Well, I'm officially leaving Hong Kong in the AM to head back to the wonderful US of A. The past four months have definitely been an experience of a lifetime - I've met some fabulous people here & have seen so many wonderful things! It is quite surreal to me that four months have already passed, and thank goodness I kept this blog because everything has been a total blur! I feel as if I was able to learn a lot about the Cantonese/Asian culture, especially from the local students at Lingnan who were so enthusiastic about helping me whenever needed. I've come a long way since my first day of orientation here as I knew no one & had no idea what I was getting myself in to. Yeah, I probably would have been more comfortable studying somewhere else, such as Europe or Australia, but I think being abroad is all about stepping out of your comfort zone & having to deal with a totally different culture other than your own. I have bittersweet feelings about coming home - I can't wait to see my family, friends, & doggies (I'll list some other things I'm looking forward to in a sec), but I've fallen in love with this city, especially the views of the harbor & Soho :)
When I get home, besides seeing my family, friends & doggies, I can't wait to: take a bath, drive (oh gosh!!), get my hair done, eat a big salad with olive oil and vinegar & so many other things besides rice & noodles, celebrate Christmas & New Year's (in Phoenix!!), free refills!!!, sleep in my own bed that doesn't have a one-inch thick mattress, go shopping!! (I've been deprived of Forever, Urban, and Nords), be able to walk without people pushing into me every five seconds, go back to Butler & take classes where I can understand what my professor's are saying (hopefully, haha!), not see any hanging ducks & chickens from restaurant windows, not being stared at like an alien, and I'm sure I'll find out more things I've missed once I'm back in the states for a bit :)
This past week, I've had mutliple "goodbye dinners" - most importantly, with my roommate, Corinna. Saturday night, we spent the evening in Mongkok - we ate dinner then had frozen yogurt at this famous place called "Crumbs", delicious!! I know I mentioned this before, but Corinna is a fabulous artist, so for my goodbye gift, she drew a picture of me, which was so nice of her! She did a wonderful job, & it seriously looks like an actual photo of me!!! After frozen yogurt, she took me to a type of arcade where they have a bunch of photo booths. The photo booths are different than the ones in the states because you can pick a bunch of funky backgrounds & then draw on them on a computer after you take the pictures, plus they are stickers! It was really cool, but I ruined the first few pictures because I kept looking at the screen & not the camera, dorkkk!! It was a fun "roomie" night, & I'm going to miss having her as my roommate next semester!
*Corinna's drawing of me from when I had high tea at the Peninsula :)
*Our photo stickers!
*Kat, Anna, me, & Sara having dinner at Temple Street with Kat's mom who was visiting from New York
Tonight for our last night in HK, Anna, Sara, Tim, Ryan, Yoyo, & I went to "The Peak" to see the lovely night views of Victoria Harbor from the highest point in the city. I went to The Peak during my first weekend in HK during the day, so it was great to see it at night as well. I actually think I enjoyed it more at night with everything lit up! There are also many houses in this area that are worth around $500 million USD making it the second most expensive place to live in the world! I can understand why as it'd be great to look out your window & see that view every day & night! After The Peak, Sara, Anna, and I went to have our last dinner in Soho :) It was a perfect last night for a great 4 months!
*The Peak at night
*Anna & I at our last dinner in HK
I think that's about all for my blog of my time in HK! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed sharing my experiences with you all :) I'll see most of you back in the USA soon! Goodbye Hong Kong - hope to see you again in the future!!!
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