SENSING AND INSENSIBILITY
ONE MONTH (ALMOST) ON IN THIS NEW CITY

It's been almost a month since I set foot into HK and how things have shaped up in the last few weeks ...

The work and going back to work (well after 9 months of not working) has been strangely pain free and I have managed to pick up from where I left off pretty seamlessly. My hours are very civilised and a welcome change from my previous banking job (goodbye 6am starts, herald the 9ams!). You get to go for lunch (aka swimming or gym sessions for moi) and you really are not expected to work past the 6:30pm mark.
Regarding the type of work I perform - it varies. I've set up the backbones for the marketing of the HF and have recently been roped in to drive the starting up of two PE fund (gosh - the beginnings of all the financial jargon, how v different from cake baking but yes. It's easy peasy for me and it's like I've never left the industry almost!)
So work is just about okay...oh and MSN, Skype and all the things you are banned from communicating with the outside world is used freely/encouraged in my office. :) How very nice is it to not be in a large corporate giant!
Of course, the downside is you are more highly scrutinised, there is less anonymity and slack and you cannot push the blame to having bureaucracy in your way!

Lifewise though has been less of a smooth transition. I miss all my friends back in London, the beginnings of the glorious summer weather and of course, Borough market where i while away many Saturday afternoons, strolling the food stalls, drinking the madly addictive Monmouth coffee and carrying back home lots of good meat from The Ginger Pig.
Life has been a lonely one-person exisitence. What social life?

Generally in HK you get to meet lots of people, but many of the same type (note: bankers, lawyers abound) It's hard to make true friends here and life is pretty much about work for many. The work-life balance is poor for most (hence you are alone most of the time if you fo not put in those punishing hours) and everyone ends up angry, easily irritable and very unforgiving.

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What I came to attempt to do seems like a distant tale now. I await to see what fate might bring though I am not entirely sure how long I can be in this state of insensibility...