Events
class of
1994 20 year Reunion: “Same same… but different” by Lauren Castellari ’94
It
was a very hot and wet June when members of the Class of 1994 gathered in Hong Kong for our 20th reunion in 2014. For many, the reunion represented a long-awaited visit home and a chance to spend time with oldest and dearest friends. It was also an opportunity to put places and faces to fond Hong Kong memories so often shared with new family members. (As Stacey Goff, wife of Bryce Goff ’94, said early in the week, “I’ve been hearing the same HKIS stories for over a decade — it’s fun to meet you all and hear new stories about those times!”)
On Friday morning, a larger group (Lara Kammrath, David Leventhal and wife Joscelyn, Faith Fischer, Roy Bas, Christine Overholt Dunn ’88 and her family, Bill Overholt – father of Christine and Alison – plus the crew from the day before) gathered at Central Pier 10 to take a junk out to Lamma Island for a seafood feast, followed by the mandatory jumping-off-the-top-of-the-boat out near Tai Tam. Watching a mini-Bryce Goff (son Jaden) leap off the top of the junk for the first time brought a smile to everyone’s face.
From the start of planning in 2013, the aim of the reunion was to give everybody quality time together to reconnect, while allowing people freedom to reminisce about or share with family members their own private Hong Kong. The result was four glorious, and sometimes gloriously wet, days spent rediscovering Hong Kong as the epitome of “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”
On late Saturday morning the group was joined by Andrea Pulito and her husband Zack, and Brenda Pulito, (who finally made it to HK after multiple cancelled flights!) as they made their way to Victoria City, Sun Hung Kai Centre to enjoy a much-anticipated dim sum. We’re not sure anyone has ever taken four-and-a-half hours to eat — no, savor — dim sum before, but we are quite positive Victoria City has never seen so many char siu bao consumed by a single table! Later, the group reconvened atop the Ritz Carlton hotel’s hotspot Ozone to enjoy a beverage or three, and also take in the view of the harbour from the top of the city.
Childhood memories were relived for a small group when festivities kicked-off on Thursday, June 26, with a trip to the new and improved Ocean Park. The stunning gondola ride over the mountain was as mesmerizing as all remembered with everyone’s cameras clicking continuously. However, once everybody had melted in the June sun waiting to board the cable cars they were treated to a solid drenching on the water ride followed by several trips into the new polar exhibits; a real ‘god-send’ for Kristin Van Andel, Louise Stallard and her husband Mark, Lauren Castellari, and Alison Overholt with her husband Seth and daughter Maddie.
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DRAGONTALES SUMMER 2015
The final event was a dinner including 26 alumni, partners, and one delightful Mr. George Coombs at Sang Kee restaurant. It was amazing to see so many people who are fortunate enough to call Hong Kong home, as well as visit so many people who have passed through HKIS at some time from elementary to middle and high school. We were lucky to enough to add Ravi Choithramani, Jinsen Zee, Catherine Wang, Joanna Liu, Daniel Lee, Matthew Wong, Alwin Yih, Baldwin Yih and Terence Lui. That night rates as one of the happiest meals of my life. I admit to getting quite teary when Mr. Coombs gave me a copy of our 1994 yearbook that I was able to have signed by all of the attendees; I didn’t have one, since I left HKIS to return home to Australia halfway through junior year. We closed the restaurant and, reluctantly, finished up, with lots of hugs.