hk in HK

I woke up at 6, naturally, even though I'd gone to bed around 2, practically tottering from the effects of the Ambien I took. Perhaps it was the light filtering in through the curtains.

I closed the drapes more securely, and went back to sleep.

I headed out around 20 to 9, and was politely instructed by the desk manager/concierge-type person how to get to the Central Escalator. The Escalator is a real marvel. Because many people live on the sides of the (very steep) mountains but work near the shore, and because the roads are so narrow, the government built an 800-meter series of escalators and moving walkways to move people up and down. Finished in 1993, it's the longest escalator in the world, and it moves about 50,000 people each day. The stairs and walkways run down in the mornings and up the rest of the day. It's pretty freakin' awesome. Especially in the sweltering evenings, when it's still 90 degrees out and the thought of walking up what would be half a mile of mountain is enough to give you heat rash. Brilliant idea, HK!

All I did today was training. An introduction to the firm, and then a series of people giving presentations on the finance side of the firm, the IT side, and so on. They're a lot more paranoid here about security. There are files that are low security and files that are high security, and we were shown a video of how a mis-labeled file cost the firm millions of dollars.

Actually, we (me, the only U.S. law intern, and 12 Commonwealth law students) were shown 3 videos about mistakes real lawyers had made at the firm. I mention them because they were so refreshingly honest about dumb mistakes -- and taught such good lessons about the real cost of small, unintentional errors. Errors like forgetting to write down one party on which to run a conflict check (which later revealed that there was a conflict, and thus resulted in the firm having to pull out of a deal that one partner had actively pursued). Or forgetting to save an email that proved the firm had asked a crucial question. Or mislabeling a file as low-security when it should have been high. It's nice to see a firm (or any entity, actually) looking clear-eyed at its mistakes, owning up to them, and using them to improve itself. And kudos to the lawyers who made the mistakes, for being willing to star in vehicles showcasing their own fuck-ups!

I went out with my office-mate and two other U.S. lawyers for lunch. Conversation dragged a bit, but I don't think it was me. Sigh. Sometimes I wonder about law. Are the people who go into it naturally boring? Or does the law make them so? My office mate asked me if I liked law school, and I gave my stock diplomatic answer: "I have mixed feelings about it." She then revealed that she hated it, and that she used that question as a litmus test. Which -- whatev. I despited law school my first year, and still don't like it or the current status of legal education, but I don't care if people like law school. Some people do.

I would have liked to have talked more to the 12 Commonwealth law students, but didn't get much of a chance to in training. I've never been around so many Asians who speak with British accents. It's a bit disconcerting. I've also never been around so many people who have such slammin' language skills. The training was conducted in English, and you know ALL of those trainers and trainees were fluent in other languages -- for most of them, English wasn't their first language. I'm so envious.

After work, I went to the grocery store and wandered around a little. Bought some food at an expensive Japanese shop downtown. Tried to buy an adaptor but didn't have cash (for some reason, I totally forgot that HK runs on 220-volt plugs, not the American 110-volt). Went up the escalator and looked at all the expats sitting and drinking in the cafes and bars all along the escalator route. Hey, I could be one of those expats!

Speaking of expats, I was reminded today that this is an island of several cultures, which are in some ways divided, but in some ways very comfortable with each other. I didn't realize, for example, that there is a large Indian population here -- which explains the good Indian food. Caucasians don't get a second glance here the way they would in other Asian countries; biracial couples don't get a second glance here they way they would in the States (except for in New York, I think). Everyone is far too busy being cool and cosmopolitan... and there are tons and tons of expats, after all. Many of whom have really hot accents. (Oops. Did I write that? That was supposed to be a silent note in my mind. D'oh!)

Had a pretty boring evening for a foreigner -- ate dinner, watched Merchant of Venice on TV. I was channel-surfing when I landed on MoV, and decided to give ole Billy Shakespeare a try (such is my love for Liev). I don't think I read MoV in college, and I had never seen a production of it. And I gotta say -- damn, but that man was good. Portia is wicked awesome! Antonio so wants Bassanio! Shylock is ultra complex! Jessica is such an ungrateful wretch! I think I might love Shakespeare. (Al Pacino, however, never met a piece of scenery he didn't want to chew.)

I finally figured out how to turn on the hot water (you have to manually turn on the gas heat), so I'm looking forward to a warm shower (as opposed to the chilly one I took last night because I couldn't figure out the heat), and then a good 8 hours of blissful, Ambiened sleep.

So endeth the first day of hk in HK.