For our last trip, but first international adventure together, Gena and I booked tickets to Hong Kong over Lunar New Year. We figured, what better way to ring in a new year, and close another chapter in our lives simultaneously? Well, I must say Hong Kong lived up to every expectation I had ever imagined. But it might not be for the reasons you’d assume…
A friend of mine from New Zealand, residing in Hong Kong, reached out to me before I arrived. It had been seven years since I’d seen him, and immediately we planned to reunite. By pure coincidence, however, we soon realized more characters from the past would follow us both to Asia.
When I studied abroad at Massy University in New Zealand, I lived in the local dormitories {compared to the other foreigners living in international halls}. Since I was the only foreigner in Moginie, naturally, I was intimidated. Luckily, some pretty incredible humans shared the halls with me. And this particular weekend in Hong Kong, I reunited with five of them!
After seven years, we all drank gin atop my friend’s rooftop overlooking Hong Kong Island. It took me a couple hours, and a few drinks, to register the fact that we were all in the same city once again. Memories were recalled, new stories were shared, and so much love flooded my heart.
I’ve had a complicated relationship with the small island{s} in the South Pacific. This weekend allowed me to let go of any and all negative connotations I held against my beloved New Zealand. I welcomed the mannerisms, embraced the good energy, and cherished the accent I hadn’t heard for years. In the end, it had me longing to return to the land of the long white cloud.
All that being said, I was drinking with kiwis, and we all know how that goes. What started off as a classy affair, ended with stories we will take to the grave. Never a dull moment, ey? Overall, I was the happiest I’d been in a while. It was so refreshing to see familiar faces from such an important point in my life. After all, it was New Zealand that kick started my passion for travel. Without that experience, with those very people, my life may have turned out significantly different.
I’ll always be grateful to them for welcoming me into their lives seven years ago. And now I find myself even more appreciative that they still want to see the girl from America who drank out of a gumboot for her 21st birthday. To Seb, Katie, Corey, Sophie, and Sam – you’re all legends. And worth every single hangover in Hong Kong.