Just like any orientation, you meet a lot of people. Some will become good friends, some will be acquaintance while there will be some others whom you will forget. Saying, "Hi! I am Shan Jun. What's your name?" and a handshake, followed by "Where are you from?" is like the typical and SOP when you meet someone. One can't possibly remember 101 names in one day so those that I tend to remember are the ones that I had a more meaningful conversation with. Another thing I have to admit, all ang mohs looks the same to me. I really could not differentiate David from Paul and Mary from Alice. I could only remember my fellow sgporeans exchange mates names well, as well as the random people in the Singaporean clique.
Talking about clique, just like any other orientation, cliques are bound to form. Since we exchange students are all new in a foreign country, we tend to stick to our own clique. There are the ang moh clique (some cliques are like all americans or all germans), the PRC cliques, the korean cliques, the japanese cliques and of course the Singaporean Clique. Of course, there may be one or 2 people of another nationality joining a particular clique. Of course, yours truly is sticking in the familiar Singaporean clique, where i can just ratter off in singlish freely. Well, I do try to speak in standard english where there are non-sgporeans around. I don't mix only with singaporeans only ok?
Speaking is another interesting thing here. To some who are not as proficient as us in english, we have to speak slower. To some, we have to speak in standard english with a certain slang so that they could understand us. It's tiring at times but that's how it goes here.
Socializing is another thing that we have to constantly do. If you are stuck in a lift with students from other nation, or the person seated next to you in the LT happens to be an american, even in the toilet while you are brushing your teeth or filling up your bottle in the pantry, you are bound to meet someone whom you may or may not know. Apart from the "Hi I am blah blah blah" thing, the situation makes it such that you have to bring the conversation to another level and that is socializing. You think of topics to talk about, chat about your home country, chat about things that you know about the other party's country. One can gain a lot of insights through these conversations.
For example during the Welcome Dinner, we were seated with a few Swiss and americans and it is probably their first time having a chinese banquet dinner. We, as chinese, would definitely need to tell them more about chinese food, how we eat, the dos and don'ts on the table etc etc.... I am of course proud to introduce the chinese culture to them and they were as equally amazed and at times amused at the things chinese do. For example, the swiss guys were so amazed when they saw the chicken head served on the plate along with the chicken meat. They were also curious on how to use chopsticks the correct way. (Talking about chopsticks, all the westerners on my table were trying their best to use the chopsticks even though the westerners were provided with fork and knife. When in China, do what the Chinese do!) I am equally happy to share what I know with them and I did enjoy hearing stories from them about food back in their home country. That's what SEP is all about! Mix around and get to learn more!
Well, tomorrow we shall all be separated and I shall be moving into a hall, where the majority are locals. Another round of socializing shall begin all over again and I may need to use terms like " lei hou ma?", "lei sek jor fan mai?" etc etc.... Well, I did come to Hong Kong to learn more about this place and improve my cantonese. So I shall not be one of those anti-social people who will hide in their room the whole day.
Adam Schall Residence (our orientation hostel)
My room for 4 days.
the small bed.
walking around in Central (taken at IFC mall)
Group picture (6 sporeans, 1 malaysian and 1 japanese)
Welcome Dinner for IASP students
Cam-whoring
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