A Day Off

Hey loves!

This morning, I packed my backpack and left campus with everyone else from my residence. After a one hour bus drive, we arrived at one of the entrances to the dragon's back hiking trail. We hiked more than 2 hours on the route and then arrived at a beach where we enjoyed the afternoon.

This was our first CoP (Change of Pace) Day of the year and I am grateful that we got to spend it like this. There is something incredibly relaxing to simply packing your bags, leaving all your tasks and deadlines at school, and just going out and exploring nature. I had not been to the dragon's back before and have been amazed by the view. It is one of the most beautiful hiking routes that Hong Kong has to offer and is definitely worth exploring. It ends at the Big Wave Bay which is one of the most beautiful Hong Kong beaches I have ever seen. Although the hike can be exhausting, it is definitely worth doing. We went all together and pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones made us bond with each other. We sang songs, talked about politics and silly topics, and walked other parts in silence. It really is a great group activity and when you arrive at the beach, it feels like you truly earned the break at the beach.

I loved feeling the sand between my toes and looking at the sea. It was such a nice break from academics and I believe that we all needed this day. Big Wave Bay has huge rocks which you can sit on. Sitting there is incredible - you basically see the waves rolling towards you and then they break right in front of you. I was particularly fascinated by one little area of the rocks where the water hit against the rocks and occasionally, water droplets would reach you from there when you sat on top. I attached a few pictures for you guys. The beach itself is wonderful and I would highly recommend visiting it if you are ever in Hong Kong. It is a good address for a lazy afternoon but you have to be a good swimmer because the waves are quite big and strong.

When returning to campus, we all got back into working mode. Luckily, my SAT is already done and now, I can fully focus on my school work. As I told you guys in my last article, I was very occupied with writing my early university applications and studying for my SAT - both tasks are done by now! I have already sent my applications to UK universities and I will send my applications to American universities next week. I am quite excited about this process because these applications represent a lot of work and then someone somewhere around the globe will access them. And applications to US universities tend to consist of questions that allow you to tell them more about you as a person. So you basically introduce yourself to someone through your application although you might never meet them. To me, this process seems quite interesting.

I am very sorry for having taken a break from this blog but now I will update it regularly again. I am excited to be back! I hope all of you are doing well!

Lots of Love,

Elena