It brings a little sting to my heart when I think about
leaving Hong Kong (and Asia in general). I have truly learned so much about the
world, people, and cultures and am so thankful for this amazing experience. It
would not have been possible without God and my parents and my wonderful
business school at UT. I knew I would be a changed person after having
experienced life in China, but one can’t really anticipate how they are going
to change or how another culture is going to affect them until they’ve seen it
with their own eyes. If there is one
thing I’ve learned, it’s that people are fundamentally the same everywhere.
Yes, their cultures are very different, and their tendencies and customs are different,
but people are people, and that’s what has made me feel close to home even all
the way across the globe. Aside from the fact that not many people speak
English here which has made communicating difficult at times, and living
conditions and day to day life is a little different, I have often times not
even felt like I’m on another continent. Undoubtedly that is due to the fact
that I am living and traveling with many new friends from back home, which has
given us all a little American bubble and haven. If anything has made me feel
more disconnected from back home it’s probably the difference in food. America
has the best food in the world! I can’t wait to have barbecue when I get home….
It’s been one month since I’ve been in America, and thinking
about it now, I think of everything in more color, with life and vibrancy and
freedom and happiness. I’ve always been in love with America, and Texas has my
heart, and I can truly say that now I hold America, and Texas specifically,
much more dear to my heart than I already did. It sounds cliché, but there is
so much we take for granted, without even realizing it sometimes, because we
don’t know any better or any different. The American Dream is a beautiful
thing. I totally understand it now. Opportunities and freedom abound in America
more than anywhere else in the world, and I am overcome with pure joy to call
it my home.
The people I’ve met and the friends I’ve made through my
study abroad program have shaped my experience and truly made it the time of my
life. I can’t imagine how it would have been without them. I’ve made memories
to last a lifetime. Never have I been more crazy, laughed so hard, slept so
little, or walked so much, as I did in the past month. Even though I’m so, so
happy to be boarding a plane to go home, Hong Kong and Thailand will always
have a little piece of my heart. It’s a bittersweet feeling leaving it all
behind, because I know I will probably never return. Live life while you can,
travel while you’re young, and take everything in. Everything.
I want to close with a beautiful quote from Mary Anne
Radmache that I can now identify with, more than ever before:
“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other
side of the world.”
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