Reverse Culture Shock

Before I left the States, back in August, heck before I even left HWS last Spring, I was warned about reverse culture shock and adjusting to life once back in America. I’m glad to say that it’s been a smooth transition though.

My roommate, Yolie, and me. 

The 15-hour flight wasn’t so bad. I lucked out and had 3 seats to myself. So I was able to sprawl out and sleep for a while. I watched some movies, Going the Distance, the first hour of Inception, and then a few episodes of Glee and America’s Next Top Model.

Leaving Hong Kong

Clearing customs and picking up my luggage at JFK was easy-numerous long lines but it didn’t take too long. And then I finally saw my Mom and Nana. We grabbed sodas at the little convenience store (oh 20oz Diet Coke, how I missed you) and then lugged my suitcase and cardboard box (yep, my suitcase was overweight so I had to unpack some things at the check-in counter while the attendant constructed a box on the spot) to the car, where we head back to Massachusetts.

We broke the 5-hour trip up with a stop at Friendly’s for lunch in Connecticut and then I ended up sleeping the rest of the way home.

Jet lag wasn’t too much of a problem. I conquered it within 3 days or so. I would be fine all morning, then around 2pm I would get so exhausted and just crash. But I am now back to my normal sleeping routine.

In terms of culture shock, there have only been 3 main instances when I’ve had to stop and be like wait, “I’m in America- this isn’t how it’s done here.”

1.     When I’m running along the street, there have been numerous times when I’m like “Wait- where is the car coming from? What side of the street?” But then I figure it out and keep going.

2.     There have been numerous times when I’m brushing my teeth or washing my hands at the sink and stop and think “Wait- why is the water still running?” In my bathroom at Lingnan, the faucets were automatic, so you would turn it on and the water would run for 10-15 seconds and then turn off. You would have to keep pressing it on to keep the water running.

3.     I was eating lunch at Panera with my mom the other day and as we were getting ready to leave, I was ready to just leave my tray and walk away, figuring the employees would clean it up. Nope, that’s only in Hong Kong. Forgot I had to carry the tray over to the trash and clean it up myself.

I have been tempted to raise my hand and yell ‘mm-goi’ at restaurants to grab the waiter’s attention, but I hold back (In Hong Kong restaurants, the waiters wait for you to call them over and order, they don’t just check in on you every so often in).

I am anxious to get back to HWS and Geneva. I feel like culture shock at school will be very different since I’ll actually be doing what I was doing in Hong Kong, like going to school, rowing and such- not just working and hanging out. 

Departure

In 12 hours, I’ll be flying back to America. Eekk! I’m excited. My bags are just about packed, minus the last minute things, my ticket is printed, and my alarm is set for 4am (don’t worry- I have 3 alarms set- I will not sleep through them!). I think I’m ready.

When I booked my flight back in June, Orbitz told me my trip was 127 days and 128 nights. When I thought of it in those terms, day and night, it didn’t seem like a long time; 4 months seemed longer. And now, I can’t decide whether or not it seems like I just got here, or if I’ve been here forever. Looking back, I’ve done a lot. Thankfully I kept this blog because otherwise I am sure I wouldn’t remember half of my experiences. I completed everything that was on my “Things to Do in Hong Kong” list; I traveled to Thailand, Vietnam and Macau; explored as much of Hong Kong as possible and took 5 classes! I am very happy with my semester abroad; I was challenged and pushed outside of my comfort zone; I’ve learned to appreciate America more than ever before, but I’ve also gained a respect and understanding not only of Hong Kong but of many other South Asian countries. I’ve tried so many different types of food and have learned how to cook various dishes in a microwave.

 My List

About 3 or 4 weeks ago, I started making a list of things that I would be ‘Taking’ from Hong Kong and ‘Leaving’ in Hong Kong. To share a few (it’s been much easier to decide what I’m leaving rather than taking, but that’s not really important as I am sure ‘Taking’ list will grow once I’m back in America)…

I will be taking my chopstick skills, a greater appreciation for the American education system (the Hong Kong education system is a completely different story- basically only a certain amount of students can continue on after a certain point, and each year that number gets smaller and smaller)

