Well that was quick.

After two months, I’m already a little over halfway into my work term at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. I arrived in the city in late August, and spent a few days settling in before starting the position a week later. But this isn’t my first time in Hong Kong. In fact, I went to an international school just across the border in Shenzhen for two years, and made the three-hour journey a few times a month during which I visited a variety of places in the city.

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However, visiting Hong Kong as a vacation is not at all the same as living in it while working – no sir. The former is like eating at a five-star restaurant and enjoying an expensive steak, while the latter is getting full by eating a lot of regular dishes at a buffet. You know, those kind of buffet nights where you’re so full from all the fried rice that you consider passing on the Jell-O cubes at the dessert table.

Here are ten thoughts from my metaphorical Hong Kongnese buffet:

Coming to Hong Kong for this internship was a very last-minute decision. In fact, I had already applied and paid for my graduation less than three weeks before I touched down at HKG. You can imagine, then, I was pretty nervous riding up the elevator on my first day; I just didn’t know what to expect. However, as my first day turned into my first week, then that into my first month, I began to grow more and more comfortable in that black computer chair at the back of the room. And what do you know, I even began having a little fun.

Now that my work term is half over, though, I sometimes catch myself in between being glad that everything’s going so smoothly, and worrying about what to do once it is over and what is up next for me in Vancouver. That’s when I remind myself that hey, there’s still two months left. Make the most of every day here and you’ll be able to proudly say you made the most of every week, and eventually every month.

That doesn’t mean I’m not looking forward to dessert. For me, the Jell-O at the end of the tunnel (okay too many metaphors, I get it) is the month after my internship ends, during which time I will be travelling around Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Beijing with my girlfriend. Now that’s going to be fun.

But in the meantime, I’m just gonna keep eating that fried rice.