Who are you?
Hello, my name is Hosea, and I am a student at the Macaulay Honors College at the City University of New York. This blog details my trip while I am serving as an exchange student in the City University of Hong Kong for a semester and my subsequent trip to American Language Partnership International in Santiago, Dominican Republic.
My experience in Hong Kong was unlike the experiences of other exchange students because I know the native language and also have relatives here who know the best places to eat and greatest places to shop. Also, I’ve been to Hong Kong before! Even so, I had various other challenges coming my way which I was able to overcome!
Being in Santo Domingo was also a unique experience because I have barely any command of Spanish (no education in it at all) and what I have quickly realized is that unlike Hong Kong, most areas do not have English translations at all, and most people only speak in Spanish or Haitian Creole. Still, I knew that this would be a great experience for me in traveling in a foreign place, this time with classmates. It was different as well since I had to rely on other students to translate instead of like in Hong Kong where I would translate.
Why Hong Kong?
I wanted to study here in Hong Kong because of a few things.
1. Culture and communication
I wanted to better understand the Hong Kong culture by living there. I hope to improve my Chinese in all aspects of the language: speaking, reading, writing, and listening. One of the main reasons I am so interested in Chinese is because it makes it easier for me to communicate with my parents, and by extension, my relatives. Additionally, I thought it was really amazing that Hong Kong students know three languages: Cantonese, Mandarin, and English. I hope to be more fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin, or at least ask less questions about what a certain phrase means (both in speech and in writing).
2. Independence
While I have been to Hong Kong a couple of times, this would be my first time here by myself. By studying abroad, I hope to pick up some good habits and also be more responsible. Granted, I am also staying at my uncle’s place instead of dorming, but even so, I’ve been given the freedom to do anything I choose to do. With freedom comes responsibility.
3. Family relations
This is similar to the first point, but I feel it is important to make a distinction here. Most, if not all, of my relatives live in Hong Kong; my family is the only one that moved to the States. As such, even though I do visit every 3-4 years, I still do not know much about them. With this trip, I hope to be able to spend more time with them and get to know them better.
Why Santo Domingo?
One of the main reasons I wanted to go to Santo Domingo was due to a project I was involved with that had to do with water purification. I hoped that by going here I would be able to learn more about the water quality and how other countries dealt with this pressing issue of unclean water.
Additionally, this will be my first time in a country outside of Asia and North America. I thought that it would be a great experience seeing a different country without having been exposed to that culture.