I will be leaving the shower technique (you go to the shower fully dressed, leave the flip flops outside the shower, strip inside the shower stall, hang your clothes over this bar or in a bag, shower, put clothes back on. At the beginning of the semester I just about died from heat stroke doing this, so to avoid this, I timed my showers so my roommate wouldn’t be in the room); the discussion procedures (class discussions are more of a Q&A session rather than ‘discussion’ and the local students rarely talk, so there wasn’t a lot of communication within the classes), and the acceptability of spitting/burping/nose picking in public (it’s just nasty. I’m sorry. I’ve been on the MTR and see people picking their nose with their fingers, no tissues, or people hacking up mucus on the street. Not my cup of tea). I will also be leaving the bugs. Literally, the bugs here have attacked me. Anytime I’m outside, I get about 4 new bug bits. My calves are covered in bug bites.

The bathroom and showers

There are many things though that I wish I could take: the MTR system (literally, it can get you anywhere in Hong Kong; it’s so easy, accessible and cheap. I will surely miss it.), the money (sure, the exchange rate was great, but the smallest bill they use is $10, they have a $1, $2, and $5 coin, as well as $0.10, $0.20 and $0.50 coin. Things only cost $7.90 or $8.00, not $7.99 or $7.49, it’s so much easier to deal with money without having to worry about those little cents). I wish I could take some of the food back (dim sum, this green bean and minced meat meal, the fruit desert I wrote about earlier, all so delicious and can’t be found in the States). The final thing I wish I could take is the cleanliness of Hong Kong (I am pretty sure the cleaning people collect the trash on our floor at least 4 times a day; everyday, there is a lady sweeping the leaves off the path to our hostel; the elevator and escalator handrails are disinfected at least 4 times a day. It’s crazy, but it’s so clean).

Packing...

It’s been a great semester and I am thankful for every moment over the past 4 months.

Also, I'll leave you with a comparision of the weather here in HK, Hull and Geneva...

I am going to freeze.

3 Month Mark

So I’m a little late, but I’ve passed the 3-month mark and have less than 4 weeks left here in Hong Kong! How time flies!

Classes end this week and then come finals! I have 3 exams (one is actually this week, on the last day of class) and then one on the 9^th and one on the 13^th; a paper due the 6^th and another due the 16^th and then about 5 days to enjoy Hong Kong some more and pack. {I’m actually not worried about fitting everything in my suitcase. I am pretty sure I will have plenty of room since I don’t have 4 months of pump supplies to pack.}

I’m excited to go home. I’ve definitely enjoyed my time abroad but 4 months is the perfect length to be away.

It’s still warm here, weather wise. It’s been in the 70s for the most part; therefore, I am still in shorts and t-shirts. It will be such a dramatic change when I land in JFK on December 22 (which reminds me—Mom, you should probably bring a jacket for me since I’m pretty sure my light sweater won’t do any good!). The sudden temperature change will be crazy but I’m starting to miss wearing winter clothes.

I’m starting to get sick of rice. I never really loved white rice. At home, whenever my mom made rice with dinner she always had to make two kinds- white rice for my sisters and rice pilaf for my dad and I. I’ve always found white rice to be rather plain and dry and being here has just confirmed that. So whenever I get white rice here (which, as I am sure you expect is at most meals) I always try and combine it with some sort of sauce or main dish just to add some flavor to it. It’s been working but it’s getting kind of old. But I have discovered the art of cooking a potato in the microwave. I forgot how much I loved baked potatoes.

3 months in and I still don’t know how to walk in public though. Literally, I have no idea which side is the correct side to walk in. But it’s okay, because I don’t think the locals do either or it’s not a big deal to them because they just walk all over the place. And I am still struggling with the language barrier. There’s this one lady at the canteen who doesn’t understand English. So when she sees me in line, she usually asks the student ahead of me to wait and translate for her. It’s great and I always laugh it off. But the language situation in the classroom has drastically improved and for the better. It’s been nice being able to have discussion with the local students (even though discussions are more like Q and A’s rather than discussions).

The list that I created while driving to NYC in August, of things I wanted to see and do while in Hong Kong is slowly dwindling- just about 7 things left! But I’ve scheduled time/days for all of them. Things left to do include, but are not limited to: Macau (next weekend), Tea at the Peninsula Hotel (sometime during Finals), the Peak at night (again, during Finals), Happy Valley Horseracing (some Wednesday night?) and the Wetland Park.

