Winter Break and Family Time

As much as I enjoyed China’s surprises, I can’t say it was all too unbearable to leave. Compared to the other nations we visited, I can’t help but remember feeling in China like I was witnessing a big machine whirling and chugging along around me. It made me feel on edge, like I had to be aware and accountable for everything I was doing at all times. Almost like I was being watched, which is admittedly unavoidable for a white person in Asia. In any case, I was ready to get out of the spotlight I felt I was under at Hwa Nan University and get a little anonymity back. Hong Kong was the answer.

We arrived on December 23^rd at the YMCA on Kowloon Peninsula.

Hong Kong is situated on the southeast coast of China…facing the South China Sea. Covering an area of 1,104 square kilometres (425 square miles), the territory is made up of Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories. At the core is Victoria Harbour, which separates Hong Kong Island from Kowloon and beyond that, the New Territories that runs up to the boundary with Mainland China. (Source)

As I’m sure you’ve heard, Hong Kong very recently (July 1, 1997) returned to Chinese sovereignty, and is now considered to be a “Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China,” governed under a policy of “One Country, Two Systems.” This arrangement allows Hong Kong to enjoy a high degree of autonomy, retaining its capitalist system, independent rule of law, free trade and freedom of speech, while appeasing China’s desire for control.

Hong Kong immediately felt familiar, despite the aggressive Asian advertising and marketing from which we never seemed to escape. The city is spotless. I’m not kidding. And it is SO well run. The infrastructure is unbelievable. Infrastructure is something I’ve thought and talked a lot about on the trip, just because it has started to stand out as the element that seems to make or break a nation’s development and economic success. The roads were well marked; sidewalks were clean; there were garbage AND RECYCLING bins on the streets; signage was incredibly impressive, always appearing in at least three languages; public transportation is a dream – clean, efficient and timely. Whoever designed this city knew how to shuffle people around, at least as efficiently as is possible in a space so densely populated.

It was also the first time I had seen western advertisements in about four months. Seeing Gwyneth Paltrow’s giant face on the side of a building was more comforting than I’d like to admit. As was the opportunity to shop! I would have left with a whole new wardrobe if the prices had been half of what they were. And if I didn’t have to look forward to carrying my purchases on my back for the next 5 months.

On top of that, we only had about 36 hours before our big Christmas Eve Party (a PacRim tradition in which our friends and family are invited to celebrate with us in Asia!), and the media group and I were hard at work completing our first semester memory video for its Christmas Eve debut. If any of you have ever worked with Final Cut, you know that compiling and editing footage is intense. And in true college fashion, we left it to the last minute. But we are more than proud of the outcome, and it ended up being completed on time! We got to show it off, and all our guests got a much better idea of what we’d been up to for so many weeks.

Girls in their qipaos (traditional Chinese dress), and Jessica in her ao dai (traditional Vietnamese dress), each of which we had tailor made in China and Vietnam!

Boys in their suits, which were also custom made in Vietnam.

The part was a blast. But unfortunately, due to a plane ticket timing snafu (i.e. my dad got confused with the time difference on the overseas flight) my family wasn’t able to make it L. I was pretty crushed about that. But it only made their arrival more special. Believe me, I was counting down the minutes. Since we didn’t have cell phones, I’d agreed to keep Skype turned on all night and await their call once they reached the hotel.

At about 11pm on the night of the party, my family and I were officially in the same country! I can’t tell you how excited I was to see their faces [virtually]. On Christmas morning, my good friend Anna and I packed up as fast as we could and made the journey out of the city and onto Hong Kong Island where their hotel was located. With all our luggage it tow! We could have shelled out for a taxi, which would have cost at least $35, but we opted to take the city bus to the airport (only a few minutes from my parents’ hotel) and then hop on the free shuttle to the hotel. We were so proud to have made it all by ourselves.

Speaking of how great Hong Kong’s public transportation is, our bus to the airport had an unexpected flat tire about 30 minutes into the trip. We had to pull over and all the passengers had to get out on the side of the highway, along with all their luggage. There was some momentary confusion, but Anna and I could hardly begin to worry because within moments (LITERALLY) another bus swooped in, loaded us on and proceeded to the airport. It was jaw-droppingly efficient, the likes of which I doubt you would see in America.

