Transitioning Again

Since I lasted posted on here, I have spent more time with family, eaten more good food, visited some tourist attractions, and said goodbye to my mom. :(  

Bye Ma!

I also visited Hong Kong's Wikipedia page to find interesting things to share on this blog post.  (I swear I'm a creative person.)  Some fun facts:

Hong Kong is the most vertical city in the world.

I took this horizontal panoramic of the most vertical city in the world at 太平山(Victoria Peak). 

#instagram #victoriapeak #hashtagsarepointless #whyamidoingthis

We ate at the Peak Lookout which is a famous, touristy restaurant on the Peak. It was Valentine's Day, so pretty much everyone else was there on a date.  Meanwhile, my nephew relishes in his singleness and carrot sticks.

Fish and chips at the Peak Lookout.

Just to make you jealous.

Again.

There are nine public universities in Hong Kong, the oldest of which is the University of Hong Kong (HKU).

A friend of mine who is a student at HKU gave me a tour of the campus. These are some Korean tourists occupying the main entrance.

While on campus, I met my friend Sun Yat-Sen.

They have these colorful cubicles in their libraries along with some very studious students.

Hong Kong's steep terrain and extensive trail network with expansive views attracts hikers, and its rugged coastline provides many beaches for swimming.

My newphews.  Ready to go hiking!  We went to a stream pool called Bride's Pool . Legend has it that a bride drowned their on her way to meet her groom.  We just hiked there to barbecue.

Another cute person for your viewing pleasure.

Catching fish in Bride's Pool.  No bride to be found.

Had to have dim sum a few more times before leaving.

So that concludes my Hong Kong trip, probably the most Western place I'll be in for four and a half months.  I got pretty comfortable staying here and going out on my own every day to meet a friend or do some shopping, but alas, my time has come.  Preparing to leave for temperatures below freezing and record-breaking air pollution makes me shudder a little.  And yet, the thought of adjusting to a new place to face the challenges which come with it fills me with a sense of exciting uncertainty.  I'll be meeting the other UC students from my exchange program tomorrow and moving into my dorm while learning to read personalities and developing first impressions of them.  Mandarin with a Beijing-er accent will be spoken everywhere and I won't be able to avoid it.  But first, I should start packing.  Sound familiar?

Also, my grandma knows kung-fu.