AHHH! Only 25 more days! But that means I’ve been here for over 100 days already! I don’t know which is harder for me to believe- that I only have 25 days left or that I’ve been here for 102 days?

Hanoi: Day 2

Saturday, we spent the day tackling Hanoi. With only one full day to explore all Hanoi had to offer, we had to pick and choose what we wanted to see the most. So we started off with my pick, the Museum of Ethnology. I first read about it on Tess’ blog and then heard about it in a few guidebooks and websites. They all raved about it so I wanted to check it out for myself. 

 The Museum of Ethnology focuses on the 54 ethnic groups within Vietnam. The museum provided different details about the different ethnic groups- from daily lives, to clothing, and food, language etc. I was amazed at how people are able to survive today- some of the ethnic groups still rely on hunting and gathering methods for food and survival! The Museum also had life-size replicas of houses of the different ethnic groups. We were able to explore the houses; they were all so different- one was about 15-20ft off the group and around 100ft tall while another was just 2 or 3ft off the group and about 100ft long. 

After the Museum of Ethnology, we took a cab to the Ho Chi Minh Complex. The museum there was closed for lunch when we arrived, so we wandered over to Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum. This too was closed- it’s closed every year from September to December for renovations/fixing ups (gotta keep him looking good! Haha).

 We walked to a place for lunch, in search for pho, but the café that was recommended to us wasn’t serving lunch- only tea, so we found another small café and grabbed a quick lunch before heading to a local market. This market was very different from the one we visited in Ho Chi Minh City. It was definitely geared to local people- as it barely sold any touristy things. It had three levels and was packed with people and goods. There was barely any room to walk. Needless to say, we didn’t spend too much time here.

Our next stop was Hoan Kiem Lake, one of Hanoi’s famous lakes. We walked around part of the lake- it was just around 4 or 5 so the sun was slowly setting, providing some nice pictures.

We stopped at Fanny’s, a French ice cream parlor along the lake before heading back to the hostel.

We met up with Tess and the group she is abroad with (some HWS and Union kids)again later that night before packing our bags for Halong Bay the next day.

  HWS kids in Hanoi!

Tess and I

Class Updates

The past few weeks I’ve been pretty busy with papers, projects and midterms. The last two weeks in October marked the ‘Mid-term Exam Period’ so everyone has been locked away in the library. I actually only had one mid-term exam and a paper, but I still have a few presentations and projects due in early November. So now, I’ll do a brief update on my classes (sorry if this is boring, it’s just different from my normal classes at HWS so I figured I’d write about it).

Let’s start with International Politics. I had a midterm exam in the middle of October. This exam consisted of 10 multiple choice and 4 short answer questions. The questions were on a separate piece of paper, which we were able to keep, and we were to write the answer in an 8 ½ x 11’’ green notebook (like blue books, but normal sized). In addition to the professor, there was also some other administrator in the class to proctor the exam, which I thought was odd since she just stood there. We got our scores back this past week, but it wasn’t your normal ‘here’s your whole test and this is what I took points off of’ but rather ‘here’s two pieces of paper for the whole class with your student id number and your grade.’ So after class the professor left these two pieces of papers at the front of the class and there was this mad dash to them. It was rather unorganized and crazy, something I’m glad we don’t do in the States. I am also working on a presentation with Viktoria, from Russia, for our tutorial on Thursday. We are presenting on Regionalism.

 A different perspective of the world.

(The school also had a “University Assembly” (similar to HWS' President's Forum) with the former Head of “Mossad” of the State of Israel Ambassador Efraim Halevy and our professor recommended us to go. So I did. Although his talk was scattered and all over the place, he focused on non-state actors and intelligence services in the 21^st Century. It was rather interesting and an experience to say the least since some Lingnan students were protesting about something religious in the back of the auditorium.)

Moving on to Media, Culture and Society. I had a midterm paper for this class due last week, and although it took me quite a few drafts to write, I finally did it and was happy with the final product. I also have a term-project for this class and I am working with some other exchange students on it. We are supposed to focus on some community thing and provide a voice to certain groups/minorities/organizations. (It’s okay if you don’t understand, because my group and I are still trying to figure it out as well). But we’re planning on working with this community arts organization and will produce a magazine with different articles/pictures about events and local and ethnic artists. Two weeks ago we went and visited an organization in Yuen Long that works with children of ethnic minorities, and our professor, Lisa (yes, the same professor that teaches Media Ethics) wants us to use that field trip as an example for documenting our term project.

