It’s crazy that I’ve already spent over a week in Hong Kong. So much has happened in that short amount of time. I’m going to be blogging all semester long to keep everyone updated on what going on (and serve as a memory place for me since my One Line a Day journal doesn’t have enough space to write everything I want). I will be posting different things about the people I meet, the stuff I see, the things I do, and really just anything that I want to share with you all.

People say that you’re time studying abroad will be amazing, it will go by too quickly, and you will become a better person because of studying abroad. I can already attest to all of that. I want to make the most out of my study abroad experience, so I’m writing some guidelines to get the most our of my experience.

Here are the guidelines I’ve given my self so far:

1. Try Everything: this means taking a bite of a weird looking food, going out even if I normally wouldn’t, trying a new sport, etc.

2. Never say No*: If someone presents me with an opportunity I’m going to take it, even if I’m tired because I’m only studying abroad in Hong Kong once so I want to experience it all. *Obviously within reason. I’m not going to say yes to buying illegal items, breaking laws, etc.

3. Be Open and Patient: Things take longer when you’re in a new place and can’t really communicate. I will embrace the cultural differences even if they are vastly different than my own and give myself time to do things and not worry so much about the mistakes, challenges, and hick-ups along the way.

I’ve also written out a giant checklist of things that I want to do during my time in Hong Kong. I’ll post the list in another blog post!

再見 !

-Julia