As is often prone to happen when you travel to a new environment, you can get sick. I tried my best to avoid it, but my body said otherwise. Luckily our health services here are really efficient and cost effective. I saw the doctor in about 20 minutes total, and my fee was $15HKD. Amounting to about $2 US – and that INCLUDED my medications (6 in total). I know healthcare reform is a heavy topic. Perhaps for another post on another day…nevertheless, there has to be some sort of resolution that PUTS THE WELFARE OF CITIZENS FIRST.
Last summer in my gastronomy course we discussed that the value and ethos of a country is how it treats its least fortunate. Looking with a global lens, we [USA] has to do better. USA has the the world’s largest GDP, Hong Kong’s is #34. How is it that Hong Kong chooses to subsidize healthcare and the USA chooses to make folks pay?
Ok, I digress.
| Before my bedrest, we went to the Hong Kong Heritage museum to celebrate Phylicia’s birthday –> |  |
|
As it happened, they were having an exhibit on all things Pixar. Pixar 30 Years of Animation: Hong Kong Celebration of Friendship and Family was so much fun and intriguing. First of all, I had no idea that Steve Jobs had founded Pixar! |
 |
The 2-D sketch animation drawings for the characters were awe inspiring. The renderings considered every aspect of the character’s body AND personality. It showed the framework for the animations and in a way they came to life off of the page itself.
 |
 |
They even had a section where they allowed guests to create their own renditions of the characters and these young people were shining!!
During my bedrest, which only lasted about 3 days, I mostly slept…but I also had an awesome and otherwise unexpected opportunity to connect with my family back at home. My aunt Ingrid had some wonderful advice about remaining centered and not over analyzing life’s what-ifs. I don’t know about everyone else, but I tend to be an analyzer. I think it is a bit of just how I’m wired, #Gemini, but I also think it’s a connection to that tender voice inside that asks, “Am I good enough?” in a myriad of different applications.
One of the things that you encounter as you study/travel/live abroad, is a disconnection from your ‘people’ back at home. Coming here I knew in my heart of hearts that this separation would be beneficial. It’s only been a few weeks, and I can already see who is in my ‘tribe’ and who isn’t. This revelation is not snarky, or attitudinal in the least; rather, it is about discernment. Often we categorize people as friends, however, they are more akin to being an acquaintance or passerby. At this juncture in my life I am acknowledging and integrating FOR MYSELF the philosophy that it is not my responsibility to make you stay.
|
|
I’d wager to say that you’ve heard this saying before, “…every person & everything has a reason and a season” …or, at least some derivative of that notion. I’m accepting the seasons in my life and choosing the paths of least resistance. The people and things that are meant for me are for me. The same is true for each and every one of you reading this too.
|
|
|