When we first moved into our house in New Zealand we did so as a rental. I saw it for the first time the day that we moved in. It was fully furnished so all we had to bring were our bags. The thing is, when you are renting you look at things differently to when you are buying. You don’t really look closely, you don’t really care about the stains on the carpet, or the crappy paint job. Who care’s your renting right? It’s only temporary. You look at things with different eyes.

I think a similar principal applies when you go on holiday to a new city or country rather than when you arrive somewhere and think, I am going to live here! I have very different eyes for Hong Kong now that I am not a tourist!

The thing about first impressions is, that while they are important they are usually ill-informed. I think anyone reading this who knows this city better than I do will be able to chuckle at my ignorance. But as a disclaimer, I am not professing to be an expert and I reserve the right to learn and change my mind as time goes by. These are just my observations, my experiences and my ill-informed ramblings. Please don’t take them too seriously.

So this post is about the first week topic’s. Something that I hope I will look back on with wiser eyes in the months and years to follow. I am not going to go into any great detail on any subject yet, I will let that follow in the next few posts.  So consider this a taster of what’s to come.

I’m here because my partner has an amazing job opportunity. So to start with I am following rather than leading the expedition. I think given someone of my ego that in itself is a challenge and certainly is for my long suffering partner.

I think the first impressions started a while ago, we are in a long term committed same-sex relationship. Something which for many years now has not been an issue for me or my partner. We had a civil union some years ago and we have been busy just getting on with our lives.

The first sign that being in a same sex relationship was going to be a bit of a different mind shift was when the job offer made it clear that as a same sex partner I could not be recognised as part of a family health insurance package and I would not be able to get a spousal visa  If I was to work it would have to be on the basis that I find my own sponsorship arrangements, so we knew that was going to be the case before we got here.  I know we have made some choices about the situation we are currently in.

Having said that, it has still been a surprise how often this has subtly and often not so subtly been raised in ways that I had simply forgotten about, from hotels, to gyms, real estate agents.  Knowing that something is likely to be an issue, and experiencing it are two different things.  This is a topic definitely worthy of its own post.

The weather has been a dominant feature of our experience so far. It’s hot, really muggy. In the 9 days I have been here I have barely seen the sun, it has been overcast, lots of rain and the temperature has hardly ever dropped below 30c.. In the middle of the day, when you are trying to get around and it’s 34C and you are dripping with sweat, it can be very uncomfortable. I think I am adjusting. The first few days, the intensity of the heat and humidity, literally took my breath away, i felt as though there was no air! I have also become used to carrying a facecloth so I cab mop up the sweat before I drip on others. Sometimes I look around and wonder if I am the only one sweating?  Everyone else appears to be cooler.  I am learning though, do not rush, take your time and look for the air conditioned short cuts!.

The city itself is something else, I swear the population of my hometown Wellington live in some of the high rises.  They just tower up and up and up and often there is not one 40 story building, but six side by side….they are their own communities with all the amenities to support the thousands of residents on the first floors.

We are only just beginning to discover parts of the city, we have been pretty tasked focused on finding somewhere suitable to live.  Not so too much exploring yet, and well, you can only do an hour or so before the heat gets you.  But what I do know so far is that, that around each corner can be a totally different scene all together.  There will be lots of exploring to be had in the next few months.

It’s been relatively easy and straightforward completing transactional tasks, opening a bank account was a breeze for my husband, and was getting an ID card.  This may be an early observation, yet to be tested but I get the sense that if you play by the rules, then things go smoothly.  If you deviate, even a little bit, all hell breaks loose….let’s keep an eye on that shall we?

Dealing with real estate agents has been painless and they have been quick, proficient and professional.  We have seen all sorts of places, from tiny studios to high rise apartments to walk ups in older buildings.   think we would have seen close to 20 places all up in the past week.  But we are pursing an option that will see us living on a houseboat.  Didn’t really see that one coming…..

So, it’s been great so far, we have had a couple of ups and downs but that is to be expected,

I am still looking forward to this next phase of our lives..