today i bought my plane ticket to Hong Kong and made reservations at a hotel for a few days so i can find a flat to rent. this is the first concrete step in my six-month exodus from the US. it makes it finally seem real!

sheesh, there is so much to do to get ready...

have a good trip

Nordic-kulta, Pidän sinusta oikein paljon. Kiinalaisten ja suomalaisten lapsista tulee kauniita!

thanks! i'm thinking about writing a book or just starting a blog about this. i've found some great information regarding moving overseas that might be helpful for others. i've been at it for a month already, and it seems like i've only touched on the most basic of issues, mostly on expat forums.

I know you've spoken about writing a book prior.

Have you ever thought of going the cafe press route with it?
http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/hel...ok_layout.aspx

It seems like the easiest and direct way for you to get a book out there without having to lay down the capital or shop it to publishers.

do you realize that im moving to hong kong as well.

im going to shanghai for a few weeks first, in may as i prep my apt. hunting. Then i'll be living in HK for as long as it takes for me to become successful.

fun fun!

I also just bought a nikon d80 so i can start a photoblog site of my weekly endeavors so my friends/families/random peeps can see what i'm up to.

sam, thanks!!! that's a cool site and i'm going to have to look into it.

howhow, awesome! let's hang out there. when will you get there? do you have a HK id card so you can stay for an extended period? what kind of work will you be doing?

i'm in a frantic race to get my Cantonese better before i go, but it seems like the more i learn, the less i know. i mean, i'm around cantonese speakers all the time, but they get bored with the "get the white girl to figure out what we're saying" game and revert to english. i've got the extended pimsler course on cd, 10 books, cd dictionaries... if only i could absorb it all through osmosis!!!

no i don't have the HK ID yet. I don't even know much about that. =/ How do i get one of those. I'll be working in the film industry out there... supposedly one of the biggest ones in hk (they did infernal affairs for example).

I don't really speak cantonese that much but i understand a bunch of it. I'll probably hire a tutor to teach me daily.

were you or your parents born in HK? if so, you can get it by waiting in line at the immigration office over there. some of the guys on here can give you better info.

Mogando - Infernal Affairs is my FAVORITE movie ever!!! i just saw Seung Si (sp?)... i think the english name is Confession of Pain. it was okay... not great.

so we will both go in May! what kind of apartment are you looking for, and where?

if you work there as a foreigner (under foreign passport and work permit) then thats all you need. if you were born in HK then you should be able to get the HK ID no problems, just have to show them your birth certificate and fill out some forms at gov office (that handles ID processing) which there are several and about a week wait for handling. I had an OLD version ID I got many year ago, and thats what I used as proof as I forgot to bring my birth certificate last month when I was there to get the new version ID.