Ho Sze Wan, Kirsty

Lingnan University, Hong Kong
Exchange to Macquarie University, Australia

It was a fruitful and unforgettable experience to spend one semester in Sydney, one of the major cities in Australia. I had expected that living in Sydney, an international metropolitan, would be quite similar to living in Hong Kong. However, they are like two extremes; with life in Sydney being the most relaxing and Hong Kong the busiest.

While Hong Kong claims to be an Asian world city, I must say that Sydney is more international in terms of a greater diversity of people. At my host institution, Macquarie University, I made friends with people from all around the world! In order to live harmoniously with each other, we opened our hearts to understand and accept our cultural differences. For instance, I once saw some Australians take their clothes off after getting drunk. They thought it was for fun, but most of the Asians didn’t think so and avoided joining the crowd.

Actually, not only did I notice differences between Eastern and Western cultures, but also differences within Asian cultures. For example, I joined a tour with my Japanese friend through a travel agency. On the coach, the last row of seats was the most comfortable one. Every member of the tour was designated a particular seat. When no one sat on the last row of seats, some Chinese members of the tour left their original seats and sat there. As a fellow Chinese, I thought this was normal because we accepted the concept of first-come-first-get-served and the most comfortable seats should not be left empty. However, my Japanese friend was quite angry about it because it was not fair to all the other members of the tour. He asked me, “Why should they get a more comfortable seat when all of us paid the same amount? How come nobody has questioned why they can get those seats? They didn’t ask for permission from everybody before they sat there! They should have left those seats empty because sitting there will upset others. We should take care of everyone’s feelings.” After arguing for a while, I eventually found out there is different perception of fairness and effectiveness between Chinese and Japanese.

Sydney gave me not only the opportunity to embrace cultural variety, but also the chance to enjoy the natural environment. When you walk out of a building, you will be amazed at the grass, the trees and most surprisingly, the wild animals. Once I wanted to cross a bridge, but a duck family was having their breakfast there. When I moved closer to them, the duck parents chased and tried to attack me! I had to wait until they finished their breakfast before crossing the bridge! This experience is something we will never be able have in Hong Kong.

Thanks to the Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Scholarship Programme for supporting me in this valuable and exciting experience. It has really widened my horizons and changed my life! I sincerely hope one day I can visit Sydney again.

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