Since moving back to
the UK after four years working in Hong Kong, there are a lot of things I’d
forgotten about. Some are obvious, such as suddenly being able to understand
everybody on the bus and some are just plain daft. Here is a list of some of
the odd things I’ve noticed since moving back to the UK.
Money- In Hong Kong, it is considered polite to hand over
money with both hands, which over the past four years, has just become normal
for me when paying for something. When I hadn’t over a tenner in the
supermarket the other day, I was given an odd look. I may have accidently given
the checkout girl a small half-bow, but that’s neither here nor there.
7/11- There are no 7/11’s in the UK. In Hong Kong there are
EVERYWHERE. Quite often there’ll be two opposite each other on other sides of
the street, and a simple walk to the nearest bus stop you will surely encounter
at least 2 of them. Although there are newsagents in the UK, they haven’t
managed to entirely take over the way 7/11 has. Although this does mean I’m
drinking a lot less fizzy drinks, so this is probably a blessing in disguise
(at least my dentist thinks so).
Octopus Card- In Hong Kong, the Octopus card reigns supreme. Although its main function is as a travel card,
for use of buses, trains and such, it can be used in many different places.
Shops, supermarkets, take out places, car parks, bakeries and laundry places
all accepted them and quit often I would leave my house with only my octopus
card and not have to worry about cash.
Laundry- In Hong Kong, its normal not to own a washing
machine. Flats are super small and many people (including myself) didn’t have
the space or plumbing for one. Instead you take your bag of laundry to a
laundry shop, where they charge you by the weight (6lbs at my laundry place was
$30- about £3). Your laundry is then washed and folded and ready for pick
up the next day. Due to this, I hadn’t really done my laundry in years.
Probably why I accidently dyed everything purple last week by mistake. Not my
finest moment, but now at least everything matches.
And now onto the other odd things I’ve noticed….
Celebrities- Despite obviously watching the news and trying
to stay up to date with things in the UK, there are several things which have
slipped through the cracks. Number One- celebrities. As I have been away, I
didn’t exactly keep up to date with all the UK based reality shows (except Bake
Off obviously). Until last month, I had never heard of Joey Essex and
considering how much one of my friends would talk about him, I naturally had
assumed that he was someone she worked with who she fancied. Heads up- he
isn’t. Having only seen a few episodes of ‘The Only Way is Essex’, (primarily
in the beginning, before they were famous), I wasn’t exactly up to date with
the cast changes. The fact that I asked my friend if this Joey lad had actually
spoken to her arose over dinner. She’s still not letting me live it down.
Hollyoaks- I have no idea who anyone is on Hollyoaks. None
at all. I tried watching an episode with a friend (who’s a big fan of the show)
and got about 10 minutes in when I realized that I couldn’t recognize anyone.
Well except Tony. I googled the show afterwards and it appears over the past
four years, a decent amount to the characters have met with very sticky ends.
The death count is probably even higher than in ‘Midsomer Murders’.
There are more things obviously than these that I’ve noticed
about the UK, but I’ll save that for another time.
