Nathan Road, the main thoroughfare in my part of Hong Kong, is just starting to buzz with activity around 8:00 AM each weekday. Like New York, students walk in groups on their way to class. Unlike New York, these students wear school uniforms. Others are dressed in their physical education clothes. They wear athletic shorts to match the city's warm weather and sometimes a light windbreaker or jacket with their school's emblem to cover up in the early morning breeze.
I remember when I went to elementary school in Forest Hills, my mom would drop me off and pick me up in the schoolyard or by one of the entrances. Much like my experience, kids in Hong Kong sometimes start the day in the schoolyard doing exercises or playing with their friends. I did notice, however, that parents here are often both working. This meant that while sometimes a kid may walk to school with their parents or grandparents, at times they would also be brought to school by a nanny.
I think most of the differences between students here in Hong Kong and New York stem from the city's history as a British colony. While uniforms aren't common in New York unless you go to private school, a lot of Hong Kong students go to school in uniforms, a trait shared with kids in the United Kingdom.
