Early June
It has been a long time since I have written anything for this blog. This is not, of course, because my life has become boring and I have nothing to say, but rather because I have been rather busy with not enough time to think about things let alone write about them. Actually, that is not true, I am thinking about things quite a lot, but now mostly from the perspective that this big adventure is finite in time and will be over all too soon.
In fact, as I write, I am sitting alone in our apartment, with a beautiful breeze blowing in through the window. Both things are unusual, in fact I should probably go out and take some pictures because the wind has brought a rare clarity to the air and the lights from the buildings across the harbor could be captured well. But the alone part is because Jacob and Duncan left about 10 days ago and Elizabeth also set put on her travels last week. We bought round the world tickets to get here and home and so they are utilizing them well. Elizabeth has a Japan/Denmark/Italy/England/USA plan and Duncan and Jacob are visiting Germany/Finland/Italy/England/USA. You will note the overlap of the latter parts and I will be joining them in Italy in 2 weeks time. I get to travel less than everybody else because I have a commitment to work here for 10 months and so cannot leave until mid-June.
I did a workshop today at Shue Yan University, a private institution here in Hong Kong. There were 4 of us general education Fulbrighters there and apart from noticing how easily and well we work together, it was also clear that this was one of the last times that we were going to be doing so. We all are going back to our regular jobs by different routes and at different times, but I am not sure that any of us are looking forward to it. Life here, both professionally and socially/culturally is so exciting, interesting, fast-paced, ever-eventful and just plain damn fun, that nothing is likely to measure up. Perhaps inevitably, a passage of your life where you get to go off and do something different in another place for a limited amount of time is going to be more interesting than the routine, but here that has been taken to another degree. Firstly the project itself is of enormous scale and significance. The education system in Hong Kong is attempting to reinvent itself in a very courageous and far-reaching way. To have the opportunity to assist with such a transformation is rare. Of course, it can also be frustrating and feel like it's going nowhere, but even that is much easier to deal with when it is not your institution and that it really is up to others to make the decisions. Ten months is actually a good length of time, because it allows us to really get to understand what is going on here and make some useful contributions, but still permits us to be external, neutral and not partisan in the struggles that inevitably surround changes of this magnitude. Another important part about it is that do get to work as a team. It is an excellent way to work. - we learn from each other, spark ideas off each other, lend a ready ear when we are trying to figure out what is going on around us and are also good playmates. I guess on the larger scale of things we are rather similar and are all very enthusiastic about general education. But we also have our diversity, which contributes to the overall level of thinking. In fact, the level of discourse on the general/liberal education topic that can be had with this group is probably as high as you are going to find anywhere.
So the work has been wonderful but then Hong Kong has to be one of the most exciting places on earth, especially in comparison to rural Connecticut. I am not knocking Connecticut and there are aspects of it that I am eagerly anticipating (cool, crisp mornings, peace and quite, relatively clean air). But there are several fold more people in the housing development in which I live than there are in my home town. And this one is not particularly big by Hong Kong standards. I see more people on my walk to work in the morning than I do in a whole day back home. I am not going to talk about the food here, except to say that it is exceptional in terms of variety, availability, cheapness (if you go to the right places) and all round excellence (if you go to the right places and sometimes they are the same ones as in the previous phrase). Public transport, arts events, the ability to get out of the city in well under an hour, Premier League soccer on TV - the list could go on and on. Of course, there are downsides - just think of the inverse of the things I am looking forward to in Connecticut, but now is not the time to dwell on them.

Early July
I never quite go to post that last entry. Too many things to do in HK befo re I left and them limited internet access afterwards. A good period of time in Italy and England certainly made leaving Hong Kong easier, though it remains to see how it will be to reenter Connecticut.I I could write about World Cup and Wimbledon and weddings, but that somehow seems quite separate from Hong Kong and this blog. Except perhaps the World Cup, since many in HK are very involved in that. The day before I left, I visited one of the plusher malls and watched half of the Slovenia/Algeria game. Very big screen TVs, miniature mock stadiums, special promotions in all the stores. Ah for Hong Kong! I suspect they were more upset when England was knocked out than many here.