One Giant Leap.

Three months ago, in November 2020, I arrived in Hong Kong from South Africa to a brand new life. However, the journey by no means started then. This is a journey that started twelve years ago with tiny steps, multiple tiny steps in fact, before I finally made the giant leap. There were many reasons for me wanting to leave South Africa which I will not bore anybody with here because I will almost certainly come across as a whiny crybaby. I will instead explain how I made the big move happen.

In 2008 I went on a tour with my school to Europe in which I got to experience completely new cultures, environments and a new kind of modernity I had yet to experience in South Africa. Architecture from the Renaissance, Classical and Baroque eras left me gawking whilst in cities like Prague, Paris and Warsaw while the diverse and modern styles of buildings in Berlin left me in wonder. It was whilst in these Central European cities that my thirst for travel began. My mind was opened to so many new things: transportation systems that actually work, clean streets, beautiful rivers and bridges, delicious new delicacies and of course beer!

It would be seven long years before I travelled to Europe again. This time with my father to England for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. I was particularly thrilled about this as I am a bit of a sports fanatic. Whilst in England I was privileged enough to watch three Rugby World Cup matches (including the opening fixture as well as the Springboks infamous loss to Japan), as well as witness my beloved Arsenal live at the Emirates Stadium as they took on Stoke City (and won, thank goodness). Whilst in London I was amazed by almost everything I saw. The diverse cultures, the amount of pubs with the most delicious brews I have ever had, the access to almost any amenity, the public WIFI, the underground and the sheer amount of people. One thing that struck me was the number of foreigners. It made me feel almost at home in a city that should have been completely alien to me and made me wonder why I could not be one of these foreigners living here or in another similar city one day. I also visited York, Richmond, Brighton and Birmingham and every one of these cities left an indelible impression on me.

It was also around this time that the idea of doing TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) was introduced to me. A few of my friends were busy doing it and the idea of being able to have a steady job with a decent income while being able to travel enticed me. After many, many minutes of research (almost an hour) I decided that this is what I wanted to do. However, in order to achieve this goal I knew I would need a degree behind my name followed by a TEFL qualification course. in 2016, I enrolled online at UNISA (University of South Africa) for a BA in Creative Writing and thus my journey began. I did this course online while working for a sports betting (gambling) and entertainment company and I finally graduated in May 2020. After finishing my degree I completed a six month 164 hour TEFL course and now, the possibilities were endless.

I applied for job openings in almost every corner of the globe. Unfortunately due to the current pandemic, jobs were not easy to come by but finally a company based in Hong Kong got back to me and offered me an interview. Before I knew it I was booking my flight to Hong Kong! A huge bonus here is that my sister managed to get the exact same job (she had become a qualified TEFL teacher a few years before me and had previously taught in Thailand) as I did. A lot of my travelling has been done with my sister. We had previously done a three week trip to the United States together in 2019 and both found it quite easy to travel with the other (despite one or two arguments of course), which was a huge plus. Finally, we both arrived in Hong Kong and immediately began our two week quarantine period which at times felt like it would take forever, but we got through it!

After being stuck in quarantine we immediately started to explore the incredible city of Hong Kong. All I can say is my world has been turned upside down by this mesmerizing, busy, non-stop place that was just a dream of mine ten years ago. Since being able to explore I have done some properly exciting things as well as visited some amazing new places. In nearly three months I have done as much as I feel I could have done so far and there is still so much more to do! I will be writing about what I have already done very soon as well as writing about all my future experiences in this beautiful city. I really hope that whoever reads any of my posts enjoy them and get turned on to the idea of stepping out of their own comfort zone and into the enormous world that we all share.