I Am Finally in Hong Kong!
It did not hit me that I was leaving the country until I landed in this new country for the first time. I have never traveled outside of North America before so this is a completely new experience for me. The flight was direct and a little long but overall it went well for the second time being in a plane. There was awful turbulence when flying over the mountains in Beijing and the landing also felt like a roller coaster ride (alert: motion sickness). We were exhausted after landing in the airport. At least I avoided jet lag!!
Yesterday was my first day living in Hong Kong. It made me realize how much I really do love culture. Before coming here, I knew little to nothing about the Asian culture and I am still learning. Although I see a lot of Chinese people on the streets, I also see a great amount of diversity here. There are so many Muslims who wear traditional Islamic or Indian/Pakistani clothing, walking on the streets as well and there feels like a sense of belonging. I was nervous about being a hijabi in a country like China. I thought I was going to stick out and people would look at me funny. Ironically, I feel like I belong here more than I do back in Bloomington where I am one of the few people who identifies as Muslim and it is VERY rare to see people who wear the headscarf. I find it beautiful that there are Muslims from many different countries and cultures in a place I would not have thought there would be so much diversity. Not only is the diversity beautiful; the scenery is breath taking. I cannot get over how there is so much nature and big mountains integrated in-between this urban city. Tomorrow, I am going hiking. Let the adventures begin!
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