Temporary stability

I have been in Hong Kong for six weeks now. I came here with an intention to live more of a normal life for a while - to stay in an apartment, make lasting friendships and network professionally. I have gotten what I wanted. People have been unbelievably helpful in making me stay in this bustling, diverse and functional city.

Offerings at a buddhist temple

When I was homeless after the flat scam, a friend of a friend of a friend let me stay in his apartment. Now we are also seeing each other. After backpacking for months I enjoy cooking my own food, inviting friends over and just chilling in peace. I even have a daily routine: morning run, breakfast, work at home, lunch and more work at a cafe, dinner meet-ups, sleep.

My favorite cafe (downstairs is a sports store)

Hong Kong is very compactly built; it is full of tall buildings with numerous small apartments. Its transportation structure is excellent with well planned metro lines and extensive tram, bus and minibus service. Therefore commuting times are reasonable compared to other major cities. Housing is extremely expensive. As an example, the average monthly rent of a downtown studio is over 1600€. Due to lack of space, many Hongkongers extend their living rooms to restaurants, gyms and even offices, thus spending long days outside.

Expectantly Hong Kong has a huge banking sector, but there are various other industries, too. To my interest, sustainability - corporate social responsibility, energy efficiency and green environment - is an increasingly hot topic. Since there are prospective global consulting companies here and Hong Kong's job market is all about connections, I attended networking events. Wearing my only smart outfit and sipping free wine I talk with as many influential people as I can. They have turned out to be very willing to help; introducing me to right persons, circulating my CV around and inviting me to further events.

This gentleman knows my home town Kajaani!

I am quickly getting into the climbing society. It consists of locals, who all seem to climb solid 7s, as well as expats. They actively open whole new sectors, re-bolt old routes and keep approach paths safe, while providing newcomers with accurate route and beta information. And naturally, like everywhere, after each day out we sweaty, chalky climbers populate a random local restaurant for food and beers.

Climbing circumstances are frustratingly tricky here. The first factor is hardly predictable weather. Elsewhere it is simple: If it rains, the crag is wet. If it does not rain, the crag is dry. But in Hong Kong high humidity can make crags wet even when it is not raining, that must be taken into consideration when deciding whether and where to climb. The second factor is lack of weekday partners. Since most residents work and there are few climbing tourists here, it has taken some effort to scout around for other weekday climbers.

Sadly soaked crag :(

The quality of climbing is excellent. There are numerous easily accessible areas around the city and its nearby islands, totaling to hundreds of routes. I like the general route setting; lines are clean and straight with frequent bolting. However, grading is random, as I can sometimes do better on a 6C than on a 6A. And yes, I have finally climbed my first 6C! I actually on-sighted it, thinking that it was just a 6B+.

Check out this beautiful video of Tung Lung climbing! (You can even see me for a few seconds on it.)

Bad ass difficult 6A!

Generally Hong Kong is very work and money oriented. On average Hongkongers work 49 hours per week, while expats work even more. Those having money like to show it around; driving posh sports cars, dressing in luxury labels and dining in fine places. Families hire low-paid Philippine helpers to take their dogs for walks, raise their children and in entity run their households. It seems like appearance is more important than well-spent time.

Taken this all, I would be willing to stay in Hong Kong more permanently if I got an opportunity to get my new career started here. I could enjoy what I like, ignore what I do not like, and make this my home city for a few years.

Let the year of sheep be a  lucky one!

Going outdoors Hong Kong style

Many assume that Hong Kong is just a busy, tightly built city. They miss out on various walking trails, beaches, cliffs and water sports. Those spots offer unique settings, where one can move on peaceful trails overseeing simultaneously lush hills and blocks of skyscrapers.

Sai Kung Country Park

Mount Nicholson

When I was searching for jobs I came across an announcement about Outward Bound looking for candidates to their outdoors instructor training programme. Since a few years ago I had actually considered becoming a wilderness guide, I attended an interview and got accepted to a 3-day-long selection trip. It took place in the nationals parks near their base center; to test participants' hiking, kayaking, swimming and camping skills, as well as teamwork and leadership ability.

I was placed in a team with nine young Hongkongers. My fear of being least fit vanished quickly, as I was constantly waiting for them both on land and water. Even more than being exposed to clean nature and impressive views, I enjoyed learning about the Cantonese culture. Our head trainer, an energetic Malaysian guy, tried to step back as much as possible to observe how the team functions on its own. Two things caught my attention: communality and exactness.

We had to swim to a boat, and then return to a pier to jump down from a 3m high platform. The water was uncomfortably cold, so after completing the task I hurried to take a warm shower. The others unselfishly stayed to wait for the slowest swimmers and to encourage those fearful to jump. They were also keen on carrying lots of common gear, ready to provide assistance in smallest things and willing to wait for everyone to complete one task before starting next ones. To me this appeared as caringly putting the team ahead of individuals, however a bit inefficient at times.

Most of the team had little camping experience but had to be explained how to operate the gear. Once having learnt it, they politely corrected me when I used the trangia lid with its sides facing up or lifted up my backpack without holding it on my knee first. Guidelines prohibited walking without shoes, required hand sanitizer usage before touching any kitchen ware, allowed cooking only on ground level, encouraged people to move in pairs even to use toilets etc. When it was time to pitch tents, our participant leaders started by asking whether it would be ok for everyone if we first picked a few persons to go explore possible tent spots, and then they would present alternatives for everyone to discuss about.

During the whole trip everyone stayed in a cheerful mood. Even when we were by surprise woken up at 4am to hike up a peak to watch sunrise, I heard no negative comments. At at all times people thrived to show their best. It was delighting to see their motivation to become outdoors instructors; they truly want to help others by taking them to nature. My favorite moments were late evenings, when we gathered in a circle to share our thoughts. The otherwise reserved seeming Hongkongers revealed interesting and truthful dreams, motives and insights.

I am glad I joined the selection, even though at the end I decided that becoming an outdoors instructor is not for me. Firstly, I have done similar things as a scouts troop leader so I feel like I need more challenges. Secondly, the job would be too time consuming as instructors stay on the field for weeks and otherwise live at the base center. Thirdly, I prefer enjoy outdoors at my own terms as a hobby rather than as a profession. So after the trip was finished I enjoyingly returned home to be close to comforts. Now I am back sitting on a sofa with my laptop and a cup of coffee, searching for academic jobs.