czhangangel – GW Blogs from Abroad

By czhangangel

Studying abroad is a decision that allows yourself to experience the world, be independent, meet different people, adapt to different living, learn about different culture, etc. During time abroad, one will adopt an optimistic, out-going, and relaxed attitude. Your focus turns from school to experiencing as most as you can by traveling the world and making new friends. The overall experience can be addicting and lull one into extending their study abroad experience – at least for me, it did.

I was very tempted to proceed with the process to extend my stay in Hong, but for the first time, I felt held back for once. I thought this situation only happens to those who are “grown up”, or those with responsibilities. “Grownups” have responsibilities to answer to such as family, friends, jobs, and opportunities that should be seized. It is very selfish and immature to just enjoy life without responsibilities – to leave everything behind – because there are people that care about you and want you in their lives, and there are people you will care about too. I asked myself, “Have I ‘grown’ that much to have these responsibilities – to have to make a decision like this?” I understand that studying abroad is a growing experience, but I didn’t realize how much one can grow.

The responsibilities that I believe I personally have are sick family that I must see and take care of, departing friends that I must see, credits I must take to graduate, and jobs and internships to apply for. I had to understand that the study abroad life is not long-term; home is because that is where your past and near future lies. Time flies and things change will you are away and does not wait for you; and the longer you are away, the more you have to “catch up” and accept changes that have occurred. There are future opportunities to come back to your place of study abroad to work or vacation since the location itself will never move.

...continue reading "A Pull From Across the World: To Go or to Stay?"

By czhangangel

Previously in my last blog, I touched on how the Hong Kong/Chinese school system is a manifestation of and an influencer of cultural values. Recently, I have observed a difference between the young mindsets of Hong Kong residents and those of foreigners. When interacting with students at my school, we can relate to many things since we both have similar interests and life spans composing of development and life experiences. This applies to both my exchange/international friends as well as Hong Kong natives

However, I wonder, “why can’t I connect with Hong Kong natives on a deeper level or more naturally, like I do with my foreign friends?” I don’t believe it is a language or culture barrier since my foreigner friends are from all over the world such as Australia, Sweden, China, Canada, U.S., and U.K. – all with different cultures and where English may not their first language either. It is also not the difference in age or education level since we are all in the same or similar institutions. I believe it goes down to the difference in people’s experiences which helps them relate to and connect with others on a deeper level. In experience, there is a sharp difference between quantity and quality that contributes to character growth.

In Hong Kong, I hear more stories of, in my opinion, immaturity or lacking greater experience. I have been subject to people’s rants of a variety of situations in Hong Kong already – from both family and friends. For example, (in all anonymity) I’ve heard people only going study something at a certain place just because their parents said to, hiding a credit card bill because the person didn’t want his/her guardian seeing the amount of spending, and one asking his/her guardian to wipe his/her bottom after being constipated. Obviously, this is not to generalize all young Hong Kong people. I am only providing the causes for my impression. There are definitely “normal” people in the middle of these situations, but I think there are more cases of this “extremity” in Hong Kong than I have ever observed before.

...continue reading "Quality Over Quantity"