I Moved from Hong Kong to Oklahoma, and I have … thoughts about it

Most people know that I am very open to uprooting my life to move to different places.

I stayed in Boston for college (though I wanted to move far away…), but I’ve lived in Osaka, Hong Kong, and now Tulsa.

Hong Kong was one of the best experiences of my life, and every day I wish I were back there. But I knew that teaching English was not a career that I wanted to continue. Despite my efforts to find a journalism job in Hong Kong, nothing came up. I knew that I had to move back to the States to find work in my own career path. 

I applied to dozens of jobs. Then hundreds. At first, I was pretty confident in my resume, but I had also never really been in the job hunt before. When I interned for NBC Sports, that was the only internship I had applied to. And when I came to Hong Kong to teach, well, it was incredibly easy to get recruited for that. So, this was my first real experience being thrown into the job market. It was pretty discouraging, to be honest!

I had a few interviews at companies that really excited me. None of them panned out. One day, I grew frustrated and just applied to everything in sight that was related to journalism or media.

I went to Miami for a on vacation with my friends from college. While we were at a brewery, I got a call. Normally, I never pick up from numbers that I don’t recognize, but I did this time. It was a man from a broadcast network in Tulsa. We talked for a short time, and he basically offered me a job on the spot. Being so desperate to find a job, I just accepted it.

And I found myself moving to Oklahoma, just two and a half months after leaving one of the coolest cities in the world.

When I told people that I was moving to Oklahoma, the reactions were pretty fucking hilarious. Some of my friends didn’t even believe me. Most everyone was just plain shocked.

Thankfully, I have some pretty amazing friends. They were incredibly supportive. They used words like “brave” and “thrive.”

I expected a culture shock coming here. But there wasn’t as big a shock as I anticipated. People were friendly. People were open-minded. Tulsa has some nice spots to hang out.

 But it’s not Hong Kong.

 I have yet to write about my experiences in Hong Kong, because that would take ages for me to mentally unpack, and write up. Even then, the blog post would be so long that no one would want to read it. It’s not easy to sum up Hong Kong, but if you need an idea … look at the HK highlights on my instagram!

Anyways…

The difference was stark.

In Hong Kong, it was easy to make friends. There are constantly expats coming into Hong Kong and people looking for friends. Expats introduce you to other expats and friends. You meet people everywhere, and everyone is willing to chat and make friends. I was always doing something, making plans, and going on adventures. As a city, Hong Kong has everything: fancy restaurants, street food, cheap eats, clubbing, bars, beaches, forests, hiking, camping, swimming, yachts, biking, rural areas. (The only thing they lack are sports and athletic events…but they have virtually everything else you could want.)

So that was Hong Kong in a messy nutshell (that probably doesn’t even do it justice). Now, to go from that to Tulsa, Oklahoma was a difficult transition.

When I first visited Tulsa with my dad, we were both very shocked to see that Tulsa had … trees! We both kind of expected just flatness and wheat. Well there were trees, and even a sad excuse for a mountain (it’s a hill really) for hiking.

Hong Kong was a challenge for its own reasons. I was surrounded by a language I didn’t understand (despite it being one of the most—if not the most—English-friendly cities in East Asia). I was living in a tiny, shitty apartment. I was at a job that was easy but not fun. I had to learn how everything worked—the buses, the MTR, the trams, the banks. I had to adapt to different ways of living, acting, cultural expectations.

But Hong Kong was fun. It was worth all the struggle. I grew independent—any other challenge seems negligible in comparison. Hong Kong was exciting, exhilarating, and adventurous. It was a welcome move, despite it being scary.

The same can’t be said for Tulsa. In comparison, I wasn’t looking forward to moving to Tulsa. Hong Kong is exciting and there was always something to do. I assumed Tulsa would be boring. Hong Kong was beautiful. I assumed Tulsa would be kind of ugly. Hong Kong was culturally diverse. I assumed Tulsa would be close-minded.

 Where my assumptions correct?

Yes and no.

Compared to Hong Kong, yes Tulsa doesn’t meet any of its expectations. But at the same time, it’s a little unfair to compare the two…

I don’t care. I do it anyways, because those are my own recent lived experiences!

 Tulsa has nothing that Hong Kong has … except cheaper prices and friendlier people.

There is some clubbing. There are some bars. Some other fun activities. Some naturey things. But it pales in comparison to Hong Kong.

I will say, Tulsa has more than I excepted. New Englanders (and I’m sure other parts of the country) just think of Oklahoma as filled with cows and farmers and racists. Which there are! But Tulsa is a hub of art, music, and non-racists. There are some fun things to do—they’re just a little hidden. There is good food (NOT as good as what I was eating in Asia), but you just need recommendations from locals to find it.

Tulsa is a greater challenge for me than Hong Kong was. I’m sure my saying that will surprise people. Hong Kong is across the whole world! The culture is so different! They speak Cantonese! Etc, etc, etc.

 Tulsa was a scarier move. It’s not easy to articulate why, but it boils down to how excited I am to live somewhere. Hong Kong was a challenge, but it was a fun, rewarding challenge. Tulsa is a challenge, but it’s a tiring, boring challenge. Trust me—I’ve had huge travel challenges. Two weeks in India had its difficulties, but it was incredibly rewarding. Ten days in Peru where I slept on the floor of a kitchen in a rural native village was far from easy, but the payoff was amazing.

I struggle to find Tulsa’s payoff.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve met some pretty damn cool people, and I’ve had some fun days. But I can’t help to compare this era of my life to what I had before and what I hope is to come.

I don’t plan on staying in Tulsa for too long. I’m too much of a city-gal (TULSA IS A CITY, DUMBASS), and I crave excitement, beauty, and culture.

But I will say … as much as I grew in Hong Kong, I expect to grow a lot in Tulsa too. So I’m appreciative of that … as eager as I am to find a new adventure elsewhere.