Reconsidering Hong Kong

Every time someone asks me how long I’m staying in Hong Kong, and why I’m leaving, I always give the same canned answer: people aren’t very friendly, girls aren’t very hot or sexual, it’s hard to eat healthy here, yoga is expensive, I want to snowboard, I want to hit on girls in New York, I want to connect with my brother and cousins in New York.

But recently I’ve realized that these reasons aren’t as strong for me anymore. I’m not interested in meeting new people, I’m not interested in meeting girls, I’ve found reasonable compromises for eating healthy here, yoga would be cheap if I taught (I think), snowboarding has become a lower priority. I still want to connect with my brother and cousins.

The biggest perk Hong Kong has is the Vipassana meditation center. They give two ten-day courses a month, whereas the mid-Atlantic center gives four. Per year.

When I first decided to go to Hong Kong, I thought it was for Wendy, for family, for travel, for getting closer to Thailand for my yoga teacher training. Yet during my meditation retreat, I realized that Vipassana was the true reason for my being here. It quickly overshadowed all other reasons to such an extent. And now, knowing that this center is unique in that it has so many courses, unlike the one I’d be going to in New York, it only seems rational that I stay in Hong Kong and use this opportunity to deepen my practice as much as possible.

Plus Wendy, Jessica, and Mom will be happy, though they’ll probably be competing with meditation for my time.