Monday, December 10, 2012
Liu Hoi Ying, Vicky, University of Stirling, UK
February 9, 2012, Thursday
Today is my first day of exchange life and also first time to be in Europe. After taking a 12-hour long flight, I was extremely exhausted and tired since I couldn’t sleep well on the plane. However, there was something made me felt even more frustrated, that is the language barrier I came across once I landed at Scotland, UK. I have learnt British English for more than 15 years but I was still shocked by Scottish accent. At the very beginning, I couldn’t even understand a full sentence of what the Scottish driver was saying. Even more, they may mix some traditional Scottish language called “Gaelic” with English in the daily conversation. For example, “Yes” is pronouned as “I”. I was worried about the coming life here, especially when getting along with the local students, hopefully everything is going to be alright.
After settling down in my room, I was happy to meet my neighbours in the corridor. Most of them are from the United State. Surprisingly, their American accent is easier to be understood than the Scottish one. Thankfully, it made me feel a bit better that my listening skills are still fair enough to communicate with native speakers. All of them are nice and I was happy to be warmly welcomed even I am the only Asian in this dormitory. It is going to be an extraordinary experience for me to fully exposure under an English-speaking environment and I am looking forward on how much improvement in English language skills I will get after the exchange.
February 27, 2012, Monday
I just came back from Paris with my 11 friends today! It was a random weekend trip without detailed planning but it was full of awesome memories.
Everything was spontaneous. I met my travel buddies on Stirling Uni’s Facebook page and we started talking about accommodation, transport and module selection, etc. It was until one girl shared with us information about a bargain plane ticket to Paris, the conversation quickly shifted to travelling. Despite everyone’s busy schedule, we managed to squeeze out a weekend to for our romantic Paris trip.
As you can imagine, we didn’t have much time to plan. To be honest, I was quite word as this was my first time travelling in Europe and I like Paris so much I didn’t want to ruin the trip. Which is why I was so surprised when things worked out smoothly when we arrived. We managed to visit all the famous tourist spots and tried all the must-have food.
I didn’t believe spontaneous travelling can be enjoyable but this experience proved me wrong. Maybe it is because of my companions who come from different parts of the world including America, Canada and Malta, who made the trip so much more fun. It gave me opportunities to step out of my comfort zone with Chinese and get in touch with people with different cultures and backgrounds
March 2, 2012, Friday
The first project meeting with my fellow Scottish group mates went better than I expected. They spoke in heavy accent which I found hard to understand. However I am improving on that. My group mates are very friendly too. They would slow down and repeat the parts where I didn’t understand for me when I looked confused. Another thing I need to work on though is to participate more in the discussion.
One thing that I found interesting is the difference in working style between us. As per our way in HK, we tend to do some background research on the topic before meeting. The local students, however, prefer a more laidback approach. They like to gather everyone and brainstorm on the topic before any information search. This may be useful in generating ideas but it wasn’t quite efficient cause at the end of the 3-hour long meeting, we just came up with an outline for the project and concluded that we needed to do research before next time we meet.
This was my first experience of cultural shock. Scottish tends to take everything slow which was very unbearable for me in the beginning. But when I realized I flew all the way from Hong Kong to experience a different culture, I knew that I should change my mindset to accept them and put myself into their shoes.
March 28, 2012, Tuesday
Scotland is famous for its whisky, traditional dance and music with pipe. Tonight I could try all of them and experience Scottish life by joining Ceilidh dance night organized by the International Society. Ceilidh is a Gaelic word representing Scottish social gathering. It involved group dance in pairs together with a Scottish pipe band playing folk music. The dance emphasized on footsteps and following rhythm of background music. Once the music accelerated, we all had to move faster in order to catch up with the beats. When I felt tired, I could take a seat, take a sip of whisky and chit chat with my friends for resting.
It was a brand new experience to me. I am not good at dancing but I could pick up the steps quickly. Playing in a group made the overall atmosphere very joyful, therefore it was also a good way to sooth pressure.
In Hong Kong, we usually watch movies, have a meal or sing karaoke for social gathering. By comparing the social gathering formats in Hong Kong and Scotland, it clearly shows that the lifestyle in Scotland is healthier and more aesthetic than that in Hong Kong. I can’t say which way I like more but I think the Scottish style can somehow help people bond together better.
It was a brand new experience to me. I am not good at dancing but I could pick up the steps quickly. Playing in a group made the overall atmosphere very joyful, therefore it was also a good way to sooth pressure.
May 30, 2012, Wednesday
Time Flies! Today was our last school day at Stirling University. My friend and I organized a farewell party in our floor kitchen. I presented them a traditional Chinese dish – fried rice. I don’t know if it’s because they haven’t tried proper Chinese food or they really liked it, my dish was emptied in a minute.
After dinner, we went for a bonfire on the hill nearby to participate in tonight’s highlight –result announcement of our dorm superlatives. Recently, we voted for the Best Smile, Best Hair, Most likely to move to Scotland etc. in our dorm. All were hilarious but all recalled our sweet and lovely memories with everyone. There was laughter and happy tears all around. Although we have just known each other for 3 months, we lived together and met every day, and we have built up a close friendship. It was really hard for us to say goodbye.
Although my exchange study in Scotland has come to an end, I always think that I am just going to start a new page of my life.. I planned to go the Netherland, Belgium and Italy on my own and later meet up with my Hong Kong friends in Switzerland. I will have a safe and fruitful journey and turn to be a more tough and strong girl after that. Finger crossed!
Labels: 2012/2013 Semester A
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