On Comfort Zones

Yesterday, I booked my flight to Hong Kong. I will be boarding Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong on September 3rd. And, for those of you wondering, my airfare was about $650 one way. Anyway, at the very moment that I purchased my airfare, it hit me that I will be gone in three months. =(

I love being back home in Alhambra. Other than the fact that I get pampered at home, there is just nothing as comfortable as being back home. I have family and friends that I know I can see whenever I want. I have a car that I can drive to go wherever I want. I have everything here, and I have nothing in Hong Kong.

I know that I'll be pushed way out of my comfort zone in Hong Kong. I'll be on my own. I'll be homesick. I'll miss everything about LA. I might even regret studying abroad. The thing is... there is no turning back now. 

I'm going to have to make a lot of adjustments to my lifestyle, and it'll take time. I can only cross my fingers and hope that I will adjust quickly.

Potential issues/adjustments that I have to make:

1. I'm an introvert. I will have to be more outgoing at CUHK because.. I will have zero friends there. I need to make friends (quickly) if I want to have maximum fun there!

2. I'm very easy going, but people think I'm intimidating.. so I have to force myself to smile more (lol).

3. I like staying in. That's just how I recharge my energy. But, I know that I should really spend more time exploring the country. :( Cognitive dissonance. 

4. I'll have to walk everywhere and rely on public transportation. 

5. I'm going to have a room mate. I hope I get along with her. I really do.

6. I won't even know which dorm I'm living in until the end of summer. I'm seriously praying that it's not super far from the main campus. I'm really not trying to walk 30 minutes or climb a million step to get to class. :'(

7. I have to manage my money very well. I'm living there for a whole year, and I have no clue how much I would realistically be spending a month. I also have to set aside money for the traveling that I'm going to do around Asia. I actually think it won't be too bad though. I won't be able to shop online as conveniently there, so I guess that's kind of a good thing.

8. I absolutely hate humidity. Riverside's dry heat is heaven compared to any sort of humid weather. 

9. I'm going to be scared of getting lost every time I go out. LOL. I won't have the luxury of having my 4G phone to guide me anymore! :(

10. I hope the Chinese classes won't be too hard for me. The third year Chinese series at UCR was pretty easy. Fourth year was a totally different story though. I had to drop that class because it was too intense.

Anyway, I don't know why I'm being so pessimistic. I guess it's because I'm not a huge fan of change. I just have to tell myself that everything will be okay.

Jenn