Good Bye Friends

One of my favorite experiences as an expat is meeting tons of great people. I have so many friends in Hong Kong of varying ages, nationalities, and backgrounds. Moving to a new place forces you to make friends more readily than you would in your home country. In the US, I had only a few close friends, which was fine, but I really enjoy all my peeps in HK. I think living in a compact city makes socializing much easier and results in many more dinners, coffees, pedicures, etc. with friends, developing the relationships more quickly. The negative aspect of expat friendships is people move home. This weekend, I said good bye to two close friends. One was Erik’s colleague who has lived in Hong Kong for 7 years. The other is my dear friend S. I felt very sad when I walked past S’s office today and realized I wouldn’t be meeting her for any more lunches. In addition, I inherited some of S’s lovely belongings which will be a constant reminder of her. You will be missed.