visa schmisa

greetings from hong kong to all 2.4 of you that read this!

last time i was here was about 16 years ago, and either hk has changed a lot (possible, even likely) or i've grown up a lot and can more fully appreciate what it has to offer. a little of both i'd venture to say. for the past week (after arriving from vietnam) i've been seeing family, eating all of the culinary delights that hk has to offer, and shopping. people weren't joking when they said hk will break you. oh yeah, and the clubs are kinda off the hinges.

i remember being here when i was 13 and already topping out the clothes sizes, so i was a bit doubtful when the initiated would warn me not to spend too much here. but times, they are a-changin; clothes sizes are being made bigger for us furriners.... plus maybe the average hk woman is getting slightly larger (not sure, my cousins are pretty tiny), PLUS there's so much more than just clothes to buy. bags, accessories, grooming items... i used to giggle at hk fashions but it's matured and i've matured (maybe) and some of this shit is pretty tight. not literally.

my sister arrives tomorrow and she and i will embark on a full-fledged takeover of my cousin + wife's apartment. for hk standards, their place is really spacious, and i appreciate each and every comfort it offers. but my sister and i in the guest room, whoa. she's flying in from 3 weeks in india and nepal, and i would be venturing to guess she's got her fair share of luggage. yo, tambien. i managed to squidge everything i bought into one shopping bag (ok, i haven't actually purchased that much, thankfully) plus there's my luggage and the issue of where we will actually sleep, in square footage.

i would upload some pics but alas, they're all on my camera and my laptop is at home, all snug and cosy in its little vaio zip-up jacket.

waiting on a solution for my visa problem. right now the way it stands with china if you are an american is that you need two successive F visas of 30 days each (having to exit china after each one expires, reapply, then re-enter), then you can apply for the 6-month visa, which is great and all but on this type of visa you have to exit china every 30 days.

hello? wtf. flights to hk (what immigration considers 'out of china') are about $300 USD. that's my only solution?

more and more, things are pointing to - 'carolyn, you need a job. oh, and a job that will apply for a work permit for your ass.' or 'carolyn, you must look elsewhere or go home or something.'

carolyn does not have the ends to fly to hong kong every 30 days, as wonderful as this place is.

i've been able to see most everyone on my list (granted, the list is quite short) and hopefully tonight will be the last of it as the last friend is finally back from japan. still, i have no qualms staying in with my cousin + wife and watching inane, dramatic korean movies (ok, my cousin is usually watching football/soccer matches in the other room) with the exception of feeling like i'm some big, galumphing intruder on their quiet home lives.

today i spent here and not engaging in commerce. i cleaned up my little room, vacuumed, and washed some clothes. dryers (like most of the rest of the world) in hk are rare so laundry time is followed by many assorted clothing items being hung neatly (but still managing to look strewn about) all over the damn place. i've got my underwear doing time at my bedroom window right now.

currently reading: jonathan safran foer's everything is illuminated