Communities and meeting people
Mon, 2008-01-28 05:35 — Anonymous
My wife and I are considering a move to HK. We're both great at making new friends here in New England but wanted to know how/where most of you made your friends? Are they your neighbors? colleagues? mates from the local pub? Or did you meet them at an organized activity of some sort? Did other expats make intros for you? Thank u
meeting people
If you're great at making friends where you are, you'll be great at making friends in HK. A lot is about attitude.
There have been numerous threads here on meeting people and making friends, so check them out. It can be hard, and you can get disheartened. I've personally found that joining clubs / activities is a good idea.
The American Club and Australian club both have the reputation of being very friendly clubs who are good with newcomers.
The English Speaking Members department of the YWCA has a great intro program called "at home in HK" which I'd recommend to anyone moving here. Their other courses are also great for meeting like minded people. Hiking groups, if you're into that, tennis if that's your thing. Cooking, quilting, writing, painting, whatever.
There are tons of clubs and associations and sporting groups to join. Most let you have a trial session to see if you want to join in.
Other expats - well it depends. If they're newly arrived, usually they make more of an effort since you're 'in it together'. If they've been here longer it can be a bit of a closed shop. Sometimes you have 'international' collegues who will help you feel at home, other times you'll be in a very local office where no-one feels obliged to look out for you.
We're quite friendly with our neighbours, since one of their children is the same age as one of ours. Other people don't know their neighbours at all. Some apartments are better than others at organising events for the whole block than others.
The bottom line is you're going to have to put in 90% of the effort and be pleasantly surprised if the other 10% comes from someone else. You'll have to be the person to suggest and initiate dinners (often not at your home but a neutral place like a restaurant), going to movies, going out etc. etc. Expect some rejection, but be open to others suggestions. Try everything (legal) (once). The people you spend time with initially won't necessarily be your buddies a year from now, but they may introduce you to the people who will be.
Good luck.