Hong Kong, Home, and back Here (Geneva)

Wow! So much has gone on in the last 8 weeks!! So much that I didn't even have time to write at all...okay, so I was a little bit lazy. I'll try to make up for it now.

So Chris and my trip through Southeast Asia was incredible. Of those of you who read this, I think I've sees all of you and probably told you about it by now, so I won't reiterate here--it's just too much to even recount. Though I will say that I feel like I came away with a much better understanding of some of the realities in the world. For all that I've travelled, I didn't really realize until this trip how amazingly huge the world is, how many people there are, and how varied the modes of living. I don't mean to be depressing, because this trip was absolutely not depressing, but I have never seen such poverty, and I doubt few people in Western society ever have either. American "poverty" is Beverly Hills compared to how some of these people live. But one of the things that was truly striking was that many of the people seemed incredibly happy, easy-going, and really contented. I am aware that that is largely because they haven't ever known any difference. And I don't mean to say that because they are happy we shouldn't try to help them rise up to a better standard of living--we absolutely should do as much as we can. But it really puts my own ideals about money and happiness to the test, not to mention putting into stark terms how truly and amazingly lucky I am just to have been born where I was. Anyway, enough of that.

After getting back from the trip, I had 2 more weeks in HK before heading home. The weather was gorgeous for those weeks, which was great. I didn't really do anything spectacular before I left; just went back to my favorite spots: Stanley Beach Market, Wan Chai for live music (gotta love Chinese bands covering American 80s power ballads--seriously, they were awesome and I loved it), Lan Kwai Fong for bar hopping, SoHo for shopping, Southbay beach and Repulse Bay Beach. I discovered a great sea-view promenade for running on that had some spectacular views. Basically, I really loved Hong Kong, and I miss it already. I would go back to live there in a second, and if you ever get the chance to go, jump on it. 

Finally, though, I returned to Austin. I love Austin. It's really my favorite place in the whole world. My family is fabulous, I can't get enough of my friends, and the city itself just makes me feel like me again. We had a great Christmas party, with some hilarious reindeer games, and the whole night ended in beer pong on the kitchen table. I think the consensus amongst my friends is that my parents throw the best parties ever, and I have to agree. We met Josh's...Christi ("girlfriend"? I don't really know what her title is)--she's fabulous, but I won't go on about that. It was really nice to get to hang out with the family in Georgia for a few days over Christmas. New Years was a ton of fun; Chris threw a fabulous party at his condo downtown, including plenty of Champaign and some truly amazing views of the downtown fireworks. I think it was the perfect New Years--I spent the night with the friends I love the most (except Amanda--grrrrrrrrr--and my family, but I can only do so much!!); can you ask for anything more? I spent the rest of the time in Austin eating everything in sight, enjoying the great weather (for most of the time), and being late to everything because I was always having too much fun doing whatever I was doing before (does that make sense?). I miss it already...

The flight to Geneva was really not bad at all. I guess I'm just getting used to the long-haul flights, because when I hear "our flight time today will be just over 7 hours" I think 'sweet, that's quick'. I was delayed into Chicago, so I literally ran through the airport to make my connecting flight to Switzerland--that was okay, I needed the exercise anyway. Unfortunately, no one ran my bags from one plane to another (I figured as much at the time), so they did not make it to Switzerland with me. No big deal; I picked them up last night. 

I'm settling in to the new house and job. I like the house a lot--very open and airy, decorated in a very modern, minimalist way. One of my favorite features: there's a faucet on the sink that automatically dispenses boiling water for tea or for cooking. It excites me a great deal. Leo is a really cute little boy. He's very well behaved, and (you'll only understand the impact of this if you've raised kids) he's a good sleeper and eater, so that's awesome. I know it's only been a couple of days, so it could all change, but I'm riding on hope that it doesn't. Alice is super nice. She's very organized and clear (former corporate lawyer), which I really love. She's out of the house most of the time, which I prefer, rather than having her around where I feel like I'm being watched all the time. So far, she and I have had some great conversations--I think we're very similar in a lot of ways, surprise surprise. I haven't met Dan yet; he travels most of the time, so won't be around much except for the weekends. Basically, it's all good so far. 

I'm going to Amsterdam this weekend; I promise not to take 8 weeks to write about it :)