Of course, there are the big and important things that I miss about home; family, friends, Lizzie (my Dachshund), but here are a few of the little pesky things that I miss about life in Utah vs. life in Hong Kong:

Carpet – it is very rare to find carpet. Everything is tiled because it is easier to keep clean, lasts longer, and isn’t affected by the humidity.  I didn’t even realize how much I’d missed it until I stepped into a luxury store on to their carpet. My feet didn’t know what to think they were so excited to be on soft ground.

Downy – each time I wear something that has been packed and freshly taken out of my suitcase, I’m in love with the Downy smell. I’m worried that after all of my clothes have been worn once, I’ll lose that link to home through the smell of my clothes.

Veggie Salad at Café Rio – What I would give for one of these! Beans, rice, the tortilla, salsa, dressing, hot sauce, guacamole!, all with a Diet Coke.  I don’t just miss this specific salad and restaurant, but any Mexican-American food. In Utah, cheap and really good Mexican food was available everywhere, and at any time of day. For those of you not from Utah, you can share my salad dream here Cafe Rio

Drip coffee – not an Americano, I just want normal drip/filtered coffee. It is very hard to find, and if you do find coffee it isn’t very good and is really expensive. There are Starbucks on almost every corner here, but even their drip coffee isn’t the same. It looks like I’ll have to shift my caffeine addiction to other outlets, like tea.

Craft Beer – I miss how much craft beer we have in the US, and how readily (cheaply) available it is. I was really missing a good IPA and found a Sierra Nevada bottle in a fancy grocery store, I thought I was in heaven, and I paid a heavenly price for it.

Living in a horizontal world – my world is now vertical; I live in a high rise, on a very steep hill. Everywhere I go, I’m going up or down, and the terrible thing about going down is you have to come back up. Everything I need is really close in proximity, but it is more measured in how much change in elevation I have to take.  At home, I’d leave my house on the ground level, get into my car, drive, and work, shopping, restaurants, etc. were all on the ground level. Hong Kong is also a city that can function above the ground level. There are sky paths, walkways, escalators, and pedestrian bridges linking

buildings, malls, and whole city areas. I’ll clock myself to see how long I can move through the city without ever touching the ground.

Being dry – coming from the desert moisture was basically non-existent. Here you can’t escape from moisture. The apartment I live in usually has two dehumidifiers running to remove moisture from the air, and keep us somewhat dry. The lotion I packed hasn’t even been used, and what is chap stick for anyway? Clothes seem to take days to dry after you’ve washed them, but my skin looks amazing!