Late yesterday evening a group of trepid travellers left Melbourne on a week teacher exchange to Shanghai. An eclectic group of travellers including myself, the Head of Mathematics and the Head of the Language department led by Wei Min our Mandarin teacher and local guide.
After leaving Asia 12 years ago, I am surprised nothing has changed. I lived in Singapore for four years teaching at the Australian school where I was very much part of the local culture. When the plane flew over Hong Kong Harbour early Monday morning. The clouds were low over the green hills and I felt a lump in my throat as we bounced down followed by most passengers jumping out of their seats before the seat belt light had switched off. In addition a man spent some time turning on his mobile phone as we were landing. And no one stopped him!!
Wei Min has not been to the new airport at Hong Kong and he is most impressed by the shiny halls, the designer stores and the excellent food court. He was also impressed that he spoke to a security guard in English and the guard replied in Mandarin (not Cantonese!). The guard knew what area of China he came from by looking at him.
Hong Kong has changed for me as well. The fact that I can sit here and write on my laptop using a wireless connection and access my mobile phone to make calls was something that was unheard of 5 years ago.