I’ll continue with Lisa’s classes and talk about Media Ethics now. Except there’s not too much to say. Since I did my tutorial presentation in September I don’t have to worry about that. We have a term paper due in December that I’m not too concerned about that. And a lot of the same topics are discussed in Media, Culture and Society and in Media Ethics. Last week in lecture, the Cantonese was finally cut back, but I think I will have to wait until Thursday when I have tutorial again to say for sure. Stay tuned!

And now, Visual Culture and Digital Media. Nothing too exciting going on here either. We’ve been talking about our projects and presentations that are due at the end of the semester/later this month actually. I’m working on “creating identities online.” The class has been looking at how media and culture have changed over the past few years. Remember—you can check out that blog here: http://smhvisualculturedesignmedia.blogspot.com/

Last but not least, Non-Fiction Film. For this class we have this main project to create worksheets/discussion sheets for Hong Kong secondary (high school) schools about documentary films that we think they should see. So in my group, we decided local students should see the film ‘Petition’ by Zhao Liang about people in Beijing petitioning for injustices and wrongdoings by the government. Zhao Liang worked on this film for over 12 years and was forced to stop right before the 2008 Olympics. It’s an interesting film that sheds light on how Chinese people feel about the government. My group has to give a presentation about the film and our discussion sheet on Thursday. In the classroom though, we’ve been watching about 2 films a week in addition to lecture and short discussions. I’ve been able to see a variety of films, especially Asian documentaries that I probably would have never picked out myself.  Last week, we watched ‘Nanook of the North,’ a 1922 film about the Inuits in Northern Canada. It was a great film!

Classes here are very different from those at HWS. They’re longer (2 hours is short, here) but they always have a ten-minute break at some point, which is nice and necessary. And most classes are broken up into lectures and tutorials, which allow time for discussion. I will say it’s weird not having one class 2 or 3 times a week for a shorter period. I think I like the HWS style of doing classes because I feel classes here are so rushed as professors are trying to get in so much in such a short period of time and they just get so boring. It’s had to pay attention for 3 hours especially if the professor is lecturing the entire time. It’s quite the experience!

Halfway There!

Today marks the halfway mark in my semester abroad. It’s weird to think I’ve already been here for two months, but even weirder that I still have two more months. It seems like such a long time. When I was driving to NYC with my mom the day before I left for Hong Kong, I created a list of things I wanted to see and do while in Hong Kong; although I’ve seen so much already, I still have a lot to cross off on my list. This past weekend, my friends and I were planning when we wanted to go see certain things- we’re trying to get a lot done on the weekends and days off from school so we’re not just cramming everything into our free days in December, but I am still worried I will miss a few things.

Classes have started to pick up- group projects are being assigned, presentation dates set and rough drafts written. Yet, I still don’t feel like I’m at school. This whole meet once or twice a week thing is different. I had a midterm the other day that consisted of ten multiple-choice questions and four short answers. It felt like nothing. In addition, I find myself actually talking in class. At home, I’m rather quiet/rarely say anything, but here since the Chinese students rarely talk I always find myself raising my hand and offering my thoughts.

I am becoming more and more aware of the language barrier- see post, Lost in Translation. I didn’t think the language would be much of a problem because when I applied for this program I was told everything was in English because it’s an English-speaking school. LIES! Haha. Those small side conversations that occur during class, the conversations in the elevator, the signs in the bathrooms and the guest speakers during class all make me feel rather stupid/ignorant because I am the outsider/can’t understand the language. But I’ve slowly gotten used to feeling comfortable when those around me are speaking in Cantonese. If it is not during class, I like to think that if I really needed to know what people are talking about, they’d tell me.

I haven’t really gotten homesick, but I know come Thanksgiving I’ll be dying for the family gathering and Aunt Barbara’s cooking. {Side note: I went and saw Eat, Pray Love the other day (a post is coming) and they had a Thanksgiving Day feast and I was jealous to say the least.} I’ve been able to get a lot of American food here (thank you globalization) but it’s those classic meals my mom makes that I miss- twice baked potatoes/boiled potatoes, steak, omelets, grilled chicken (FYI- Mom, I’m creating a list of foods that we shall have over Winter Break haha).

