Welcome to The Lily

I think we are at that point in our move that the relocation package fails to mention.  That part where you just kinda start to get loopy.  It's like you know it's just a matter of weeks before a crew is going to come in, pack up your earthly possessions and either ship it or store it.  But you are still trying to run a functional household with hand towels and salt shakers, stickers and legos, garbage cans and coffee pots, stuff that needs to be packed, but can't yet be parted with. In my futile efforts to start setting stuff aside, I just found myself wandering the upstairs hallway with a martini shaker in one hand and an umbrella in the other.  That's when I decided to put the barware and rain gear down and take a breather at my lap top and tell you about my other home.  The one Asia.  The one we don't live in yet.  The one called The Lily.

The real estate agent in Hong Kong lined up over 20 apartments for our viewing pleasure while we were there.  We went in with this strategy that we would compare the first to the second and X-out to one we liked less, and then the winner of that round would go up against the third place, and so on and so on and so on.  Good in theory, but unfortunately house hunting is not so black and white.  Some apartments were, shall we say, less than impressive.  But the amenities were awesome!  The first place we looked at, the same complex where the Milkshake Murder took place (google it), didn't exactly float my boat, but then it had a shuttle bus, a grocery store, indoor pool, outdoor pool, nice playroom....so it really messes up your mind.  You start to wish these apartments could be like Mr. Potatohead, where you can mix and match the pieces, customize it, make it your own.  And it's easy to get stars in the eyes when you see an apartment building with its very own spa on-site and video rental store.  But luckily, we were always able to step back, wipe the magic from our eyes, and re-focus on what we thought was important in an apartment.  So, after an day or being in and out of the realtor's van, up and down various elevators, in and out of vacant apartments, we set foot in The Lily.

The Lily is modern and funky and cool in a way I am not.  If it were to be my forever home, I could never!  But for 3 years, kind of fun.  The moment we walked over the thresh hold, I looked at Gene and whispered, "this is it!".  And this is why.  Check out the view!

It's not exactly a horrible thing to wake up to every morning, right?  Along with this incredible view, the apartment at the Lily has good sized bedrooms for the kids with decent closets and a lovely master suite for us.  I would like our bedroom to be a tad bit larger, but decided this cool free-standing bathtub was a fair trade.

And then there is my very favorite room in a home, the kitchen.  If you know me well you know I love, love, love to tool around the kitchen.  I love recipes. I love cooking.  I love baking.  Thanks to two grandmas who showed me the way, I just love being in the kitchen. Was I ever going to find a totally lumped out, gourmet kitchen in an apartment in Hong Kong?  No.  But all things considered, this one is pretty close.

The stove is electric, which I'm not a fan of, and the oven tiny, tiny, tiny by U.S. standards.  But trust me, we looked at a lot of apartments, thus a lot of kitchens, and this was by far and wide the BEST that we saw.  You can't see it in the pic, but there's actually a wine fridge in there.  Does that just scream Tomczak Friday Fun or what!

Another nice feature in this apartment is the study, which has a pocket door so it can be left open or closed off when necessary.  This is a real find for us.  Why, do you ask?  It all goes back to the 12 hour time difference.  You see, when Gene has a conference call with the U.S. at 8:00am EST, it will be 8:00pm in Hong Kong.  It's almost a relief that he can do it from home, just pulling that door shut for a little privacy.  I'm not oblivious to the fact that this job will take a lot, and I mean a lot, of Gene's time and attention.  But even if he's a busy bee, if he can buzz from our home, that's so much better.  Sometimes just being in the same space is enough.

I mentioned that some of the amenities at the apartment complexes were unbelievably fantastic. They are good at The Lily, but admittedly not the best of the best. After all, we saw placed with golf simulators, spas, racquetball courts, restaurants!  But during our stay we will be enjoying an exercise room

The kids can goof around in the outdoor play area

Or on rainy days, the indoor play room

And all year long, we can all enjoy this indoor heated pool.

It is very possible that I will be suffering from withdrawal at not having our grill for burgers and steaks and salmon and grilled veggies.  But if the cravings get too intense, we can rent out this BBQ area and grill to our hearts content.

The Lily also offers a daily shuttle bus that will run us into town and school buses for the kids will come right to the lobby door.  A really nice grocery store called Jason's is just down the road, but because sidewalks are not continuous and the cab drivers are craaaazzzyyyy! I probably will not be able to walk back and forth to the market. 

So that's it!  And though it still seems weird, foreign, unnatural not to have a sprawling carpet of green grass, flowers popping up in the spring, a garage to house our vehicles, and a mailbox at the curb, once all four Tomczaks get established under The Lily's roof, it will be home.

The Little Dragon

It is my most distinct honor

And my great pleasure

to introduce you

to Hong Kong International School's newest little "dragon".

  Way to go Reagan!

We are so proud of you!

