This is it. I am writing this post flying from Hong Kong to Dallas. I could truly write more than one hundred pages with my reflections on the semester I just had. These four months were just the most exciting ones in my entire life; I know that it will be hard to have such an enriching and unique experience again. When I came to Hong Kong I had a goal to learn–while enjoying–as much as I could and I am happy to conclude that I surpassed all my goals and expectations.
I definitely come back home being the same person; I could not say that my personality or life goals have changed while being abroad, but I now have a series of cultural and personal knowledge that it would have been almost impossible for me to acquire if I would not have gone abroad. My biggest learning comes from the culture awareness that I developed. I am from Venezuela and after starting college in the US I realized that there are significant differences among nations’ cultures. But being honest, the differences between the Western countries are nothing compared to the differences that exist between the East and the West. After living in Asia and traveling to eleven countries within this continent I am happy that I had the opportunity of seeing how people can live with completely different cultural practices in the same world. Also while traveling I learned, besides the culture of the places, their history and current situation in a way that–as previously mentioned–it would have been impossible without actually going to these locations.
There is also sort of a ‘street-smart’ knowledge that I am sure the experience abroad made me significantly improve on. While abroad–also increased because of the amount of traveling–I had much more things to be aware than what I had in Boston. There was always something going on and getting things done required much more attention as everything was new for me and there were many barriers (currency exchange, language, time management, risk of not getting local prices, etc.) But these barriers are what made this experience such a unique one. As you can imagine, it was not a relaxing semester. HKU was not an easy university, I never got used to the local food and when I had free weekends I spent them traveling (not particularly in a relaxing way). But I never felt tired because the impulse of traveling and getting to know places was stronger.
In terms of academic goals, I am sure I was able to maintain my GPA, which was my main goal. I took three economics electives and one politics elective and they were all extremely interesting. Classes were not particularly very hard but they all required a lot of readings. For anyone coming to HKU, I would recommend them to take electives as they are more flexible than the core classes. It will be interesting to go back to Northeastern–for my last semester–and compare again the two teaching systems.
I totally recommend any student considering going abroad to go to Hong Kong, and if possible, to HKU. Hong Kong is an amazing city that has everything and the university has a tremendous reputation. Also, Hong Kong is very well located (centered) and taking flights from Hong Kong to other East Asia countries, with some planning, can be cheap. By looking at my previous posts you will be able to see with more details what makes Hong Kong such a unique place.
Since this is my last post I would like to take some space to thank the GEO for the amazing work they do and for all the support. Because of the great exchange programs they offer I was able to have the most enriching semester of my life. Also, the phone service provided to us was extremely helpful; having unlimited data–and high speed–everywhere I went was priceless. GEO, thank you very much for everything!
If you are interested in going to Hong Kong or know anyone that it is, please do not hesitate in contacting me, I will be happy to help!
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