Local markets and expat Passover

I had forgotten how much I love traveling. And I had forgotten why. But the truth is, while seeing beautiful sights and doing fun things and exploring new cities is amazing, the best part of traveling is meeting the people around the world.

My second day in Hong Kong reminded me of this.

Emiko is serving on a jury that has to judge the documentary films in the documentary contest section of the festival so she has to see a lot of films. I have been accompanying her to many of them, though there is no way I can sit through that many movies. I ended up getting along really well with Ming Yee, the film festival staffer who is in charge of making sure the jurors get to their films. She is another young filmmaker who is from Hong Kong but has spent time in the United States as well as Taiwan and a few other countries. We bonded over our mutual experiences of being young filmmakers who just want to travel the world and explore.

I was getting sick of shopping malls, Western stores, and tourists so Ming Yee took me to Sham Shui Po, a local market. And let me tell you this market is not for the faint of heart. We stepped off the MTR (Hong Kong's rapid transit line) and I immediately felt the contrast between this area and the streets surrounding the hotel. Shim Shui Po is in an older part of Hong Kong where the colorful apartment buildings are peeling and spotted with the clothing people hang out the window to dry. The market stalls are crowded with people; it's impossible to walk down the streets without bumping into them. And you can buy anything here: clothes, electronics, watches, handbags, lightbulbs... You can even get a haircut right on the street!

There is also a pretty amazing juxtaposition between the old rundown buildings near the markets and the shiny new skyscrapers that you can see behind them. Hong Kong is a fairly small city; everything is quite close together. So the disparities between those who spend their time in the the brand new shopping malls, hotels, and office buildings and the market are brought into very close contact in this view of the city.

We went into a building to explore the wet market and here's where things really got interesting. There are buckets full of live frogs, tanks of fish, cages of chickens. And then you can see the already dead things with their guts protruding - it's raw and bloody. But the most shocking part for a Westerner like myself is that they slaughter the animals right there in front of you. You can choose your live chicken and they will kill it for you right there in the market. In addition there is an endless array of fruits, vegetables, and herbs. It's pretty amazing.

After wandering the disorienting streets for a while, I headed home to get ready for a Passover Friday night dinner at the home of someone who knows someone who knows my family somehow. Don't ask me to be more specific; I have not a clue. I successfully navigated MTR and a taxi on my own to find the apartment and made my way into the building to find an intimidatingly long table. Around 7:15 people started streaming in from Friday night services. In addition to the hosts and their young children there were around 12 other people from around the world joining us for dinner. Everyone was very nice and friendly and it really felt like a community. Of course, the prayers and songs are the same no matter where you go, and matzah tastes like cardboard no matter where you buy it. All in all it was a very comfortable environment and a delicious meal. I exchanged numbers with some other Hong Kong residents, planning to meet up later in the week.

There's something amazing about traveling to a new place and connecting with people there. People can be so open and friendly and it can really bring out the best in you. You can find similarities and connections with anyone anywhere and it is an incredible thing to experience.

The danger is that once I am reminded of all of this, I never want to stop traveling.