Hong Kong vs. Spain-- Javier wins

When I first decided to take this trip, the big theme behind it was to visit places I had never been to. However, I felt it was only appropriate to first visit the two places that I called home for awhile, Hong Kong and Spain. Besides, living and studying abroad gave me the travel bug in the first place so it only made sense to kick off the trip in their respective order.

Going from Hong Kong to Madrid is like Yin and Yang, Mars to Venus (are they really opposites??) Dr. Jeckyl to Mr. Hyde-- you get my drift. Whereas there may be a mini-Starbucks within another larger one in Hong Kong, you have local cafes on every street corner in Madrid. I have seen only two Starbucks so far in my two days here-- something many of us probably have never experienced in the US!

In Hong Kong, there are brand new Bentleys, Benzos, Beemers, and other material signs of excessive and conspicuous consumption crawling amidst luxury shopping malls on every corner. In Spain, ultra-compact cars about the size of my iPod merry about little mom and pop stores that specialize and sell only only one type of thing ie. fruit, fish, meat, bread, jewelry. (Don´t get me wrong, there are luxury goods in Spain, just not as prevalent or ostentatious as Hong Kong.)

And of course, how can I forget to mention the pace of life? I can´t tell you how many times an old Chinese grandma carrying a grandkid or two on her back, with two bags of groceries on each arm, would push me aside, and rush up a flight of stairs to her next appointment with, presumably, her private banker to discuss the next real estate development-- all the while cursing me under her breath to ¨Pok Gai,¨ or to literally ¨drop dead on the street.¨ In Spain, the land of two-hour lunches, well, the pace of life and friendliness towards strangers are quite the opposite. Just yesterday, when one of the subways was stuck and we had to move to a different train, a friendly middle-aged man named Javier, (I know, what a surprise) probably noticed my confusion since I didn´t hear the overhead announcement with my headphones on. He approached me and kindly guided me to the right area, all the while having a very pleasant conversation (in Spanish of course!)

Coming back to Spain reminded me why I decided to take this vacation in the first place-- to embrace and enjoy life the way it was meant to. The trappings of our careers, goals to obtain the next big thing, and the race to who can work hardest while we´re on ¨vacation¨ can too often lead us to be like that Hong Kong grandma, although we should all strive to be more like Javier.