My Unforgettable Trip to Hong Kong

Posted by Yuka as Hot Cities

My Unforgettable Trip to Hong Kong
—–Reflection on HKMUNC 2008

Never shall I forget about the trip to Hong Kong which will definitely for long remain in my memory. Generally and honestly speaking, what Hong Kong impressed me, in fact all along, is not only the amazing, astonishing and astounding prospect of its prosperity and luxury, but also the very civilization deeply rooted in the culture of the city as well as its residents. I do dwell in a prosperous city, or else romantic to be exact as generally acknowledged; people do at times cast with absolute respect and jealousy their eyes to me for my status as a Dalianer. True as both the above-mentioned facts have invariably been, the city of Hong Kong turns out to provide me with quite a different experience. In addition, this is after all my first time to step out of Dalian for so faraway a place.

To obtain the opportunity to be as a representative of my school-DLUFL-was beyond expectation and unquestionably brought me great happiness though couples of difficult-handling problems appeared unexpectedly in the way. Informed the other day of there being an interview the next day to elect some delegates for the participation of HKMUNC 2008, which is short for Hong Kong Model United Nations Conference 2008, I was extremely delighted even sort of exhilarated. It had been long since I heard from my pals in other prestigious universities the existence of MUN, yet I had hardly had the slightest idea of connecting myself to it. Nevertheless, it was a yearning, at the bottom of my heart. Not in the least taking it for granted, I spent a whole afternoon preparing for the next day’s interview in every attempt to equip myself with everything related to United Nations. To owe the truth, never had I had scrammed up like this. The next morning when I awakened I found I had forgotten most of what had been pushed into my head. With not so much confidence I walked into the interview room, heart pounding wildly while pretending to be calm and natural, and left everything to be decided by God. Having perfectly finished reading aloud a paragraph of the given article and its translation, I went on to answer two questions. The performance was to myself not so satisfying as had been expected, with a misunderstanding of the first question, however, everything was done. The rest of the day before I finally got the word that I had been chosen seemed to me unbearably long, which is no less than suffering and torture. Of course God blessed me in the end. I was one of the six representatives to represent our school. My inspiration and passion were not in futile at all.

Then it came to the preparation session. Painstaking as it was, this period of time turned out to be a blessing in disguise. For some, receiving from their family constant support and warmth is considered to be the greatest happiness; for some, embracing from their dear friends the unchanging faith and love is regarded as significant; for some, getting from their respectable teachers selfless and patient help and care is thought to be invaluable. For someone like me who falls into all the above-mentioned categories, it was lucky enough to experience all during the preparation. As I have mentioned this was my fist time to leave Dalian, thus no travel experience was on hand. As a consequence, I ran into several unexpected troubles, among which to decide which transportation to take stood out. By train or by air, that was the problem, for the former seemed to be somewhat unrealistic during the winter vacation and, what more, floods of people would take trains to return home for Spring-Festival reunion with families; the ticket price of the latter was apparently for me too high to be decided immediately for no generous discount would be available. All these placed me in a dilemma and even made me think of giving up. Yet as it turned out, I found out that I was not alone in the struggle. My two advisors cared from the beginning to the end for me, offering constant help and comfort. While at the same time, my families, though not around me, tried to arrange everything well. Thank God, all the troubles blocking my way were settled perfectly. With such meaningful responsibility on the shoulders, I together with the other five teammates put every effort into the great commitment and undoubtedly achieved steady progress. What made the job a little bit heavy is the approaching of final-exam season. Staring at my computer screen for long, my eyes inevitably felt sour and uncomfortable. There was even no access to the Internet when I stayed at home for winter vacation, bringing me much inconvenience. Cyber café, therefore, witnessed my frequent presence and hard labor. Grateful that one of my friends voluntarily offered to lend me his PC for Hong Kong trip, while I decided at last not to carry one. The trip to HK is just on the way.

I had pictured enthusiastically on the plane what a scene HK would present itself on my mind. I was born in a small village and led a simple life ever since my birth, for that reason I had hardly imagined placing myself in places as such. Yet from movies and TV programs I somewhat caught a glimpse of the modern city though the impression is slight and vague. Realizing that Hong Kong is only no more than one day’s away to test my imagination, I could not help but feeling excited, exhilarated, exalted, even from the very moment when I stepped onto the flight, or to trace back, from the second I set out to explore another circumstance. Apart from this, the fact that this was actually my first flight added to my excitement. Looking out of the tiny window, I found that I was above clusters of white clouds. According to the agreed-upon schedule, we were supposed to assemble at JunTing Hotel in Shenzhen. The plane started to lower itself gradually indicating the immediate arrival. Alas, I’m coming! (Bang! I landed!)

