I have been in Hong Kong for about two months and it is slowly beginning to feel like home. Now that I've been here for a while, I have been able to meet and become friends with my coworkers. Early on, one of my coworkers offered to show me some places in the mall where we could get lunch so I would know where to eat. At the Language Center, there are two groups of international educators: International Tutors (ITs) and English Teaching Assistants (ETAs, that's me!). The ITs are all very kind and have taught me a lot. One of the ITs, Viviana, has been able to show me around sometimes and she even took me to a Brazilian jiu-jitsu class that was run by some locals who are very talented. They were even nice enough to show me how to do a few moves! My coworkers and I were also able to visit a local beach near the Hong Kong Global Geopark, a special park recognized for its geological significance, where we saw an Ultra Marathon taking place nearby.
I have been teaching for two weeks and, so far, my students are all kind and welcoming. One of my students has started a workshop where she teaches Putonghua/Mandarin and I will be joining it next week. A few of the other students have offered to help teach me Mandarin as well or offered to show me around.
