“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have first-hand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black and white.”
Mark Jenkins.
Mark Jenkins.
It would have been a very easy decision for me to have stayed at home on the 20th January and enjoyed my second semester of third year at Stranmillis, a familiar place within my comfort zone. But I decided to take a risk. A risk which has ultimately catapulted me into a completely different culture, and into a country where each and every experience I have is a new one. On the 20th January, I left Northern Ireland, casting my nerves and apprehensions aside, to begin my journey to Hong Kong.
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| Heather and I at the airport |
I cannot believe that a whole week has passed since arriving here. As clichéd as it sounds, it seems like yesterday that our plane touched down early-afternoon in Hong Kong International Airport. After collecting our bags and a trouble-free passage through immigration, we were greeted by our buddy Monique, and promptly boarded a bus to the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIED). After an hour we arrived at our home for the next five months.
Both Heather and I are staying in Robert Black Halls, which are located on campus, and are in a really good location for the amenities and facilities that HKIED has to offer. I am sharing my room with another student from Hong Kong, although I haven’t met him yet, I am hoping that we are able to communicate together easily.
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| Me outside my home for the semester |
Adjusting to the time difference was very difficult at first, but we didn’t let it stop us getting involved with the Chinese New Year celebrations. On Monday, we met up with the other international exchange students who are studying at HKIED this semester and went with them to watch the New Year Parade, and on Tuesday we went to see the firework display at Tsim Sha Tsui. I was amazed at the scale of the fireworks, which lasted a full 25 minutes, and the size of the crowds that gathered around to watch them. The international students have been on campus since the end of December, so they have already had the chance to get to grips with Hong Kong and to develop friendships with one another. Getting involved though, and joining them in the New Year celebrations, we have been able to get to know them more and have started building friendships with them, which we will continue to build as the weeks go on.
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| Heather and I at the New Year Parade |
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| The international group before the fireworks |
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| The crowds during the firework display at Tsim Sha Tsui |
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| The fireworks |
The complete difference in culture was hard to get used to at first, and naturally it took us time to work out how to get from A to B. Clifton Fadiman said “when you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.” This really helped me in allowing myself to learn from the people, and from their culture. Monique, our buddy, invited us to her family home for dinner on Saturday, along with her local friend, Vivianne. Here I got the opportunity to taste some traditional Chinese cuisine, which is extremely different from the "Chinese" food I am used to back home. The Hong Kong people are so welcoming, and it was lovely for her to open up her home to us.
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| Enjoying the cuisine with Monique and her mum |
I am so glad to be sharing this experience with Heather. We made our first trip, of hopefully many, to Hong Kong Disney Land this week. She is very supportive and we talk about and reflect on our observations, experiences and feelings together regularly. The week has been busy and filled with new experiences and stories which we will most likely never forget. I am so blessed to have been given the opportunity to study for a semester here, and I cannot wait to see what awaits us in the coming weeks!
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| Heather and I at Disney Land |
Kung Hei Fat Choy (Happy Chinese New Year!)
Andrew Scott.
