2025 marks the beginning that I have been in the California Bay Area longer than Hong Kong , a city where I was born and raised. To which city am I supposed to be homecoming?
Every trip to Hong Kong reminds me that happiness is tied to human connections. Trips in Hong Kong are less about sightseeing, more about connections with families and friends. There is the delight to find families and friends doing well. Special events often play a role in firming up our travel plan. This year, the special event turned out to be the 125th anniversary of my secondary school.
When I was still studying in secondary school, we celebrated the 80th anniversary of school. This year is the 125th anniversary of my secondary school, 45 years since the 80th anniversary. I made the trip to join the anniversary dinner with over a thousand other graduates in Hong Kong. How amazing is that!
Despite many complaints about the demanding nature of Hong Kong education systems, the Hong Kong system appears to offer a better environment for students to build lasting friendships. I personally experienced the life-long friendship deeply again with the multiple reunions with the secondary school classmates on this trip.
The Hong Kong pre-college education consists of kindergarten years, 6 primary school years and 6 secondary school years. In my days, the students have just a few subjects we can choose: art vs science, geography vs history, etc. Due to the limited varieties, I had many classmates taking the same curricula with me. That created so many shared memories. The classmates may drift apart for years. Some of us may move to different places of the world. Often when someone, like me, comes back to Hong Kong for a short trip, we get together, the bonding revives so naturally and so quickly. It is a life-long friendship with a class of friends.
Comparatively, the Bay Area education consists of pre-school years, 6 elementary school years, 2 middle school schools, then four high school years. There is less continuity when the kids grow up in their teen years. The rich choice of subjects mean most kids hardly are on the same curricula or with the same teachers. After graduation, the classmates would settle in different parts of the US if not of the world, far away from each other. Sometimes, I am concerned about the few friendships one can sustain after graduation especially for those who may not be a social butterfly in their teen years. In spite of its heavy homework and strenuous studies, the Hong Kong system is better in terms of life-long friendship.
The school celebrated the 80th anniversary of school when I was still a teenager. The school did not jump from the 80th anniversary to the 125th anniversary. I skipped many, if not all, the between, and jumped 45 years for a special anniversary dinner.
The 125 anniversary dinner was held in the 5-star Hopewell hotel in Hong Kong, with 125 tables, 10 per table. When I arrived at the hotel, many current students in the CheongSam school uniform were there at the building entry, showing us the ways to the Grand Ballroom on the 16/F floor. They bridged all the years, and brought back so many memories of my own school days. They just looked to be the refined and upgraded versions of our generations. When I got to the Grand Ballroom, it became immediately apparent that the organizers had put in tons of thoughts in setting up the venue. It certainly felt star-studded an Oscar experience with classmates, students, teachers and principles. I immediately felt at ease and it was easy to find my table among the 125 tables. A couple of my classmates were already there. One also flew in from California. We had not seen each other for years. Just seeing her made my trip to Hong Kong worthwhile. Soon the tables were filled. The conversations bridged all the gaps of the years. My school is a Girls’ Christian school. We were busy chatting, and did not notice the noise level of a thousand of us catching up with each other in the Grand Ballroom. It took some effort for the MC to kick off the evenings with school songs and prayers. The school song has a phrase that tells our hearts to stay together even if we will be far apart. I certainly felt that I had not lived up to that phrase after drifting away for many of the years. The performance of the current students has been impressive, and the farewell set up for the current school principal has been thoughtful and heartwarming. What I like the most is the opportunities to catch up with each other, reminisce about our school days, see our teachers, and other familiar faces. We took a bunch of photos together.
It was an evening that I would remember for a very long time. I am thankful that after all these years, we can rekindle our friendship and are still young enough to have some remaining years together. We met again shortly after the anniversary dinner and look forward to more happy times in the years to come.
If you graduated from high school this year, and your school continues another 45 years, you will join your school anniversary dinner in the year 2070. How special will that be for you?
oliviatamccue 