Essay Example on Exploring Hong Kong with My Maternal Uncle John Clerk

While growing up, I was a great enthusiast of tourism and expeditions. I owe my interest to this on my maternal uncle John Clerk who had a successful career in working as a tours and expeditions consultant with offices across all the continents.

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Hong Kong was his favorite tourist destination. His Asian office was situated here. Situated at South Eastern Mainland China, Hong Kong was established in the 19th Century as a trading port. It is Asia's financial hub and has a population of 9 million. The official languages are English and Chinese with Buddhism being the predominant religion. Hong Kong has a rich culture characterized by Chinese customs influenced by Southeast Asia and the West. Hong Kong has vast tourist attractions that tourists are ever excited to set eyes upon. These include; the iconic 70-story Bank of China tower, the Peak, Star Ferry, the Man Mo Temple, Wong Tai Sin Temple, Mongkok, Kowloon Park, Hong Kong Park, Zoological and Botanical Gardens among other tourist attraction sites.

During summer, my uncle could invite me and my family either for vacation or offer him a hand in running the affairs of his Hong Kong office. It's during this time that I learned the art of tour guiding and operations. I also developed a passion for site seeing and expeditions during this period. It was at the age of only 12 that my father booked for us tickets to fly to Hong Kong. I managed to convince my father so that we could tag along with my two schoolmates as well. Angie my crush and Tony were joining us on vacation. I was so delighted. We landed in Hong Kong after about 20 hours. My love for China-Hong Kong began here. It's the first time I also fell in love with Angie.

Expedition time was finally here with us. Uncle Jonnie was our 'tour guide'. We were looking forward to the tour. We spent two weeks visiting several sites across Hong Kong'. I fell in love with Uncle Jonnie's profession during this tour of Hong Kong. I took notes and tried to master the art of tour guiding and expeditions. You could be shocked to see how Uncle Jonnie was eloquent in Chinese language and culture despite having stayed in China for such a short period. Among the places we visited include; the Man Mo and Wong Tai Sin temples, and Hong Kong park. I learned that Hong Kong is rich in ancient culture and beautiful sites compared to America. At the park, Angie couldn't hide her joy for having got a chance to experience this once in a lifetime experience. We also visited the Kung Fu Centre in Victoria. You couldn't believe your eyes seeing uncle Jonnie get to the ring to compete against a Chinese Kung Fu champion and win. This marked the beginning of my interest in Kung Fu.

The most memorable moment was when we climbed the 70th floor of the Bank of China Tower. Angie and I got carried off while taking photos of Hong Kong. We began kissing without minding the existence of my daddy and mummy. I noticed how jealous Tony got-meaning he also was in love with Angie.

The most exciting and fun-filled trip came to an end. We took a couple of days assisting Uncle Jonnie to run errands, schedule visits for clients, answering to clients' queries, and just lazing around with Angie at uncle Jonnie's Apartment. Within the three week visit to Hong Kong' I had learned a lot and got exposed to the art of tour guiding and expeditions. Here, I learned that without passion, zeal, and thirst for knowledge, one cannot thrive in this lucrative venture. During succeeding summer holidays, we couldn't miss traveling to Hong Kong' to work at Uncle Jonnie's firm and gain knowledge and experience in readiness to exploring Tours and expeditions as a career.

Self-Memoir Analysis

I settled to write a memoir on this topic because, since childhood, I have been enthusiastic about, tours, expeditions, and sightseeing. I got interested in these since my Uncle Jonnie worked in this field. I admired how he explored the world. Uncle Jonnie run a successful tour and expedition consultancy with offices across all the continents and thereby making him very rich. I also thought that by asking my dad to tag along with my long term friend, crush and schoolmate, that she would finally accept me as her boyfriend.

The following excerpt from my memoir explains my reasons for choosing this topic; "While growing up, I was a great enthusiast of tourism and expeditions. I owe my interest to this on my maternal uncle John Clerk who had a successful career in working as a tours and expeditions consultant with offices across all the continents."

