Blogging by Allan
Saying goodbye is always hard, but it's just a bit harder when the person you're saying goodbye to is 12 hours away from your home. Although I had to say goodbye many times during this trip, I will never forget the many friends I made along the way.
Today was a sad but momentous day. Sad because today was the last day of home stays with the new Asia middle school students but momentous because this goodbye will be one like many throughout this trip and throughout many of our lives. The day started out with me waking up to the beautiful view of the 53rd floor of my host family. I knew that it would be a sad day so I didn't want to get up. I did anyway. After a last breakfast with my host family we left to the New Asia Middle School. At the school we met up with all the other students. Then... our time came. Everyone gave their last goodbyes to their home stay families. It was tough for me because I had a very strong connection to my home stay family and I'm sure it was just as tough for everyone else. We then got on our bus and we were off to the train station.
Once we got to the train station we were able to eat lunch. We all got lunch money and we were able to go anywhere around the mini food court and small shops. I personally did not get any lunch because I had a pretty big breakfast with my host family. Instead, I went to the small shops to buy snacks for the train and water. I also was able to connect to a 20 minute wifi session to talk to my friends and family and update them on my trip so far. After meeting back up with the group, we all went through security and onto the train to Guangzhou. A major part of our journey has ended, but a new one has just begun.
The train ride was about two hours long. The train felt so smooth that it didn't feel like we were moving. The ride was cut short for me since I was asleep for most of the time. Once I woke, it was already time to leave. Everyone grabbed their luggage and left the train. After leaving the train we went through more security, customs and immigration. After that, we left the station and met up with a woman named Natalie who will be with us in Guangzhou to help is familiarize ourselves with the city. Then, we all took a bus to our hotel called Lido hotel.
The hotel seemed really nice and elegant, much different from the Y-loft. This hotel also seemed very busy. Upon arriving, we all got paired up with our new roommates. We had to immediately drop our belongings off because we had to go to dinner (the restaurant we went to was from close walking distance to our hotel). Dinner was amazing. We had a Chinese food called hot pot where we had raw food and boiling water. We would need to dip the raw food inside the boiling water in order to cook it ourselves. It kinda felt that we were chefs because we also had on aprons. After finishing our food we stayed in the restaurant for a couple of hours; we were all talking and having a good time. Finally, we left the restaurant and went back to the hotel to sleep. That is where our day ended.
Today was a pretty simple day, but an important one. Our time in Hong Kong has finally ended but now, we get to experience a whole new trip. I learned much in Hong Kong and I am certain I'll learn just as much or even more in Guangzhou.
Saying goodbye is always hard, but it's just a bit harder when the person you're saying goodbye to is 12 hours away from your home. Although I had to say goodbye many times during this trip, I will never forget the many friends I made along the way.
Today was a sad but momentous day. Sad because today was the last day of home stays with the new Asia middle school students but momentous because this goodbye will be one like many throughout this trip and throughout many of our lives. The day started out with me waking up to the beautiful view of the 53rd floor of my host family. I knew that it would be a sad day so I didn't want to get up. I did anyway. After a last breakfast with my host family we left to the New Asia Middle School. At the school we met up with all the other students. Then... our time came. Everyone gave their last goodbyes to their home stay families. It was tough for me because I had a very strong connection to my home stay family and I'm sure it was just as tough for everyone else. We then got on our bus and we were off to the train station.
Once we got to the train station we were able to eat lunch. We all got lunch money and we were able to go anywhere around the mini food court and small shops. I personally did not get any lunch because I had a pretty big breakfast with my host family. Instead, I went to the small shops to buy snacks for the train and water. I also was able to connect to a 20 minute wifi session to talk to my friends and family and update them on my trip so far. After meeting back up with the group, we all went through security and onto the train to Guangzhou. A major part of our journey has ended, but a new one has just begun.
The train ride was about two hours long. The train felt so smooth that it didn't feel like we were moving. The ride was cut short for me since I was asleep for most of the time. Once I woke, it was already time to leave. Everyone grabbed their luggage and left the train. After leaving the train we went through more security, customs and immigration. After that, we left the station and met up with a woman named Natalie who will be with us in Guangzhou to help is familiarize ourselves with the city. Then, we all took a bus to our hotel called Lido hotel.
The hotel seemed really nice and elegant, much different from the Y-loft. This hotel also seemed very busy. Upon arriving, we all got paired up with our new roommates. We had to immediately drop our belongings off because we had to go to dinner (the restaurant we went to was from close walking distance to our hotel). Dinner was amazing. We had a Chinese food called hot pot where we had raw food and boiling water. We would need to dip the raw food inside the boiling water in order to cook it ourselves. It kinda felt that we were chefs because we also had on aprons. After finishing our food we stayed in the restaurant for a couple of hours; we were all talking and having a good time. Finally, we left the restaurant and went back to the hotel to sleep. That is where our day ended.
Today was a pretty simple day, but an important one. Our time in Hong Kong has finally ended but now, we get to experience a whole new trip. I learned much in Hong Kong and I am certain I'll learn just as much or even more in Guangzhou.