I do miss Fall, the leaves changing, the cooling temperatures, the sweaters and scarves. I’m still walking around in a tank top and shorts and am still dying of heat. I know I’ll still be in shorts in December.

I still don’t know which side of the street to walk on and am constantly dodging people as they walk. Or actually I am trying to pass them because they walk rather slowly. And I still don’t know how to eat meat that comes on the bone, but I am getting much better at eating noodles with chopsticks!

I’ve found some dishes that I love at the local restaurant we frequent, one being friend string beans with minced meat (it sounds odd, but it’s great) and I am getting better at having the ladies at the Canteen understand my lunch order.

I’ve gotten into routines where I wake up and run in the morning, shower while my roommate is at class (the whole showering situation requires another post at some point) and go to lunch and class later on. In addition I’ve become best friends with the security guard at the track so I don’t even have to sign-in any more he just waves me on. I’ve been tracking my running since I arrived and have been able to see my endurance/number of laps improve which is keeping me motivated for the Spring Crew season.

I’m trying to keep everything in perspective and welcome each and every challenge that comes to me with open arms and ears, slowly adapting my own understand and perspectives. Two months down, two to go!

Lost in Translation

{So I know you’re expecting another post about Thailand, and that’s coming- tomorrow though, sorry- this was just an aggravating experience today}

Last Spring, HWS required students going abroad to attend orientation meetings to prepare us for our time abroad. During our ‘Passport to Success’ meeting we were told we may encounter language problems in the classroom as English isn’t the students’ native language. One horror story stuck out in my mind: In one girl’s class, a Chinese student wasn’t understanding a specific concept that professor was explaining in English and asked for it to be explained in Cantonese; the professor asked if anybody minded and the girl didn’t raise her hand. As a result, the rest of the semester, the class was taught in Cantonese. ‘Okay, I could handle that,’ I thought to myself after hearing the story, just raise your hand.

If only life was that easy.

I mentioned a while ago that my Media Ethics professor is Chinese and frequently switched between Cantonese and English, and I figured she was doing this to explain the concept in Cantonese for the Chinese students. So along with another international student, Camilla, from Denmark, I sit through the class usually dazing in and out. But over the past month and a half, the classes have gotten worse- as in there’s more and more Cantonese and less and less English. Yesterday, as Camilla and I were leaving the class we just looked at each other and agreed that that class was aggravating, because we didn’t understand much.

Then today, we had tutorial at 8:30 this morning. {I don’t think I’ve explained tutorials—they’re supplemental to the lectures and are mainly for discussions and presentations. For Media Ethics, the tutorial meets every other week for 2 hours.} So I woke up at 7:30, head to the library to do the reading for the tutorial, only to find the library was closed, so I chilled in the 24-hour computer lab until 8:30 (thankfully, turns out I didn’t even need to do the reading because it wasn’t even mentioned in the tutorial).

Class started and two students present on the topic of censorship and press freedom. Their presentation was in English and I had no problem understanding them. It wasn’t until the last 4 or 5 slides when things started to go downhill. They were using a local example and only had a Chinese text of it. The teacher, Lisa, tried to translate it for Camilla and I but then other students were getting confused, so she tried to explain it for them in Cantonese. At this point it was like 9:45am and we decided to take a quick 5-minute break. During the break though we put our chairs in a circle so we could have a discussion.  Haha. Discussion.

For the rest of the class, the professor talked in Cantonese. She translated maybe 3-4 times but as I’ve learned in this class as well as my Non-Fiction Film class, so much gets lost in translation. And then the students would talk and it would be in Cantonese, and then the professor would respond again in Cantonese. At one point the professor turns to Camilla and I and asked what we thought. Um. I have no idea what you’re talking about. “Umm. I’m a little confused in the translation,” Camilla said and I kinda just repeated her question to see if I understood her. And then it was back to Cantonese.

