Guess what? Hospitality is hospitality wherever you go. It is the art of giving people positive, memorable experiences. It requires creativity, passion and a lot of patience. The knowledge of hospitality I have been learning here is identical to what I would learn back home. So maybe I haven't been getting super excited about learning about standard operating procedures and how to fire employees. The experiences I am having here have been doing the real teaching (about hospitality and many other things). Here are some of the things I have learned since I arrived:
- Geography. I probably can't point out more than twenty states correctly on a map of the United States. But if you ask me where India, Japan, China, Indonesia, Thailand, etc. are on the map, I can point them out blindfolded. I can even get specific with some places and name certain islands or cities within a country. I am not even trying to learn this stuff, I have been traveling a bit and it's fun to know where you are and where you are headed next. I am even starting to get an idea of where some of the cities are in China (but that will take a little more work since I can't even pronounce the names yet).
- How to live in a city. Whoever says Orlando is a city is just lying to themselves (and they also lied to me). Since I have been in Hong Kong, I have learned how to ride public transportation systems (MTR, buses and even cabs). When I step out of my hall, there are streets crammed with shops and restaurants. You can walk everywhere (when you aren't taking public transportation) and everything is within reach. In walking distance I have department stores, malls, grocery stores, restaurants, post offices, beauty salons, my university and basically anything else anyone could need. If you ask my friends, they will say I am terrible with directions, which is true, but living in a REAL city is slowly improving that.
- For everyone who thinks the world is different from the US--newflash! The US is the different one. I mean come on, if everyone in the world drives on the other side of the road, are they really the ones standing out? At first I thought some things were Asian culture until I saw the Europeans and even some Canadians doing the same things. This includes some styles of dress, words, and mannerisms. No one laughs when people fall/injure/embarrass themselves in other cultures. You do that in America and get it on video and you are rich.
- People are generally uneducated about Asia. Everyone is shocked at how developed it is in Hong Kong. Someone actually told me to be careful of disease in Malaysia (Malaysia is NOT related to malaria) and someone else said "Be careful in Vietnam, it's really dangerous there" (the Vietnam War ended awhile ago). This isn't calling these people out because a lot of people just don't know much about Asia. Up until 4 or 5 months ago, I didn't know anything either! I was just as surprised when I got here--even though I wasn't worried about Malaysian diseases! Yes, things aren't as familiar to Americans but when it comes down to it, Asia is just plain awesome. Every single person NEEDS to come here sometime in their lives. Everyone knew I would have fun this semester because I am studying abroad. I knew that too. But the reason I am so happy and passionate right now is because I am studying abroad in ASIA.
- A final thing I have learned is it is okay not to know. It is okay to be lost or uncertain or confused or scared but the important thing is going for it anyways (whatever IT may be). You only have one life to just GO FOR IT and chase your dream. Second chances don't always come around, so take chances. Buy three plane tickets in one day because you are in Asia and you can. Try the chicken feet so you never will wonder if you would have liked it. And apply to do it all over again in a new place next year.