A year you won’t forget …

So this is it, my first year is officially and successfully over, and after the holiday full of adventures it will start all over again. I will spend my second year at a university in Hong Kong, and even though this will be my second year at university, I believe the new and big city with a different culture will make me feel like a freshman again.

My second semester was all about Hong Kong, be it visas, finding accommodation, and enrolling in classes. With every step I felt my temporary ending in Scotland and my new beginning on the other side of the globe approaching. And the thought of not seeing my new and great friends for at least a year (and some for two years, since they were planning to go abroad when I was supposed to return) pushed me to be more and more active.

In my last article, I mentioned Bookends – the secondhand bookshop for students where I work as a volunteer. I spent my every free moment there during my second semester, and so I am even happier knowing that, just by selling books, we raised slightly more than L10,000 for charity in the last year alone. Most of the funds go into projects in Aberdeen, so we can immediately see the change and how it helps. The entire university also succeeded in raising quite a sum at the traditional – and Europe’s largest – torcher parade in the city. More than 50 trucks were decorated and some 3,000 students and volunteers got dressed up and then drove through the city, an event nearby residents await excitedly.

I also spent quite some time with ChildReach International, an organization that I have also mentioned in my previous posts. I succeeded in raising the full amount that I needed, which is why I can say that I am writing this post at the airport in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, and in a few hours I will fly to Kilimanjaro and try to climb the mountain. After that I will stay in Africa as a volunteer with a small foundation and help them to repair a school and teach as well.

In my second exam period at the university, I made some time to travel Scotland, and as a farewell, my friends and I decided to climb the UK’s highest mountain (Ben Nevis). For me, it was practice for Kilimanjaro, and for our friend Greg from Hong Kong, it was his first ever experience with mountains, sleeping outdoors and hitchhiking. I think our trip went really well; importantly, the weather was really good and it was the first (and perhaps the last) time that we needed sunbathing lotion in Scotland.

We had countless celebrations throughout the year; we had a barbecue with every member of our extensive international group who was leaving, and I am looking forward to meeting up with everybody in Scotland again. This year was chock full of amazing and unforgettable experiences, people, friends, experience, and memories that I will always cherish.

I thank the Foundation for its help and for letting me live the year the way that I did. It was unforgettable and I am looking forward to future years, which will surely be just as amazing.