During Thanksgiving break, the thought of not being able to see my best friends again dawned on me, as winter break was just around the corner. I would not be able to walk down to their dorm room, or hangout with them, for over a month! I was used to seeing them everyday whether we had class or hung out, or just went to Rey’s, the Student Campus Center. But now it would be different, my best friends live an actual ocean away from me. Not just a floor away, that usually takes just ten seconds to climb. I began to think of all the possibilities of how we could see each other, meet up somewhere and go back early or maybe have one of us travel across the ocean!
Could I really just book a ticket and go? A simple answer would be “no”, and then a few facetimes a week would have to suffice, however, I received a “yes!” My parents have always wanted to go to China, and this time I finally convinced them. It was the perfect opportunity!
I packed my bags and the first stop was Beijing. Of course I visited all of the amazing attractions, but my experience surpassed that. My friends basically acted as my own personal tour guides. Through my friends, I received so much more than just a touristy experience and had a great time doing it.
Never would I have imagined myself clubbing on New Years Eve in Beijing, but have you? It was more than just a party to me, as my friend Ziyi took me, and I got to meet various people our age. I have never been able to do that before, and it was incredible.
In Shanghai I got to see Melanie and Eagle who have been telling me about Shanghai for years. Melanie had the opportunity to take me foottopping, and showed me Shanghai’s amazing skyline, which in my opinion tops New York City’s. It was stunning and I could just stare at it forever. My friends also took me to a ton of restaurants, and I got to try a lot of ethnic food. Speaking of which, I am still craving by the way. I even tried jellyfish, it’s surprisingly crunchy if you would ask me! These experiences would not have been possible without my own personal tour guides!
Then, at the end of the my trip, I got to visit my roommate Celine in Hong Kong! We walked around the city while spilling about our breaks. It was so weird having to tell her about stuff because usually we are always with each other,both on the rollercoaster.
I learned so much from traveling across the world to see my best friends! I got to be an insider and look at how another country actually was, for the first time! Usually I only see places from a tourist’s perspective, but this time I got to interact with locals and run around with my best friends. Traveling 8,000 miles across the world was way more than just hanging out with my friends, and creating lifelong memories.It made the world seem likes it’s not so separated after all.