Nov 7, 2017

The Story Behind The Charm

Hey loves!

Our week off has passed and today was my first day back in school after the break (my school gave us Monday off because firstyears needed some time to get back into their working mood after China Week). China Week was a good time for us secondyears because it gave us the opportunity to catch up on a few assignments but we also spent some time with our friends and relaxed. I really enjoyed the break and I am quite grateful that LPC gave us this time off. One of the most exciting events of my week was an interview invitation I received from one of the universities I have applied to. Their interview will be conducted on Friday and I am looking forward to the experience. This is my first university interview and I am curious about the questions and the format of the interview.

One of the things I will definitely wear is my charm bracelet. My charm bracelet is a collection of memories from all sorts of places and times in my life. I love looking at it because it reminds me of all the things I have already experienced and some of my best memories are attached to this bracelet. I wrote an article about my charm bracelet over a year ago but my collection of charms has grown since then, so I decided to give you guys an update on my bracelet. I have excluded the charms I talked about in my past article from this article.

I bought this heart on my last day of school in Germany last year. I bought it as a reminder of all my classmates in Germany who will stay in my heart forever. We really bonded as a group and I am so grateful for each and everyone of them. Leaving them was one of the hardest things about moving to Hong Kong and I managed to stay in touch with many of them after my move. They still welcome me with open arms whenever I come back to visit Germany and my charm always reminds me of them.

Airplanes and airports have always been quite present in my life, but I started spending a lot of time on airplanes when leaving for Hong Kong. Just in this year, I have spent already more than 55 hours in total in airplanes. I love wandering out in airports, looking out of the windows of an airplane while you're thousands of metres away from the ground, or just having some time to yourself on a plane where you can focus on whatever you want. I bought this charm in my last weeks of school last school year because I knew that summer was approaching and that I would spend over 40 hours in airplanes in the next three months.

This rabbit charm was a gift that my dad got me last year. It is not just a reminder of my winter back home, but also of my sweet little rabbit Mümi who I cannot wait to see again this winter. I also have another rabbit charm on my bracelet that my mom got me as my first charm for the bracelet. Whenever I look at the charm, I remember all the times I spent with my rabbit and it makes me happy to carry it with me.

My dad gave this dragon head to me before I left for Hong Kong. He gave it to me with a Maneki-Neko which I shared with you guys earlier. The charm is a memory of my time at LPC as well as a memory of my parents. When I came to LPC, I was introduced to dragon dance and whenever I look at this charm, I think about the internal celebrations and cultural evenings where the dragon dancers performed. Dragon dance is a vital part of LPC and one of the groups that share something about Chinese culture on campus. I love watching their performances because many of my friends are part of it and all of them train super hard for the performances. Their performances are magnificent and captures everyone's attention.

Paris, oh Paris! I am in love with this city (as my aunts - travelled there twice with me - know) and love to think back to my time there. My two aunts took me to Paris two times and I loved exploring the city with them. We went up the Eiffel Tower both times and the tower just symbolises my time there for me. I still remember that the first time we went to Paris, we went to the Eiffel Tower before we had even unpacked all our bags. We just get along super well and travelling with them is always great.

The great things about road trips is that you get to see a lot of different things in a short time and you can decide to take a detour every once in a while. My mom went on a road trip last year and it was great! We had a lot of fun and I bought a lamb charm as a memory because we saw quite a few on our way through rural France. It was our last travel together before I left for Hong Kong and I am super glad that we went on that trip.

And here goes another travel memory: Berlin. My best friend and I travelled to Berlin in summer 2016 and it was one of the best travels of my life. We created our own schedule and explored the city on our own terms. I loved hanging out with her and just enjoying our time together. We stayed with my friend's aunt and had a lot of fun moments. I chose a feather as a memory for the vacation because when we travelled Berlin, we felt so free from any obligations and tasks.

There are some islands so small that big maps miss them. One of them is Heligoland. My dad and I travelled to this island in 2016 and it was a great experience. I used to go to Heligoland with my parents when I was younger and it was great to return to the island and see how it had changed and which parts of it remained the same. I got this charm during our stay on the island and I chose it because it reminds me of all the times people tell me that they had never heard of the island because big maps often exclude it and it is not very famous. But it is still one of the most beautiful places and I hope to visit it again some day.

After having lived in Hong Kong for three months, I got this charm with the Hong Kong flag. After only a few months, LPC had already turned into my second home. I felt connected to the city and the people in it and I wanted my bracelet to reflect this. The charm opens up and I am planning to leave a little note in it when I graduate from LPC so that I will always take a memory from this place with me.

My roommate and I went out last school year to explore Hong Kong a little. We ended up having a fantastic day where we went to Hong Kong's hard rock cafe, walked around the city, and ended up enjoying artificial snow on a rooftop in Hong Kong. That day was a great experience and made us bond with each other. My roommate introduced me to so many interesting places that day and we laughed a lot.

And here's another Hard Rock Cafe Charm... this time from Munich. My aunt gave it to me as a gift when we went to Munich this summer. I am incredibly grateful that she went to Munich with me because it helped me get my research for my extended essay done. Munich has an archive that collects files related to the Nuremberg trials and my extended essay was on the trials. I really wanted to visit the archives but my mother had to work and so my aunt took some time aside to travel to Munich with me. I worked in the archive for a few hours and then we walked around the city, explored a few places, had some awesome ice cream and then we went back home. The Hard Rock Cafe was one of the places we walked by and she gave me the charm as a memory of the good day we had together.

This is the newest charm on my charm bracelet. My mother gave it to me as a gift before I left for Stanford. My travel to California was my first travel to the USA and I was very excited because I would go on this travel on my own. The charm means a lot to me because she showed me that she supported my decision to use my summer time to study which would mean that I would only be home for two weeks. I know that this was not easy because I had been away from home for five months at that point due to my stay in Hong Kong and the original plan was that I would stay in Germany in my three months summer break. The charm also turned into a memory of the awesome time I had at Stanford. I made some awesome friends there and I hope to meet them again some day!

This little angel was another gift my dad gave me before I left for Hong Kong. It is supposed to act as a protection and I think it was really cute of him to think of that! Quite a few of my family members gave me some little angels to keep me safe and I love to think of all of them when I look at this charm that is always with me.

I wish you guys all the best and hope that you are having a good time! I am also glad to have heard from quite a few of you guys about your questions about UWC and the application process. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I am very happy to answer them and hope to be helpful to you guys.

Lots of Love,

Elena