First Impressions

We're home from Hong Kong.  Well, home in the sense that we are now on U.S. soil.  The next stop is Erie, PA to collect our children and our dog and than into the car for a 10+ hour drive to our house in North Carolina.  When we left for this Hong Kong trip, I had every intention of blogging about what I saw, where we went, my feelings, my observations, my musings.  But once we got there, and once my body finally adjusted, I still couldn't bring myself to write it all down.  There is this vortex of sights, sounds, realizations, emotions and fears just swirling in my head and I just can't sort it all out.  I can't summarize it and plop it down in my blog and make everyone understand.  How can I when I don't even yet understand?  After all, I'm the girl who spent an evening crying into a bowl of penne pasta at the realization that there is no Target in Hong Kong.

But what I can do right now is this.  I can tell you about my first impression of Hong Kong.  After all, that is the number one question that I've been getting, "What is it like?".

I've watched enough Sex and the City and Law & Order, the original one, to have an idea what it's like in a big city.  But seeing it and stepping into it are two totally different things.  The first thing that stands out -- the traffic.  Lots of cars, lots of luxury cars, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Lexus, Jags and even Rolls Royce, but lots of taxis too.  Lots and lots of little red taxis.  The steering wheel is, of course, on the wrong side of the car and the cars themselves, on the wrong side of the road.  As a Westerner, this makes crossing the street treacherous as we just had no idea which way to look.  Lighted crosswalks are a good thing.

But it's not just the sheer number of cars on the roads or the confusion about which side of the street they are driving on, it's the manner in which the drive.  It's insane!  If the Holly Springs police think that I am a viable candidate for multiple traffic tickets, I invite them to visit Hong Kong for a broader perspective.  All the drivers slam on the gas, brake at the last possible moment.  They squeeze into the tightest of spaces leaving just inches between their vehicles and large tour buses and garbage trucks.  They weave and merge so much that it leaves you clutching your seat belt strap and praying to God.  I'm quite certain that I'll be spending the next three years in the back of taxis with my eyes squeezed shut.  Sometimes it's better not to even look.

Eugene's office is right in the midst of this busy, downtown area called Wanchai and it really is like something you see in the movies.  Huge, huge buildings.  Lots of elevators and escalators.  They also have footbridges that connect the buildings, running above the busy streets below.  Like a maze of sorts, we were able to use these footbridges to walk from our hotel, to his office, to the bank across the street, to a coffee shop for a morning cup of joe.  Eug mastered them.  I was perpetually lost.  

Notable was the number of businesses in that area.  Actually, the number of businesses everywhere.  In our hometown of Erie and in the Triangle-area of North Carolina that we now call home, it's not unusual to see empty storefronts and buildings, places where someone's dream just never took root and died out leaving a shell of a structure just waiting for new tenants.  I didn't see a lot of that in Hong Kong.  Matter of fact, I'm not sure I saw any.  If there is space something is in it whether it's a bank, 7-11 store, boutiques, newspaper stands, cafes, everything you can possibly think of except for nail salons, I saw not one of those while we were there.  We were able to find many stores and businesses that we have here in the U.S.  I'm sure no one has ever had so much joy at the sight of a Clinique counter, finding a Toys R Us tucked up on the top floor of a mall, and a Stride Rite shoes selling the exact same sandals I bought my daughter just weeks ago.

And then there are the people.  The hundreds, the thousands of people everywhere.  And most of them are Asian, which means for the first time in our lives, we are a minority and it is a very odd experience.  I've never felt so white in my life.  When everyone around you is Asian, you can't just blend in, you stick out, you scream "foreigner", you reek of "I have no idea what I'm doing".  And just because you see another white person, don't assume they are an American.  Out of the mouths of people who looked like me I heard British and Australian accents, Russian, Polish, German and the like.  All kinds of different people, all kinds of races, all kinds of nationalities.

Of course with the Asian people comes Asian language.  Since English and Cantonese are the official languages of Hong Kong, I didn't sweat the language too much so I was truly surprised to see so many Chinese characters and hear Chinese spoken everywhere.  Without trying to offend, I have to say, the Chinese language is harsh to my ear.  Listening to the locals converse, I could never tell if they were happy or totally pissed off.   And it goes without saying that we had no idea what they were saying.  Kind of like being at grandma's house when she starts spoutin' off in Polish the things she wants to say, but really doesn't want you to hear.

So there's your overview.  I so wanted to spell everything out, make it seem like you were right there with us, taking in the city of Hong Kong.  But I realize now that that is what the next three years is all about.  That is the reason I started this blog in the first place.  I never meant to visit for a week and know it all and see it all and write it all.  I meant to go there and learn it, live it ,and write about it so that's what I'll do.

There is one thing that I did learn this past week during our visit.  If you ever think you are confident and sure of everything, come live in Hong Kong.  If you fancy yourself worldly and sophisticated, set up household there.  This past week has shown me I am none of these things.  I'm just a little Polish girl raised on the lower east side of Erie, PA trying to figure it all out.