Somehow my time abroad has already come to an end. I have taken all of my finals except for one which I will take tomorrow. Afterwards I will be flying to Shanghai for three days and then heading back to Hong Kong to grab my stuff for my flight home to New York. This experience has been beyond cool and exceeded almost all of my expectations. I also experienced things that I never thought I would and learned a lot of skills that I did not anticipate I would. Beyond the experience itself, I would also like to mention some of the challenges I was faced with that I now feel comfortable tackling in my life moving forward.
The first thing would be my ability to adapt to non ideal living conditions. When I first arrived I mentioned in an earlier blog that I had to deal with lizards and cockroaches in my apartment, but I purchased insect repellant and took care of it. All semester long I was able to handle the poor wifi and work around the limitations that it provided. My apartment did not have an elevator and I lived on the 6th floor, meaning that I had to go up and down the stairs many times a day. Sometimes the lights did not work and some of the Air BnB’s that I stayed at when traveling were low quality and quite dirty as well. I now feel confident in my ability to take on any living circumstances I am faced with. In every unpleasant setup I was able to make it work, survive, and not let it ruin my time.
Another thing I feel much more comfortable with is flying. Of course I have taken many flights over the course of my entire life but I was almost always with my parents and definitely with somebody else who was responsible for me at the time. On this trip I flew so many times in such a condensed period of time that I have started to feel like a flying pro. I know the Hong Kong International Airport very well and know exactly where to go and I even flew by myself one time. I was nervous about that at the time but if I had to do it again now I would feel confident in doing so. In fact that is exactly what I am doing next week when I take those final three flights. Before this trip I felt I had mastered train, car, and bus transportation and now I have added air travel to my repertoire.
As many people consider in their college careers, I have often wondered what if I had chosen to attend a different University or what if I could start my time over at Northeastern. I have had a wonderful college career at Northeastern but the hypothetical question still comes up every once in a while. In this study abroad experience I was able to answer this question for the most part. I made a great group of friends, I studied a different major and still enjoyed learning, I worked out at a different school gym and ate at different University restaurants. I was still happy which led me to the conclusion that no matter what school a student attends, the mindset somebody chooses to have shapes the experience you will end up having. By getting involved, studying things you like, and meeting as many people as possible you will find a way to enjoy your time in college.
I have never been out of the country for such a long time also. I was in Israel for ten full days and thought that was a lot, and this was approximately 10 times longer than that trip. I am excited to go home because I miss the United States but I also never thought I would be able to last this long and stay happy and not home sick. Dealing with the time difference was not too much of a hassle as I could always speak to my friends and family in the morning and at night. You are challenged to find new foods you like, find a new barber, a new grocery store, and even new brands that are specific to Asia. I will probably never be abroad for this length of time for the rest of my life and I am proud of myself for being able to accomplish what I have in these four months.
One of the most essential parts of almost any study abroad experience is the learning about other cultures. I firmly believe that meeting people from all over the world in the US is different from meeting them in another country. In the US everyone is trying to learn more about America but during study abroad the focus is shifted towards the cultures of the people you are with. I have learned quite a lot about Asian cultures from my professors, classmates, and locals I have interacted with both in Hong Kong and in all of the places I have traveled too. I learned even more about Europe and the European Union from all of my European roommates. I realized that I did not know nearly as much about Europe as I thought I had before coming here, despite traveling to 3 countries in Europe prior to this semester. I have celebrated Chinese and European holidays I had never even heard of before and got to assimilate to cultures in a way that I could have only done during a study abroad semester.
Study abroad is an incredibly enlightening opportunity that I would recommend to anybody. These are just a few of the major lessons and takeaways that I have from the semester. I am sure that a co-op abroad would result in similar learning opportunities as well if that fits your needs better. I am endlessly grateful for being put in a position where this was possible and happy I made the decision to go through with it. One of the first goals I set for myself in college was to make it to China live there and having done that feels really good as I start to close out my college career. I hope these blog posts have been informative and helpful and I would always be willing to answer any further questions if you have any.
