I Love America! and other revelations

Just some thoughts on Study Abroad: this experience will do two things to a student.

One is growing your appreciation of other cultures, different ways of life, distant locations far from your home, and your ability to adapt, adjust, and succeed in the midst of extreme diversity (and sometimes adversity.

Two is making you aware of how wonderful it feels to call America home. In the midst of America's diverse world where everyone believes something different--especially during and election year, with the economy in the toilet--it is easy to get down on your own country, thinking how nice it must be to live in another place, away from American politics and all the stuff we don't like.

Go on Study Abroad, however, where nothing is like it is at home, and one begins to develop a strong appreciation for the way of life of their homeland-- assuming they were raised in a "normal," safe environment. To say that Study Abroad is a vacation is not accurate. Even though many people promoting it talk about how wonderful it is, how amazing an experience it is, I rarely heard talk of how difficult the experience would be. Maybe I had such high expectations of Study Abroad, especially Hong Kong, that I didn't think much about how difficult the adjustment would be.

Please don't misunderstand-- this IS an amazing experience, the travel is spectacular, and I love many things about Asian culture, Chinese University, my new friends, and my life here! But to only speak of the good and not the bad is an injustice to myself and those who have yet to experience this.

The biggest problem I have had here was that I did not allow myself enough time to adjust. I completely expected myself to adjust to the new campus, class system, bus schedule, and general way of doing things at a Hong Kong university, in 2 or 3 weeks. In reality, though, this takes much longer.

Also, going from a "city" of 200,000 to 300,000 people to Hong Kong's 7 Million+ residents is a major change. I cannot explain the introversion of Asian citizens, but being slightly introverted in public is necessary for me to survive sometimes amongst huge throngs of people everywhere I go. There are literally lots of people wherever I go, any time of day, 7 days a week. I am not bothered by it as many people seem to be-- like I said, one simply must adjust.

The most significant mental dilemma faced by me as well as many other exchange students is the pressure of many people at home, who all say, "Make the most of it!", or "See everything you can!" While I have done a fair amount of travelling and exploring, very few students have the energy (much less the $$$$$) to travel and explore and go out all the time. I encountered this problem in January when everyone was going out every night to explore, party, eat out, or whatever. So by February I was suffering from a serious OverDose of Hong Kong, and very little time had been giving to spending time on campus, relaxing, studying, and making the necessary adjustments to survive the entire trip with good grades, a solid budget, and serenity. I am happy to report, however, that I was "reigned in" by the women in my life-- my mother and my girlfriend-- and I calmed down and got back on track after my spectacular Chinese New Year trip to Thailand.

Okay, enough of that! That's my rant for the day-- thanks for listening.

Hong Kong is a truly spectacular city: very efficient, very safe, a HUGE financial center, rivalled only by New York and London, I can always find good food here, and there is something here for everyone. On that note, I came over here with the intention of learning Kung Fu, but I have now decided to train in something a little more practical for someone my size and level of experience. I will begin Muay Thai kickboxing sessions on Tuesday. On Wednesday I leave for a short trip to Kuala Lumpur, and then I will leave there on Friday for Cambodia to witness the temples at Angkor Wat, and then back on Sunday night.

Classes are going really well, especially the Chinese courses. My language skills are surprisingly good, and I enjoy the classes. I think I will take some more Chinese at UNCG.

My finance professor is top notch-- he started the derivatives desk at the Honk Kong Monetary Authority (the Hong Kong federal reserve). He is very knowledgeable and a great teacher (I have him for both Fixed Income Analysis and Fund Management/ Asset Allocation). He has a connection for me at HKMA that might yield an internship in May.

I also attended an investment conference last week for Institutional Cash Management professionals. This was the first of 2 or 3 seminars put on by FinanceAsia magazine. I met several money managers here in Hong Kong, and this was my first introduction to the type of managers here in Asia. I was relieved to discover that they where black AND grey AND blue suits, colorful ties, and good shoes-- as opposed to the cookie-cutter black suits, matching ties, and awful shoes that all university business students seem to wear. In other words, I fit right in with my grey interview suit, white shirt, peach tie, and cap toe lace-ups. Hong Kong business people have an affinity for dress shoes that are more narrow at the toe, with either a small rectangle and the toe or a slight point. I'm still now sure how I feel about this. I honestly still prefer the Gucci bit loafer myself (see John Davis). The connections from the conference were promising, even though Cash Management is not my forte. I will explore a few of these while I am here to try to get a better perspective to the financial landscape here.

Also on the finance front, I have been talking with a friend in New York who has an awesome job with a growing Wall Street broker/dealer. There is a possibility of landing a brief internship there this summer! I will keep you all posted as to how all that pans out.

Well, I must get back to studying for midterms. Be on the lookout for pics from KL and Cambodia next week.

Cheers!