allurescent: I've Moved to Hong Kong!

So for about a month and a half now (I honestly have no clue where the time has gone!) Hong Kong has been my new, fabulous home which it will be for the academic year. I am undertaking a study abroad year at Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) through my home university of Manchester. I have always possessed an incessant need to travel so when the opportunity arose to apply for an international exchange, it was a no-brainer that I was going to apply.
Through the application processes, I knew I had my heart set on Hong Kong as the culture is so unique, interesting and bursting at the seams with fashion stimuli, I really don't know what I would have done if I didn't manage to bag a place here.

I had my reservations about moving so far away from home, not that I really get overly homesick, just with the fact that Asia could not be more different from the UK in many respects and because I have never travelled outside of Europe before. My ambition and excitement to travel soon dulled these worries, especially after speaking to individuals that have lived or spent a prolonged amount of time in Hong Kong before, I knew that I would not want to return.

I can genuinely say that this is quickly becoming the best decision I have ever made and I would urge anyone to take the study abroad experience because it really is invaluable! I read a quote before I moved here that has really stuck in my mind and pretty much describes my time here;

"Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer"

I honestly never dreamed that I would fall in love with Hong Kong as much as I have (and I had some pretty high expectations). I can already tell that I have made life long friends and created memories that I will treasure forever.

In terms of settling in here; the transition was way more smooth and easy-going than I thought it would be; the locals and academics here are so friendly and welcoming, plus everything is so accessible in Hong Kong and the perfect marraige between East-meets-West means there is some form of Western comfort around the corner!

I am unsure of what direction I would like to take when posting on allurescent of my time abroad, I was contemplating starting a new blog but then I want to take some fashion direction in my posts too as Hong Kong has so much to offer in terms of fashion. At the moment I intend to write about academic differences between the UK and HK, the current situation in Hong Kong (democracy protests), the fashion scene and the travelling I've been doing. If you have any ideas or would not like to read any of my suggestions please let me know so I can mould my blog for my readers for the forthcoming year!

Anyway this is intended to be a little introductory post which has been long overdue! Here are a few photos from my personal instragram to illustrate what I've been up to so far. I will post a more comprehensive travel post soon with more details of my travelling experiences of HK so far.