At Journey's End

It is amazing that only a few hours separate mainland from HK yet they are hundreds of years apart. Horse-drawn carts are replaced by subways. Rock and root steps become escalators. Foreigners are not foreign and public restrooms abound. The sidewalks are for walking on only. Yet, in both lands, the Asian culture shines through. Technology may be king in HK but the people are still nice, simple and ready to bargain. We head out in a few hours, back to the much simpler life of Mainland. Will I miss it here? Definitely the clean western toilets, the ocean and the friends we have made. The simple life calls me back though. I am ready to wake up to horse hooves going by our building. I thought I heard them one morning, then I realized it was the bath fan flapping. I wondered if anyone here but me would mistake the two. I miss our friends and the work we have. I told Frank that I could live here in HK but I wonder how long it would take before the fast, rich pace would wear me down. There are so many wealthy people here and most everything is geared toward them. There is even a first-class compartment on the subway. It has been stimulating here but I think I am ready to go home. Our flight leaves in 5 hours. Simplicity awaits.
mandy

“It is proof of high culture to say the greatest matters in the simplest way”
Ralph Waldo Emerson