In my memoir, I settled on the First Person Narrative. This is because the story is about me. I want my readers to know me and get to understand my experience. Also, throughout my memoir, I have used Past Tense as a point of view of my story. All the narrations are events of the past that I am telling my audience in the past.

For example, the following excerpt from my memoir evidences the use of first-person narrative "I"; "Expedition time was finally here with us. Uncle Jonnie was our 'tour guide'. We were looking forward to the tour. We spent two weeks visiting several sites across Hong Kong'. I fell in love with Uncle Jonnie's profession during this tour of Hong Kong. I took notes and tried to master the art of tour guiding and expeditions. You could be shocked to see how Uncle Jonnie was eloquent in Chinese language and culture despite having stayed in China for such a short period. Among the places we visited include; the Man Mo and Wong Tai Sin temples, and Hong Kong park. I learned that Hong Kong is rich in ancient culture and beautiful sites compared to America. At the park, Angie couldn't hide her joy for having got a chance to experience this once in a lifetime experience. We also visited the Kung Fu Centre in Victoria. You couldn't believe your eyes seeing uncle Jonnie get to the ring to compete against a Chinese Kung Fu champion and win. This marked the beginning of my interest in Kung Fu".

Also, the following excerpt evidences the use of past tense narration in my memoir; "The most exciting and fun-filled trip came to an end. We took a couple of days assisting Uncle Jonnie to run errands, schedule visits for clients, answering to clients' queries, and just lazing around with Angie at uncle Jonnie's Apartment. Within the three week visit to Hong Kong' I had learned a lot and got exposed to the art of tour guiding and expeditions. Here, I learned that without passion, zeal, and thirst for knowledge, one cannot thrive in this lucrative venture. During succeeding summer holidays, we couldn't miss traveling to Hong Kong' to work at Uncle Jonnie's firm and gain knowledge and experience in readiness to exploring Tours and expeditions as a career. Take note of adjectives that describe past tense like words ending with "ed" and "t''.

My memoir falls either under Migration and Diaspora or Memoirs of Childhood. It focuses on a journey to the diaspora that influenced key aspects of my life. First, out of interest over tours and expeditions and site seeing, I convinced my dad to sponsor us for a trip to the diaspora-Hong Kong. I also used this trip to win my long term crush-Angie.

The experience and exposure that I got while in Hong Kong also makes me and my girlfriend Angie develop an interest in eventually migrating to Hong Kong to join uncle Jonnie in the lucrative tourism sector. Indeed after our first visit, I and Angie visit Hong Kong every summer break to gain more knowledge in readiness to take up a career in the tourism sector. My memoir is my story while growing up as a young kid. I narrate to my audience on how I have been interested in the tourism sector since I was a child.

According to Jerry Payne, (2016), to write a creative memoir, one needs to consider the following; narrow down their focus to one theme, an event of your life, include other details more than just a story e.g. a short history, telling the truth i.e. being honest and genuine, putting readers into the writer's shoes. Memoir writers also need to use fiction to bring a story to life. Finally, a captivating memoir ought to create an emotional journey and showcase personal growth for the writer/narrator. Therefore, my memoir is written based on these key areas.

In my memoir, truth plays a very central role. All my accounts as narrated in my memoir are entirely factual. All the events, places and times are true. Truth is helpful as it assists my audience to authenticate my story. Authenticity makes readers trust my story and thereby influencing their lives. For instance, a reader can develop an interest in the tourism sector after reading my memoir

My first trip to Hong Kong further increased my passion and interest in tourism as well as love for my girlfriend Angie. The visit gave me more experience and exposure to the field I have longed to pursue since childhood. Memories of the past trickled down as I described to my audience my past.

References

Wise, D. (2019). A Memoir on Writing Memoir. Still Here, 48-63. doi: 10.4324/9780429201707-4

How to Write a Memoir: 7 Ways to Tell a Powerful Story, Plus Examples? (2019, December 31). Retrieved from https://thewritelife.com/how-to-write-a-memoir/

25 Fun Facts about Hong Kong. (2020, February 13). Retrieved from https://expatliving.hk/25-fun-facts-about-hong-kong/