Tears were shed and hugs were exchanged when we greeted my parents in the lobby where they were anxiously awaiting our arrival. Then we went upstairs to open presents (!!) because it was Christmas morning after all. My family had packed a few gifts from home, along with a present for Anna from her parents so that we all had something to open.

But even though it was Christmas, we couldn’t forget that we were in Hong Kong and on vacation! We decided to make the most of our day by visiting the Tian Tan Buddha, one of the must-see destinations in Hong Kong.

From inside the gondola.

The ascent.

As is customary in Buddhist tradition, this sacred site is located high above the surrounding buildings and residences, requiring visitors to climb (or take a gondola, which we did) to reach it and thereby increasing its significance. To be honest, compared to the [buttload of] Buddhas/stupas/monasteries we’d seen by then, this one was pretty sterile. By that I just mean un-spiritual. It was built in 1993 and was clearly intended for tourism. I mean, there was a fricken SUBWAY restaurant (among many other souvenir and eating joints) just below the steps to the statue. Nevertheless, it was a fun way to spend the day and a cool thing for my family to see.

Anna caught a flight to Germany later that night, and the next day my family and I set out to explore the city. Unfortunately, the location of our hotel ended up kind of sucking - all the action of Hong Kong takes place on Hong Kong Island or Kowloon, requiring us to take an initial 20 min. train ride from Lantau Island. The trains were a breeze though. Very Minority Report-like.

Finally on my own with my family, it felt weird for me to all of a sudden be the leader of the group. I became the resident travel expert (at least in my own mind), which lead to some mildly awkward battles of supremacy. Our study abroad group had fallen into such a nice groove after so many weeks together. We knew the drill - how to bargain, how best to plan our days, what to pack, how to be prepared, how to handle unexpected changes. But seeing my family in such an unfamiliar environment and immediately having to interact with them in “survival travel mode” took some getting used to. For me, travelling sort of chisels you down to the basics of living. It's primitive in a lot of ways. How do I find food? Where can I go to the bathroom? How do I stay clean? How will I get from point A to point B? Where am I? There are certain parts of you that aren't necessarily revealed in day to day middle class life. But working together and compromising as a family in an unfamiliar environment certainly leaves nothing to hide. That was hard for me to face at first. 

Now that I think about it, embarking on this trip with a group of strangers was actually ideal. No baggage. No one to disappoint (at least at first). No expectations. No lingering drama. We were all free to fall into a pattern with each other, to learn and grow together and find our place. I miss that atmosphere terribly. I hope I have the chance to be a part of something like it again in my life. It’s incredibly liberating. 

Back to my family. I’m going to pretend they wont be reading this. I was super impressed with Elliott. He takes things like a champ and always goes with the flow. As long as he has eaten fairly recently. My family has problems admitting to their hanger (in case you missed it, hanger is a term coined by my fellow Pacrimmer, Jeremy to describe the state of irritable bitchiness resulting from low blood sugar; hunger + anger = hanger). I also had issues being told what I could and could not do when my parents were around. But then again, I've always had issues with that.

Of course, although things took some getting used to, I was more than ecstatic to have my family with me to share this wonderful part of my life. It absolutely wouldn’t have felt complete had they not joined me.

Over the next few days, we took advantage of a very tourist-y but ultimately super convenient transportation service called Big Bus Tours, which allowed us to cruise around the city in a double decker bus, hop on and off at designated stops whenever we wanted, and listen to a Jude Law doppelganger give us a guided tour all along the way! We got to cover way more ground than we would have otherwise.

Here are some views from the tour:

Antique market stall on our stocking-stuffer shopping trip.

Tom Heerman-style souvenirs.

Dad and Elliott. And John.

View from the top of the Big Bus. This is the "other side" of the island.
Insanely expensive beachfront properties.  Reminded us of the OC.

As seen in The Dark Knight.

Of course, our trip wouldn’t have been complete without a view of the famous Symphony of Lights across Victoria Harbor, “a spectacular light and laser show synchronized to music and staged every night at 8:00PM. This is the world's largest permanent light and sound show as recognized by the Guinness World Records” (Source). It was especially cool at that time because of the special holiday themed lighting designs.

All in all, Hong Kong was a blast. The perfect place to ease first-time foreigners into travel abroad. Super easy to get around; tons of great food, both gourmet and blue collar; lots of stuff to see and places to shop. Not to mention world-class people watching. It didn’t steal my heart in any unique way, but I’d love to go back.

Next time, off to Thailand!