CK takes HONG KONG with MOM AND DAD!

As you probably already know by now, my parents went above and beyond the call of duty by not only giving me the opportunity to explore the world, but went one step further and visited me in China. I should probably stop all the sweet talk because let’s be serious, Jilly and Andy most definitely rode on my coattail--- first the Bahamas and now China!

The story goes something like this: way back in November, my parent’s arranged to meet me in South Africa, after they got a taste of planning their travels, they got more than overwhelmed, thus threw in the rag and signed up for the SAS Parent’s Trip to China… Actually it wasn’t that simple there was the whole stage of well, South Africa is supposed to be amazing, should we really not go to South Africa? I spent a long time reassuring them that they would visit South Africa on their own, but China was one of those places they would never visit had I not been traveling the world! And with that, Jilly and Andy signed up for the SAS Parent’s trip to China ;)

Just so we are all on the same page, each semester SAS chooses 1 country where they organize a parents trip for those interested… the trip is much like any other SAS lead trip aside from the fact that the trip includes parents, siblings, grandparents, etc. For parents, the trip lasted a total of 10 days (they start the trip a few days before we get there) and for me it was the full 7 days I was in China! We met our parents in Hong Kong, went to Beijing together and then bid our farewells in Shanghai--- traveling truly can’t get much better than this itinerary!

Before I begin any real reflection of my time in China, I would like everyone to take note of the following:

• For the record CK had already set foot on Asia, thus she did beat her parents to this continent
• This was BY FAR Jilly and Andy’s farthest travel, thus it was a major milestone in their lives
• Jilly and Andy went to the doctor beforehand to get some “candy” to make the flight a little bit more enjoyable (just had to include because that’s actually hilarious) 

It is safe to assume that a major reason Jilly agreed to meet me in China is to have the chance to see the MV Explorer pull up to the Hong Kong dock and wave in the one and only CK into her next port of call.

Now how could CK screw this up?

Let’s set the stage… I had emailed with my parents Saturday night (the night before our arrival) and was under the impression that we would be pulling up around 8:00 AM. Additionally, we lost an hour that night in order to be lined up with Hong Kong time and therefore I was mucho confused without my extra hour of sleep. Somehow, in the middle of the night, the ship must have picked up speed to make our arrival 7:00 AM instead of 8:00 AM! Naturally, all of the parents were given this information, however students were just supposed to know that we would be arriving an hour earlier.

That being said, I Caryn Alyse Klein made my mother’s worst nightmare come true. I was not standing up on the deck waving to her as we docked in Hong Kong… Alright, for those who don’t know Jill Randee Klein, not much ruffles her feathers, but when they get ruffled, they get REALLY ruffled… Apparently, she was hysterical, her thinking: I somehow managed to fall over board… ooo Jilly! I woke to an announcement stating: “If your parents are waiting at the pier, it’s time to wake up and wave to them!”

OOOOO Snap! I was in for it and assure you that until the day I die will never hear the end of how my parents traveled ALL THE WAY around the world and I wasn’t standing on the deck to wave them in… If you would like to throw tomatoes or pie me in the face upon my return home, feel free, please note, I prefer Banana Cream Pie!

Although I am mocking the entire situation, I too am disappointed that I missed my 1 opportunity to wave hello to my parents while on board the MV… ;/ ;/ ;/ 

No more tears in Jilly's eyes, she spots CK ALAS on board the MV Explorer 

The moral of this story is that even the Type A people slip up every now and again!

Sunday, April 1^st

I got to the deck around 7:45 AM and not to worry there were other students who made the same mistake as well… misery certainly does LOVE company. The Hong Kong port was particularly great because guests could get close to the ship so I was able to have somewhat of a conversation with my parents and was able to introduce them to Jenna and Katie!

SAS had arranged for all of the students (who were participating in the Parents Trip) to wait in the 5^th deck dinning hall so that we could welcome our families as they boarded the ship. All of us (students) were uncomfortable with this public display of having us congregate in one area as it felt like we were rubbing into our friends’ faces that our parents came to visit and theirs were no where to be found…

I took my parents on a mini tour of the ship, but to be perfectly honest, they saw the MV before I did, so there wasn’t much need for the grand tour, instead we made our way to the beautiful 3012, my room! Jenna was still around so my parents were able to chat with her for a while and then some of my other friends stopped by as well, so Jilly and Andy began to match names with faces/ personalities--- obviously, Jilly was in HEAVEN!

