act like I've been there before and to be the guy that people ask travel advice from.