Getting out of the plane into glorious sunshine was a most gratifying experience. The weather in Shenzhen was indeed quite different from that of the North. Green trees and blooming flowers could be seen everywhere. On my way to the hotel from the airport, it began to drizzle; the whole city therefore appeared clean and friendly. Delighted to see my teammates and advisors again, the feeling made more sense especially while I was that far away from home. A casual stroll in the afternoon brought me to get further familiar with the unfamiliar city; what’s more the Shenzhen snack satisfied my stomach greatly. Txt messages from my mama and friends brought closeness that kept me warm. All added up to a totally emotional experience.

The greatest moment when we set out to Hong Kong finally came. The next morning saw lovely rainy day. Not having carried umbrellas, we had to buy several. Afterwards we hurried on across the doorway into two cabs separately and headed for Luohu customs. We were then on the train to the designated hotel-Royal Park Hotel, where we would stay for the following three days. While expecting the staff of HKMUN club to pick us up, I came across a friend whom I met on the Internet and had a word with him. The hotel was a fabulous place glittering with exotic luxuries and the splendor and grandeurs of a modern taste. We absolutely had such a wonderful time out there that I found my words failed to give force to my description. What’s more the grand ceremony dinner that followed turned to be a high time for every one of us. We harvested not only fun but also, more important, friendship. Guys at our table were really amazing. The heated chat between us tended to reveal that we had become friends previously, yet before that we were strangers. We even played an exciting game, during which the most unforgettable scene was Ken, a boy from CUHK, kissed the hand of a girl whose name I cannot remember currently. Numerous photos are the evidence for our happy time then and there. It was already eleven o’clock deep at night towards the closure of the grand dinner; however, our business was not finished. To come up with the speech script urgently needed the next day, my partner Eileen and I stayed up late-in fact the whole night-without even a nap. Terribly sleepy as we were, we managed to finish that in steady high spirit.

The sleepless night seemed to be exceptionally long, long enough for one not to realize the yellowish dawn outside. The real battle started. Meetings were all held in Chinese University of Hong Kong, which is much larger and more beautiful than ours-that’s totally true. Things went smoothly in the beginning that we proposed a working paper that easily gained the requested number of signatories. As the conference advanced, due to our unfamiliarity with the procedure, we made a couple of mistakes and thus missed the initiative It was a pity that we failed to come up with a resolution paper based on our working paper. Nevertheless, we never stopped defending the benefits of the country we represented-India. With the support of other developing countries, we demanded with firm stance maximum benefits. Though no resolution paper was passed in our committee, it could be called a success. The ferry night tour let us spend almost two hours on a not-so-exquisitely decorated tour ship. To some, it was an unpleasant tour; after all it provided a platform for us to further know each other. It was delightful that I could finally spare some time to converse with dear Tiger. Three days’ HKMUN was seemingly short but carried much significance.

When I was in Hong Kong, the only free time to roam by myself was the last night. Particular thank goes to Mengchi, my teammate, for his generous share of his apartment that I could stay one more day. Hence I could spend time on the well-known Avenue of Stars. Walking alone up the road with soft warm breeze touching my cheeks, I took a deep breath and enjoyed the splendid scenery there was to see. The sheer colorful light reflected on the water surface made my head dizzy while the light produced by the skyscrapers itself along the Victoria Bay took my breath away. Obviously, I fell deep in love with everything in its presence. With a light mood I walked off, knowing it was time went back to my own harbor-my cozy home.

THANKS are due to all for their everlasting commitment and collaboration; for their tolerance and intelligence; for their goodness and generosity, etc. Lucky for me to have known them and have them as dear families and lifetime pals. THANKS are specially due to the organizers for their effort-consuming and excellent work. Without them we could not have had so much fun. I shall definitely be devoted to MUN upon return and make a difference to the world. To quote what the chairperson said, the world is far from in peace and harmony, we as the world’s future are called upon to take the responsibility of making the global village a better one to live in. I am ready!

Something took place, something faded away;
Some moments to be remembered, some to be forgotten.
Jan 25-27,2008 HKMUNC 2008
I shan’t forget the unforgettable trip to Hong Kong.