They say home is where the heart is...

Journey complete.

And then it was all a dream. And then it was all over. And then I was on a plane back home to Toronto.

It hasn’t sunk in yet that this amazing journey, my time at HKUST, is now complete. The semester is over. Over…it’s hard to grasp.

Our last night we spent the entire night until the sun rose in LKF…dancing with all our favourite people, talking one on one with friends, reflecting on life here and saying goodbye. There were so many hugs and tears and sad faces it was overwhelming, but I kept reminding everyone that if we are upset it just means that this semester was so amazing that we are sad to see it end - so they are happy tears.

And in the midst of hugs and tears outside of our favourite bar, China Bar, the song of the semester came on “I feel so close to you”. Last night was not a night of drinking, it was not a night of meeting new people or exploring the city, it was a night of reflection and about being together. So a few of us grabbed everyone in sight and just danced to the song all together…the perfect way to finish the semester.

There are so many things I want to say, things I want to talk about but it’s really overwhelming. I am really happy that over this semester I have documented my journeys, my experiences and just my thoughts. This experience has become a part of me, it has given me so many things I never thought I could imagine, and for that I will be forever grateful. Hong Kong was my dream world and will forever remain with me whether it’s on my mind or just subconsciously.

It hit me that last night standing on the top of the hill on D’Agular Street waving to a friend leaving in a cab, realizing this place will never be the same for me again. And that this is it. We lingered in the streets for as long as possible, just taking it all in, waiting for our last friends to leave to the airport.

And yesterday morning….after two hours of sleep, an unbelievable number of goodbyes the night before and a stressful morning of checking out of my room I left Hall 3 and not only were cabs waiting for us…so were 20 of my friends waiting to say goodbye to all of us. It was an overwhelmingly amazing feeling realizing that all these people had woken up for the 4 boys and me that were leaving. One by one I said goodbye, whispering I love yous and goodbyes and we will meet again and thank you for everything in their ears.  Meaning it all. Different words for different people, all with the same message of gratefulness that I had met each and every person.

I am home now…and life is about to change and that’s okay. Jule said last night, it feels like you never left…but to me, it couldn’t be more opposite from the truth. I feel like the last 4 months an absolute whirlwind that will never just mesh into the rest of my life as time passes. I am excited for Christmas. I know I will see these people again. I know I will keep in contact with them. But it still doesn’t feel real that only 48 hours ago I was still in my bed in Hong Kong not realizing that I was really going to leave this place forever.

And for that, for everything this semester and everything I have come home to, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world!

Thanks for reading this semester and Happy Holidays!

And then there were 2 sleeps left…

This is my friend Esther’s blog, she lives in Cali and better be ready for me to visit her soon. I don’t think I could have said this better:

ebabroad:

this semester has been:

crazy. BEAUTIFUL. exciting. scary. nerve-wracking. AWESOME. a whirlwind. adventurous. torturous. confusing. PRICELESS. revealing. educational. rewarding. hot. sticky. sweaty. freezing. wonderful. joyous. traumatizing. REMARKABLE. fast. colorful. CULTURAL. new. hilarious. MEMORABLE. unbelievable. quite the journey. unforgettable…

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A year of growth…

Well it’s that time of the year for everyone that you reflect on the past year and look ahead for what is to come in the next year. You wonder what 2012 has in store for you and what you could have done, would have done, should have done in 2011. You reflect on the year as a whole…looking back at the moments that defined the year for you.

Every year you can usually define your life in a word…the theme of the year. At first I figured mine would be travel, or perhaps living life to the fullest, maybe even adventure or no regrets but after a bit of thought I think it’s actually growth.

Looking back a year ago, so much has changed…I worked with a non-profit organization, SOS, for the first semester, met amazing new friends at school in our “core”, made it to the Integrated Case Exercise finals, I got my first real job in an industry I thought I wanted to pursue in the future, I traveled to 12 countries in three continents, I met amazing new friends from all over the world, I went to school half way around the world, I got my first full time job offer for after graduation and I decided I was moving out in April after school ends.

Overall, I went out of my comfort zone and did things I wasn’t sure I could do. I accomplished things on my own and realized how happy I am with what I am doing, being, accomplishing. I know there are things in 2012 that I can improve on but perhaps I am able to recognize and act on these things more after this year. I don’t know what I want but I do know what I don’t want and this year has allowed me so many experience of figuring that out step by step.

My whole life has been a whirlwind this year. So much has changed but my constant of family and friends never ceases to amaze me…always being so supportive of me, helping me a long the way, even if I am half way around the world. It would be so easy to forget me half way around the world, as I am living such a different life, but it brings me so much comfort knowing I am going home to friends and family that I not only want to see, but want to see me.

I’ve learned this year that change is great, you learn amazing things, you see where your strengths and weaknesses are, but the constant at home is so important. If you have nothing to go home to, then it’s not home at all. My blog started months ago on the basis that “home is where the heart is” and my heart no longer remains in one place. I am so happy to go home, to celebrate Christmas with everyone I have missed dearly, to ring in the new years with the ball dropping in New York City with my dad and sister, but I am so conflicted with the sadness it brings me thinking about leaving this place, these people, this overall experience.

And one day you wake up and find you’re missing me (or I’m missing you)

It’s a funny feeling knowing that I am leaving this place in less than a week. Its a weird feeling knowing how many more times I will visit a place, or if it will be my last time I see this part of the city or eat a certain kind of food or take a specific subway. When you start this adventure you don’t think about the end because it’s so far out of reach, but now it seems to have snuck up on all of us. I have already said goodbye to some of my favourite people here…as they leave to go home, go back to their lives or to continue traveling the world.

I know I have written many posts about traveling, about the places I have seen, done, experienced and my life in Hong Kong but on these last few days here you realize that the biggest unknown has now become the most permanent and important part of this experience, that unknown is the people.

The thing about exchange is that if you go to the same place as the people before you, you will have pictures in the same spots, you will take some of the same classes and perhaps even live in the same location but what is always changing are the people on that exchange every semester. While there are 400 exchange students at my school it seemed overwhelming at the beginning that it was possible to meet people, out of this huge group, that you would get to know like you know friends at home. But I was quickly proven wrong.

While it’s only been four months I know I will stay in touch with some of these people for long past our goodbyes in a few days. We have not only traveled the world together, spent every day with each other and fallen in love with the same city we also have this secret that no one else will ever truly understand. I mean, I can tell everyone where I went or show them pictures but the fact is, is that this experience has been shared with these people and its impossible the describe the emotions, the feelings, the laughter, that we have had in each place along the way.

Things are going to change so soon, or maybe they will just go back to the way they used to be in my real life at home. But I know one thing for sure. Not only do I leave this exchange with new perspectives, experiences and life lessons I am also leaving this place with amazing new friends from all walks of life from all over the world. And that’s not going to be the end when I say goodbye on December 22nd.