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I went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for a university-wide exchange during my year 3’s second semester. In this unforgettable experience, I studied the local language, made friends from all around the world and participated in traditions.
Living in a different country has brought immense cultural shock upon myself. For example, I learned how to eat dry foods with my bare hands, follow a slow living lifestyle, and adapt to the extremely spicy and sweet local cuisine. Staying in a racially diverse country had also given me the opportunity to experience festivals and holidays that are absent in Hong Kong, such as Ramadan (齋戒月) the succeeding Eid Al-Fitr (開齋節). During these times, my local buddies from the host university invited me and other exchange students to participate in the traditions by doing dances and following the tight schedule of fasting, followed by a plentiful Iftar meal (開齋飯). It is amazing to see another country celebrate their festive and to be able to play a part.
Obviously, going onto exchange comes with its own set of hardships too. Personally, I find the language barrier the most challenging to overcome during the early times. In Malaysia, many indigenous people speak Malay and cannot speak English. To overcome the language barrier, I took a Malay course from the host university, and talked to local friends to learn the language bit by bit daily. I also conversed with Malaysian Chinese locals to know more about the different languages flowing through the lands their Cantonese has some significate changes to what we speak in Hong Kong as well.
I had forged many friendships during my exchange. These international friends were not just fair-weather friends, we supported each other during hardships and adventured together through sea and mountains. Despite the end of the exchange, me and my friends have been trying our best to stay connected. In the following year, one of my Japanese friends went to Hong Kong as a tourist. I welcomed him as a guest in my home for a week and took him around the city. In return, during the summer when I went to Tokyo, he had become my personal guide and introduced his own culture to me from a local perspective. I am proud of the friendships I had established with these wonderful people, and I truly hope that they can last forever.
I am thankful for CUHK and the Faculty of Education’s support before and during my exchange experience. They have been nothing short of being supportive and encouraging. Since the regular BMED programme schedule does not allow whole-semester exchanges without delaying the graduation date, I was lucky enough to receive advance standing from CUHK and spare one semester without graduating late. This was only made possible with the excellent advice and communication given to me by the faculty, and I hold massive gratitude to them for making such a pleasant, and once-in-a-lifetime period of my life come true.
