My family and friends were really excited for me to come to Hong Kong and experience the education system and culture here. My mom knew that since I was here for 4 months, my sister and her had to come to visit Hong Kong. My mom, Aunt Nique (Monique), my sister, Janelle, and my cousin, Serena, all came to visit for the Christmas holiday and to celebrate my mom’s birthday. I waited a long time for them to come visit because I was excited to show them around and just to see them after a long time. As the months and weeks went by and the days that they were going to be in Hong Kong with me grew closer, the happier I got to see them. I knew it was going to be a great trip because my mom would get to have a great birthday celebration and we could spend the end of December in warmer weather.
When my mom and sister arrived in Hong Kong, I got to the airport really early in the morning because their flight came in at 5am and there was little transportation for us to get back to the hotel. As I saw them walking out of immigration and baggage claim, I got really emotional because I haven’t seen them since August except through Facetime. I have a really close bond with my mom and my sister no matter how much we fight and argue, they will always be my favorite people in the world and I can’t live without them. When they finally got to me I ran to them and hugged them so tight. It was really overwhelming that my sister and I started to cry because she missed me a lot and I missed her. Once the whole mushy gushy scene was over, we waited for the airport bus back to the hotel and got their Octopus Card. They got to see the sunrise and we just talked and caught up. Once we got on the bus, they fell asleep from the long flight, so I let them relax.
For the rest of the day, we all relaxed and slept because we were all super tired. After we got up, we went to see my exchange buddy, Ansh, so that my mom and sister could meet him. Then we went to campus to pack some of my stuff up, so that it would be easier for me to move out. My mom and sister loved the campus and were really happy that I got to spend four months on such a beautiful campus. We ended our night with dinner at Picada, with Ada and her friends from Drexel that came to visit her. We ended up oversleeping the next morning and when I rolled over to look at my clock, I saw that we had to get up and get ready quickly to get my Aunt. Once we go to the airport and my Aunt and cousin came through immigration, I knew the fun could really begin. The airport staff were putting on a Christmas show and giving out hats, so we wanted to get one. However, they unfortunately ran out of them, but the Cathay Pacific flight attendant that we asked where to get it from gave us hers as her Christmas present to us. It was really nice of her and we thanked her so much.
After getting everyone back to the hotel, we had to rush to get ready for dinner with the exchange high school student, Candie, that my Aunt houses and her mom in Causeway Bay. The dinner was a traditional Cantonese restaurant and we ate all different kinds of dim sum. Candie’s mom wanted to know if we wanted to try something interesting and we told her yes, so she ordered us baby pigeon and we thought it was funny. Serena liked it so much she joked around saying that now she can cook up the pigeons that fly all around NYC and NYU Tandon’s campus. I thought it was the funniest comment ever. It was really nice being able to see Candie and to meet her mom because I haven’t seen her in a while. The next day we went to visit HKUST’s campus and I gave them a tour of the school. We had lunch on campus at the Chinese Restaurant and then headed to Mong Kok to go shopping for gifts for people. We bought really nice gifts for our family and friends. The jetlag really hit my Aunt and cousin after Mong Kok because we spent the whole day out and came back kind of late.
The next couple of days are going to very eventful and I we’ll all have a great time. Some of the activities I have planned for us is going to Big Buddha, Macau, Thailand, and Hong Kong Disneyland, with the family Disney t-shirts that my Aunt made for us. Since my mom’s birthday is on Christmas Eve, Janelle, Serena, and I decided to give our mom’s a special treat day for everything that they do for us. It is going to be a packed, but fun week and holiday and will definitely be worth it. I really appreciated my family coming to visit me because I missed them a lot. Being in Hong Kong has made me love and appreciate my family way more because I was on the other side of the world away from them for four months and it was very hard to talk to them all the time because of the time difference. Now that they’re here, we can make the best and most memorable Hong Kong experience ever!
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