Well, to say the least, Camilla and I were aggravated by 10:30. Since we had another class together at 11:30 we went to the Canteen for breakfast and talked about how we could fix this. We realized the problem was mainly the language and how Lisa wasn’t forcing the students to talk in English, especially since she wasn’t always talking in English- if she’s not, why should they? So we decided to go see her later in the day during her office hours and bring it to her attention and then I was also going to email OMIP (Lingnan’s study abroad office) as well as CGE (HWS’ Center for Global Ed) just to bring it to their attention.

Long story short, Camilla took a water break during our next class and ran into Lisa; apparently Lisa had sent us an email and wanted to get together with us for a chat- we decided to meet once our class was over.

Well during our meeting, we brought up our concern-about the lack of English. And, well, Lisa talked about censorship and press freedom for an hour. That’s right. An hour. Because she thought (or at least I think she thought) we didn’t understand the presentation/topic. So by the end of our meeting we still don’t think she knows how to solve the problem of how to make the kids speak English- her solution is having us come talk with her separately so we get a better understanding of the material (except that’s not the problem). We were still rather aggravated and annoyed by the end of our little chat.

So I’m still going to email OMIP and CGE just so they know; maybe they’ll even bring it to Lisa’s attention/remind her that classes need to be taught in English, because that’s what we were told when we signed up for this program.

So cross your fingers that I don’t have to sit through another class next week of mainly Cantonese!

New Beginnings

Hi! I’m Sara and I’m a junior at Hobart and William Smith Colleges (HWS) in Geneva, New York. This fall though, I won’t be spending my days overlooking the beautiful Seneca Lake, but rather around Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong, as I will spend 4 months studying at Lingnan University, trying new things and challenging myself in a new location.

A change of scenery is always a good thing; something new and different, something outside one’s comfort zone. With an HWS education, students are encouraged to become ‘global citizens’ or citizens who are actively involved in the local and global community and are able to make connections between the two. Studying abroad provides students this opportunity to become a global citizen as one becomes a part of another culture by experiencing it.  In just eight short days, my journey to becoming a global citizen continues when I board the plane my 16 hour-long ride.

                                                                                                      Photo Credit: Lingnan University

My journey to becoming a global citizen began long before today. Throughout high school, I frequently traveled as a Student Ambassador for People to People; I’ve been to China, Europe, South America and Antarctica. These trips provided me with a foundation and understanding of other cultures as well as my own. Experiencing different cultures allowed me to reflect on my own culture while learning to accept the differences.

You may be asking yourself, “Why Hong Kong?” I’ve been asked that question multiple times over the past few months; even when I first went to China in 2006, people always asked why, when I said I was going to China. And well, I have a few reasons:

1.     Why Not? When I came home from China in 2006, I was a different person. I fell in love with the culture and have always dreamed of going back. My trip in 2006 was scheduled to spend 2 days in Hong Kong, but due to weather and flight cancelations, we barely spent 24 hours there (which is why I decided to name my blog- More than 24 Hours) and I have always wanted to go back. When the opportunity came for me to study abroad in Hong Kong, I didn’t have to give it a second thought.

2.     In my mind, I can go to Europe at any age. I like to think it will be easier for me to travel around Europe when I’m older than it would be for Hong Kong or any other place in Southeast Asia. And a plus- the current exchange rate for Hong Kong is a much better for the U.S. dollar than the Euro. J

3.     It’s Hong Kong; it’s a cosmopolitan city. It used to be a British colony and is now part of China. It’s a booming city that will play an important role in worldwide business, trade, media etc. And it’s not a suburb like Geneva or my hometown. I’ve always wanted to go to school or live in the city and living in the cosmopolitan city will give me the experience I’ve always dreamed of. In addition, most people will speak English (from what I’ve heard) so although language may be a barrier in some situations, I will still be able to communicate with most people.

4.     It’s a great location. I’ve been surrounded by water my entire life- I live right on the Atlantic Ocean, and go to school on Seneca Lake. Studying in Hong Kong will give me a chance to live by another body of water. Furthermore, when I was looking to study abroad, I knew I wanted to have the chance to travel to other places, and in Hong Kong, it couldn’t be easier- mainland China is available by multiple forms of transportation while Thailand, Vietnam, India, Taiwan, Japan, and many other countries are just a plane ride away.

As I prepare for the next four months abroad, I’ve been asked multiple times whether I am nervous or excited. Truthfully, I’m excited. I can’t wait to live in a different country, experience a different culture, challenge myself and try something new.