Damned Soul in This Dress

Either I am not made for Hong Kong, or Hong Kong doesn't like me very much, or both.

Half a year ago, I went to Hong Kong for a week, then I flew to Indonesia.

Then now, I came back for two weeks, even got myself a employment contract, then I almost blew it by flying to Canada.

I just can't stay in Hong Kong very long!


Either Hong Kong and Indonesia has made me a ruder person, or it's the stress of the death of a family member, or all of it combined. But I am not having a very good time in Canada.

On top of a lot of family stress, which I shouldn't post here, because they also read my blog, I am also noticing my "reverse cultural shock" quickly.

I didn't thought nine months was a long time to leave Canada, but it's enough to put me in shock when I come back. It was SO recent that I lived in the Papua and Lombok kampungs, and the super jam-packed city called Hong Kong, I find it hard to accept that suddenly, I find myself in Canada again.

As I was driven to my uncle's house from the airport, I notice everything is familiar: the city buses, the wide and clean road, the business buildings, the houses... so I don't know why I am so shocked, maybe I am shocked that I used to feel I belong here, because suddenly, all these seem so foreign to me.


And obviously I don't belong. Today, I went back to my brother's apartment. My brother has supposedly activated my key card, which works fine on the elevator, but I just found out it doesn't work in the main entrance and backdoor exit. It happens, right? No problem. Except I stood in the rain shaking the door for a full 15 minutes with no management person ever noticing there is something wrong. Hello? We pay management fee to have you take care of the building. WHERE are you when we need you?? If you are going to lock us out of the building, you might as well put a staff at the staff desk, or at least, in front of the security camera monitor? Or put in a bell?

I was quickly losing patience when my mother told me in chinese to "ask that guy, he works here." So I grabbed a busy looking guy in uniform who just walked past us. I explained our problems, he told me to follow. My (still grieving) grandma could hardly follow, so I just let them wait outside while I followed him to the security office. Tadah, nobody's home, what a surprise! We banged on the glass, we knocked, we shouted, nobody's home.

So the staff told me to come back later or call their number and walked me back to the apartment and let us in. NICE GUY, right?

Right, except my mom didn't tell me that he isn't in the management team, and managing the key card isn't his duty, which I assumed it to be. Which SUCKS.

I met up with my grandma and my mom in the building, right away I start explaining to them in Chinese what's going on, the staff went into the elevator.

A minute later, the elevator door opens again, the same guy poke his head out:

"you know what, I was being nice to you, I spend a lot of my time helping you out and you didn't even say thank you, you might as well XXXXXXX (censored for young reader!)"

"Right, I forgot. Thank you!" I said, not even trying to be pleasant, because neither was my problem solved nor was I feeling very pleasant.

He basically repeat what he said, and I lose more of my patience. "So I said THANK YOU, what else do you want?"

He tells me that I don't mean what I said and just shuts the elevator door in my face. It sucks, because:

1) I think it's important to be polite and I was sincerely apologetic that I forgot to thank him

2) My personal/ family problems has left two persons feeling grumpy, ripped off, pissed. Not to mention my poor, watching mother and grandma.


Really, the last thing I need is to be sweared at AFTER my uncle's funeral, mixed with other family stresses, when I am sleep deprived, wet and cold from the frogging vancouver spring weather, AND AT MY OWN FAULT.

I have always hated those rude, thankless people who take nice people for granted. I, incidentally, have become one of them.

Welcome to growing up.