Hello! My name is Daniel Tamer and I am a fourth year student at Northeastern University. I am a Finance major with a minor in Mandarin and International Affairs. I am originally from New York and this is my first time in Asia! This is my first journal entry so I won’t go into any specifics on any topic yet, but rather discuss my first week here and talk about what I have experienced so far. I will try to delve into a lot of these topics in more detail as the semester goes onward.
I firmly believe that no matter how much you prepare for a trip or an ex-patriot experience you can never fully understand what it will feel like to be there. My first day was super busy and a bit overwhelming with all of the changes taking place. After a twenty hour flight I was running on little sleep, had to move in, and attend an orientation. I think in these times you just have to envision what it will be like once you are fully adjusted and on a more regimented schedule. After a few days, I already felt comfortable in the new environment and city. I was very lucky to get along with my roommates almost immediately and have a group of friends to lean on from as early as my second day here. There is also a community of people within my building since everyone living in On Hing Building is an exchange student. It is nice to have a more expansive group of friends in addition to my individual flat mates.
I was very glad that I allotted a week to adjust to the time difference and get settled in before school started. I would recommend doing this in addition to meeting as many people as you can during this week as well. This was helpful because these new friends were fun to explore the city with and they were also helpful in figuring out things like class registration and finding the gym or eateries on campus.
All my roommates are from such diverse cultures and countries and I have already learned so much from them in the short time that I have been here. One of my roommates is from Germany, another from Switzerland, a third from Thailand, and two more from the Netherlands. They study a range of topics including business, law, and political science. Although I have tons of contact with international students at Northeastern, it pales in comparison with the knowledge exchange between my flatmates and I here. It is also interesting how well they can speak English. I often do not consider how global the language has become, especially in Europe. On a contrasting note, the locals on my particular street in the laundry shops and restaurants barely speak any English at all. I think that my street is a less western area, which has forced me to pick up a few helpful Cantonese phrases.
I was also surprised at how Hong Kong is such a blend of European and Asian. I knew that the island used to be a colony that belonged to the U.K. but I did not consider how potent an impact that would have on the traditions and characteristics of the city. I discovered this early on when I noticed people driving on the left side of the street. I have also been using the metric system which I am discovering is much more efficient than the U.S. measurement system. Although converting pounds to kilograms and feet to meters can be an inconvenience, I have been embracing the challenge. Despite this, there are evident Asian roots in the city, when observing the Cantonese everywhere or the Chinese fish markets on nearly every street. My favorite part of traveling has always been the “people-watching” aspect. I am extremely curious to see how other people live their lives and what their typical day might look like.
I think the city is much more expansive than I had understood too. There are many different districts and islands aside from Hong Kong Island that have all sorts of cool things to see. Fortunately the metro system is so effective that this is not an impediment, but rather an opportunity to explore more sections. I will discuss this in a later journal entry but it makes traveling around the city very easy, and if not you also have other options.
Hong Kong is also very hot. Obviously I researched the weather before coming here and packed accordingly but the humidity is way higher than I expected. I don’t have a specific weather preference and see both positives and negatives to any environment. It is definitely nice to be able to go out and do things without taking a coat, a luxury that I certainly do not have while at Northeastern. It rains somewhat frequently but only for a small portion of the day and since it is so warm it is quite refreshing. This should not last too much longer also since the rainy season is coming to an end in a few weeks.