We made our way off the ship around 10:00 AM and ate breakfast at my parent’s hotel. The hotel was connected to the cruise port terminal, so it was easy to get back and forth…

By around 12:30 PM I was itching to start touring Hong Kong, my parents on the other hand were moving in S-L-O-W motion… as a SAS-er this is NOT the way we would ever tackle a country, thus I was having my 1^st taste of “culture shock” in traveling with your parents… this so called sickness was one that was felt by all SAS students who participated in the Parent’s trip. Please keep in mind that by this point, we have become accustomed to being on the GO, GO, GO in every country, therefore when given down time/ whined at by our parents that we have “worn them out” we really don’t know what to do with ourselves! What’s the cure to this sickness you are probably wondering… well that’s simple, over the course of your China trip, you slowly convert your parents into also being GO, GO, GO type travelers! A natural remedy? Gasp! I know the Advil, Tylenol, and Aspirin fans are probably in shock…

As I was saying, by 12:30 ish I was able to rally up the troops and the Klein’s (minus B-rad and Roy) were on our way to “Take Hong Kong.” Our day’s adventure included navigating the Hong Kong subway system in addition to seeing the world’s longest escalator! I must admit, that Jilly and Andy impressed me as they had already become masters at navigating the subway (I presume this is what happens when you take the wrong subway the night before to make your 40 minute commute turn into a 1 hour and 40 minute commute… teheheh)

Along our travels, we found one of my friends, Daniel who came with us to the escalator. We were all surprised to find out that although this was the world’s longest escalator, it wasn’t connected, thus to get from one part to the next part, you crossed a street and then hopped back on!

Caption: This is one of the points where you have to cross the road to get to the next escalator! 

During our journey, we met a family who lived at the top of the escalator, they thought it was the funniest thing that we wanted to ride the escalator all the way to the top… as the mother noted, “you do realize that it looks the exact same at the top as it does from right here…” It was at this point that I made a mental note of how American we were acting as we had to have the gratification that we made it to the top of the World’s Largest Escalator. Additionally, in American fashion, we were disappointed to find that there was no beautiful sign nor a picture perfect photo opt place at the top of the escalator… just a normal street and apartments!

Between you and me I think that Daniel didn’t know how to handle the s-l-o-w travel pace of my parents and thus he decided to continue adventuring on his own… to be perfectly honest I felt bad holding Daniel up and was hoping he would want to part ways once we got to the top (as I have already noted it is a sin for a SASer to not cram a day when in port!)

We decided to take in the views of Hong Kong by walking down a different route from the escalator. From our observations, Hong Kong reminded us of San Francisco as it had those same darn hills! We eventually made it back to the Subway and once again Jilly and Andy used their talents and got us back to the hotel.

By around 4:00 PM we were back at the hotel and it was time for Andy to take a nap… of course he only intended to lay down for an hour or so, but before we knew it was 7:00 PM. In the meantime, my mom and I went back to the ship so that I could pack for the trip to Beijing and Shanghai (I would be meeting the ship in Shanghai at the end of the trip and therefore needed to get everything I needed until the following Saturday). After we brought my bag back to the hotel, we thought it was for the best to allow Andy to continue to get his beauty rest, thus my mom and I decided to do some window shopping…

One would think that when visiting an Asian country there would be a variety of different brands and stores, but I have to be honest it was the exact same as the United States… it is times like these that I realize the extent to which our world has actually gone “global.” What my mom and I found to be particularly odd is that not only were stores the same as the US, but there were hundreds of HIGH end stores… such as Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Chanel, Gucci, Tiffany’s, Heremes, and the list just goes on and on... Additionally, it wasn’t like there was just 1 of each of these stores, block after block there would be another one of the same store that literally was around the corner. We couldn’t help but to wonder how on earth these stores stay in business? Another common trend is that the stores were mostly found in shopping malls, but they are not the way we think of them in the US… the Hong Kong shopping malls are the ground floor of tall office buildings! I believe that the reason for this is because space is at such a premium so they take advantage of every square inch… it’s funny because space is also at a premium in NYC, yet shopping malls of this magnitude don’t exist in NYC!

After a solid 3 hour nap, it was time to wake up Andy and get ready for our big night on the town… and by that I mean Jilly’s 2^nd most important reason for wanting to come visit me… getting to meet my new best friends! Luckily, none of my friends had left for their China travels, thus my parents were able to meet 10 of my friends… we all went to dinner at an American restaurant and although my parents were a little mortified to be taking us out for American food when in Hong Kong, everyone was actually ecstatic to get a taste of home… remember it had been about 2 months since we all had had a savory bite of a Chicken Caesar Salad! Yum, yum, yum!

Below is a picture of what Andy so nicely noted as “Andy’s Angels!” (No longer Charlie’s Angels!)

It meant the world to me to be able to introduce my best SAS friends to the people I care most about--- mom and dad. What else could a girl ask for?

Monday April 2^nd, 2012

Monday was used as transport day from Hong Kong to Beijing… my biggest complaint about the trip in Hong Kong is that my parents toured Hong Kong the day before all of the students arrived therefore they had seen all the major attractions--- I feel like I got the raw end of the stick out of this country! However, it is for the best that my parents had an extra day to get over the jet-lagged because honestly no one wants to deal with a cranky ALK (Andrew Louis Klein) especially around birthday season.

We said our goodbyes to Katie and Jenna in the hotel lobby and were off to Beijing!

Next post will include the Klein’s adventure in Beijing!