Four days ago, a fortune teller off Temple Street told me a variety of things about my future; the consensus of her points seemed to be that my future appears to be bright. It’s hard to argue with her. After four extremely busy days in Hong Kong, watching films at the Film Festival, visiting the 10000 Buddhas, seeing the Big Buddha, and spending endless hours exploring the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui, her predictions haven’t been far off yet.

The fortune teller’s predictions have given a misplaced sense of mysticism to the future of the trip as everything unfolds throughout these last two days. Two weeks have flown by seeing all that Hong Kong has to offer and sending the trip forward giving the sudden and impossible realization that within 72 hours I’ll have to settle back into Adelaide, a huge contrast from the bright, busy streets here.

I’ll miss the profoundly new experiences this trip has afforded me, pushing through the packed night markets, eating a full meal made up of pig intestine, and sitting in a packed theatre watching the world première of a new Hong Kong blockbuster. With the end in sight, I’m focused on exploring all that I can with the precious hours left, however the comfort of Adelaide will be a welcome one.

Brendan Kearns, Bachelor of Creative Arts (Screen) student participating in the “East Asian Film Industry Engagement Project” in April 2017