Mong Kok, Hong Kong
Moving away has always been a sort of dream of mine. To start again somewhere new, where no one knew who I was, where I was on my own. Now older, obviously starting over is somewhat difficult and hard to do without a purpose, i.e., for work, school, etc. Not to mention the family and friends you would be leaving behind. The loophole I found was to study abroad. It’s almost like I’m able to sample new places. I live abroad for a few months, have a purpose through my education, and really get to live and see a place as a local would and not a tourist. Which, to me, makes a big difference. In the end, I return back home changed and matured ready for the next place to call home for a bit or even one day, for a bit longer. A type of nomadic journey you could call it.
I had never been to Hong Kong or any part of Asia before my study abroad trip so when I arrived everything was utterly foreign to me. It was very much unlike my previous study abroad experience to Paris, France. I had been to Paris and a bit of Europe a couple of times prior because of family living there. So when I moved to Paris I was already familiar with the city, the people and the way of life in general. I’ve always had my heart set on one day permanently moving to France so that small taste definitely had me in love and comfortable. Hong Kong was of course a wonderful opportunity for me, but I hadn’t given much though to it before. I’ve always been more interested in Japan or India if I were to choose where I could go in Asia.
Before my trip, I hardly did any research on Hong Kong and had a sort of ease and ‘whatever’ mentality. My family couldn’t even imagine how I could go across the globe for a couple of months and be so calm. But maybe it was my love of travel and starting over somewhere new that I was looking forward to it. Adapting to a new place is annoying to some, but adventurous to me. Finding a new routine, breaking it and finding a new one. Recognizing familiar faces, stepping out of my comfort zone. My time flew by before my trip and all of sudden I was saying my goodbyes. That was the part that hurt the most. Once I arrived, the buzz of the city was contagious. I was ready to explore, get lost, and then found again. My apartment was by the bay, a bit further from the city. Before, I thought how inconvenient that seemed but now I love being able to only hear the wind and waves crashing outside of my windows. Waking up with the view of the water instead of another window with laundry hanging from it hidden in the overcrowded city, was simply magical.
My first few weeks were disorientating. Finding my way around, learning to understand the gestures of people I couldn’t speak to, discovering a new gem around each corner, and not to mention starting classes! I was pretty exhausted and the toll was beginning to add up. I’ve finally found a better balance to manage my time with school but still explore to my hearts content. This calm and balance, however, was after a good hibernation from last weekend. I checked out from everything, finished all of the work I needed to do and just took my time to sleep, be lazy and take it slow for a bit. Even though I wholeheartedly agree that you should take full advantage of your time, I was conscious of my health. I could feel the stress building up and I needed to just breathe and take a moment for a slight pause.
A month into my trip I still feel as I did on that first night when I arrived. Anxious, excited, scared and unbearably happy. The biggest change being that in this foreign place I now feel at home.