I was walking #rhinopug down Queens Road the other day when the craziest thing happened. We were walking by a crosswalk and as we passed by, the ticking noise that signals that it is time to cross the street started up. Rhino took an immediate 90º right turn and headed for the intersection. It might be because he knows that we would have to cross the road to get to the dog park but I have to believe that reaction to the sound was behavior that he unknowingly learned from two years of walking the Hong Kong streets. It’s easy to recognize the Pavlovian behavior in dogs, but it’s harder to notice these changes in ourselves.read more
The original post was titled New Year… Old Me and was written by one of our members, and recipient of our Positivity Award, Carrie Johnson. It was too good not to share (with her permission of course). Have a great year!
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So in the interest of the New Year I decided it was about time I get back to my blog, having neglected it significantly over the past few months. I’ve actually had posts and ideas swirling around my head, but, as with a lot of things, life got in the way and those ideas never quite made it to paper (or screen as it were). But that’s the things I love about New Year; yes you’ll never completely change who you are, yes resolutions will be broken by next week, but its always good to set goals and new challenges and the New Year is a great time to reset and do that. I for one, am all about that.read more
Wednesday mornings I show up and immediately receive a couple dozen expected and purposeful high fives. After that I get a few really awkward ones from new participants and as I try to introduce myself and this unusual (to some) greeting tradition.
This past Wednesday, as I walked up to the fountains I heard, in an unintentionally American accent, “What’s up man!” I looked over to see a pair of wide spread arms and NOVEMBER PROJECT stenciled across the chest.read more
Written today at 12:50pm (12:50am EST)
I thought is was time to take a break from refreshing my browser to reflect on something that I actually believe in.
For several months, November Project Hong Kong (formerly #justshowuphk) has been quietly building a community around a simple phrase: “Just show up.” We started with a rag-tag bunch of Sun Yat Sen Park wanderers, work colleagues, and peer pressured friends with a few things to prove: that there is a reason for Hongkongers to be awake before 7am, that hugs or high fives are an acceptable form of greeting, and that #freefitness is eating the world.
Just like the other pledges, we spammed our social feeds, solicited co-workers and schemed our way into local publications. More and more, we became pretty obsessed with the numbers in the pictures and the fans on facebook. Maybe we (I) became so concerned with growth that we weren’t aware as we could have been of the development of a group that has come to define its name. Finally, there was a transition and the people who just showed up became a tribe and that was right about the time we became #32.
Lisa, Rebecca, and I have been are happy and proud to see individuals, and a group as a whole, accept the norms of inclusion, positivity, and cohesion. We regularly enjoy representation from over a dozen countries with a wide array of “how I ended up in Hong Kong” stories. And the best part about it is that all we have to do to enjoy it is show up.
Spartan Race Hong Kong
One last story: This last weekend, nearly 20 of us participated in Hong Kong’s first Spartan race. The good news is everybody PR’ed. The better news is that Lisa was 3rd overall for women, Elena was top 3 for her category, Janelle was first in her category, and many surprised themselves by getting up the rope… or finishing! The best came from some who said they never would have raced at all – if it wasn’t for the group.
That is the only news I am willing to talk about.
If you or anybody you know wants to come to Hong Kong.
For several months, November Project Hong Kong (formerly #justshowuphk) has been quietly building a community around a simple phrase: “Just show up.” We started with a rag-tag bunch of Sun Yat Sen Park wanderers, work colleagues, and peer pressured friends with a few things to prove: that there is a reason for Hongkongers to be awake before 7am, that hugs or high fives are an acceptable form of greeting, and that #freefitness is eating the world.
Just like the other pledges, we spammed our social feeds, solicited co-workers and schemed our way into local publications. More and more, we became pretty obsessed with the numbers in the pictures and the fans on facebook. Maybe we (I) became so concerned with growth that we weren’t aware as we could have been of the development of a group that has come to define its name. Finally, there was a transition and the people who just showed up became a tribe and that was right about the time we became #32.
Lisa, Rebecca, and I have been are happy and proud to see individuals, and a group as a whole, accept the norms of inclusion, positivity, and cohesion. We regularly enjoy representation from over a dozen countries with a wide array of “how I ended up in Hong Kong” stories. And the best part about it is that all we have to do to enjoy it is show up.
