By Melissa

Today was a special day for all of us. We had the opportunity to step into the Hong Kong people’s shoes and see what a home-cooked meal was like for them! We were able to sleep in a little more today and met Iris, our PolyU student host, in front of the the Pao Yue-Kong Library on campus at 11:00 AM. We were split into groups of three and some of us had a lunch meal and others had a dinner meal with the host students. Iris came and walked Frankie, Teresa, and me over to the Hung Hom MTR station nearby and got on a train to head over to the Tai Po District, where she lives. I was excited to see her apartment because I have always wanted to see what it was like inside the high rise apartments that made Hong Kong look so beautiful.

Tai Wo Station

The MTR ride to the Tai Wo station was about 40 minutes long and we were all surprised by how far she lived from the PolyU campus. When we arrived, we had the chance to meet her youngest son, Aiden who was 4 years old, and her helper, Tini. Since we visited during the day, her husband was at work and her oldest son was with her mother so we weren’t able to meet them. Her parents also lived in the Tai Po district along with her parents-in-law so she likes the convenience of her location is.

Frankie playing with Aiden

Tini cooking

When we arrived, Iris’ helper, Tini, was already preparing the dishes for us. I was actually caught off guard that she spoke Cantonese so well because she was from Indonesia. Iris told us her helper does a lot for her while she is still a student and having a helper in Hong Kong is really common. Once Tini was done with cooking all of her dishes, she brought them out to the living room as we helped her open their foldable table. We began with 5 dishes: minced pork, fried broccoli with squid, tomatoes with eggs and spinach, and congee. She also had three leftover Joong from the dragon boat festival and was kind enough to share some with us as well. We were stuffed and had conversations that lasted throughout most of the afternoon. We talked a lot about our countries similarities and differences such as gun control, the education system, and the status of people. I loved the intellectual conversations we had because it was interesting to look at something in a different perspective and to be more open-minded about topics I have never thought about. Frankie, Teresa, and I took the MTR back to the dorms by ourselves because we knew it was a long trek for Iris and we also felt confident to take public transportation after a week of experience!

Our meal

Joong (wrapped)

Group selfie