Gratitude

I'm writing this from the computer of the Singapore Airlines Lounge while eating unlimited dim-sum and finger sandwiches and drinking free beer.

What did I do to deserve this life???

I have an hour to kill so I think I'll spend this time reflecting on the wonder of life and Hong Kong in case my plane gets hijacked and I die a horrible screaming death.

Not realizing I still had any friends in this city until the past three days left me lots of time to think.

I think it's incredibly cool that I kind of feel at home here in Hong Kong and that I can come to this foreign country and get around and communicate with people and I don't have to translate stuff in my head. In a way these are my peeps** and it just feels kind of natural.

I also think it's incredibly cool that I can meet awesome people to hang out with way out over here.

This is a fantastic city and I live a ridiculously awesome life. Perhaps not as awesome as Tim Loh's or Oprah's, but it's still friggin sweet. We all live awesome lives. Especially compared to people elsewhere in the world.

Jo and Mercy have really made me think about life.

Here they are, two awesome Filipino women in their 30's. Smart. Educated. With children. But they work full-time as live-in maids in a foreign country because that's just what a lot of Filipino women do. They spend hours cooking each daily 5-8 course meal. They sleep in BUNK BEDS in a CLOSET. They wash the car every morning. The dust the house daily. They vacuum daily. They make the beds. They iron UNDERWEAR. And they do it all singing and laughing happily. They see their families once a year, if they're lucky. They get a day off a week, if they're lucky. Otherwise they work weekends and holidays, from 6am when they wash the car, to 12am when they finish cleaning up the kitchen and picking up after everyone. All this just so they can send some extra dollars back to their families in the Philippines. They don't aspire to rule the world, and yet they still find time to be happy.

I feel bad for them, but in the world of Hong Kong maids, they have it pretty good. They have each other. And my grandma is generally pretty nice to them. And we all love and appreciate them (though Uncle Steve sometimes orders them around like slaves). They call each other best friends. I guess if you had the shittiest-ass job in the world, it'd be nice to have someone to commiserate with.

I admire them and I hope they take the skills they've acquired (Jo has become a ridiculous cook over the last 10 years) and can use them to be super successful if they ever go back home.



And now I must return to my food because I'm about to board the plane and I promise this will be the last time I eat like a heifer.

Thank you all for being awesome people.

Go out and have some fun.

**Being "my peeps" does not, however, free the Hong Kong-ians from ridicule for butchering the English language, or for horrible fashion and general unattractiveness.)