I had just submitted my last assignment of the day and as I sat in the library at 9:00PM at night ready to dive into the required coursework for the following day, I realized how quickly my time in Hong Kong was going by. I had made a few friends mostly other exchange students, eaten some good food and even seen some interesting sights but I had not done as much as I promised myself I would in my first month of being abroad.
Before I left Boston, I made a promise to myself to make the best of my time in Hong Kong. I was going to visit all the secret local sites, go to the surrounding Islands, go on hikes and much more and last week I realized that I haven’t done a fifth of the things I promised myself I would. I felt bad because it seemed like other exchange students were having the time of their lives and I was still trying to get a handle on the Hong Kong system. I spoke to a few of my friends who had been abroad recently and got some good advice. I recognized that I was not the only one with such reservations and that made everything much better.
When abroad, it is very easy to forget to experience your environment. It’s like that triangle where you are asked to pick the two things you want to do while in college; Study, Sleep or Socialize. Being abroad is no different. You’re in a new environment, but it has all the characteristics of a normal school semester; midterms, exams, assignments, projects, sports and clubs. For most people, (myself included) once school starts, we return to our usual ways just like when we are in our home institution and forget to enjoy the experience of being abroad. What we all need to remember is that as much as school work is very important, being a global citizen is just as important. Knowing your environment, learning commonly used words in your host country’s language and appreciating the local cuisine is all a part of being abroad. Unlike the rest of the regular local students, we are not just learning in the 5 courses we are enrolled in, we are learning about the way of life of a people. We are even learning about ourselves and how we handle certain situations that are not in our comfort zone.
A trick that I found is to find a local student who is just as interested in your culture as you are in theirs and have something similar to a culture exchange. Talk to them about your home and they are usually just as enthusiastic to talk about theirs and teach you the laws of the land both on and off campus. Having a friend who is able to teach you about the system is just as important or maybe even more so than being abroad. Another good habit, is to make a (flexible) schedule and hold yourself to it. Set deadlines for when you should go to specific places and make it with friends because it ensures that you hold each other accountable. This week I set out to make sure that I made the most out of my time. I was supposed to hike up to the Victoria peak, go for brunch with friends and explore around New Territories of Hong Kong. Unfortunately when my friends were leaving, I had other pressing things to take care of…(homework). However, I had a set a deadline for me to visit the peak and it was this weekend. If I defaulted it meant a shift in my entire schedule and I was not going to let that happen. I found another group of people that were going and joined them. I didn’t get to hike it (which might be a good/bad thing… depends on who you are talking to) but I still got to see it and it was amazing!
I was already on a roll this week so I was definitely going to see more than just the peak. Tuesday was a public holiday so that was the perfect opportunity. Pro-tip for any of you thinking about studying abroad in Hong Kong; ISLANDS. Hong Kong has 261 Islands and there are a few really popular ones, but once you get started, I recommend that you go see as many as you can. This Tuesday, I visited Cheung Chau. It is one of the oldest Islands in HK and it is beautiful. It’s not big so you can do it in a few hours. While I was there, I got lost a few time (pretty usual for me), ate the best sea food I have had in a long time, relaxed on the beach, did some souvenir shopping and even saw a beautiful love lock gate. Definitely a must go if you are in the area.
This pretty much sums up my week. I can’t tell you where the time has gone but I can promise to show you almost all of the things I do and places I visit. You can think about this as you being the friend and keeping me accountable for my experience abroad and when you go abroad, I promise to do the same for you. I have no idea when I will be in Hong Kong/East Asia again so my goal is to take advantage of the experience and live in the moment! Make the most of my time abroad and do things that I would not usually do.
