All Good Things...

As we near the end of this study abroad program, I find myself enveloped by many different feelings. I am quite glad that I shall soon see my friends and family again, yet I find it very difficult to say goodbye to the new friends I've made here. We are soon to be separated, scattered back to our respective corners of the globe. This glorious age of communication will, of course, mean that I will never truly have to say goodbye to my international companions, but there is a certain feeling of impending loss as we prepare to depart for our homes. I hope, deeply hope, that this will not be a "farewell", but an "until we meet again".

I recently took a trip with these friends to Macau. For the benefit of my largely US-based readership (some of whom believed that Hong Kong was located in Japan, when I informed them of my destination), I shall explain that Macau, like Hong Kong, was formerly colonized by a foreign power, before being returned to China in 1999. Whereas Hong Kong was formerly a British colony, Macau was owned by Portugal. It is most notable, in this day and age, for being the Las Vegas of China. The casinos are tall, luxurious, and exist in great quantites. I must tell you, it's an experience. The Venetian Hotel and Casino has an indoor canal with singing gondola operators. Its main walkways are themed after a quaint city street, with a painted sky, lit for early evening at all times. The architecture is gorgeous, and costumed staff wearing masks and elegant ballgowns pose for pictures. We saw a Charlie Chaplin impersonator do a funny show with spinning plates, and eyed a few games of mahjong and blackjack. 

The other memorable moment was the Tree of Prosperity show at the Wynn Macau. In the center of the lobby, a globe sits under a carved ceiling displaying the various members of the Chinese Zodiac. Every half hour, the ceiling opens to reveal a laser light show, which in turn opens to reveal a multicolor crystal chandelier. The globe then separates, and a tree rises up, illuminated by the crystals to cycle through the colors of the four seasons. It's a glorious show, absolutely breathtaking.

While in the area, we also saw the fortress and the Ruins of St. Paul. I was a little keen to take in more of the casino sights (after all, it's what Macau is known for) but I went along with little complaint. Something really struck me about the experience. I'm normally more keen than anyone to take in the historical, rather than the tourist-y. But in this case, I just couldn't find myself enthusiastic about the ruins. Perhaps it was because the structure had no significance for me. Perhaps it was the rain. But it left me a little dissatisfied. I suppose it only shows that my duty is to correct my ignorance on the subject, Or to leave the outdoors for a nicer day. 

All good things must come to an end, and despite my relatively few words on the subject, my study abroad experience has been a very good thing. I've experienced a new culture, tried new things, eaten new foods, and seen new sights. I've escaped Smalltown, USA for a life in a city. And now, I'm going home.

Until next time, my dear readers.

Stumbling into the Story

Hello everyone,

I had an interesting experience last night. My team won second place in a master chef competition. This is despite the fact that I'm really only well-versed in a few dishes, and can hardly be called a chef. It's a long story, and a fairly humorous one, that brought me to represent the Kowloon Queens. A normal Wednesday that I didn't expect to end with me in a three-piece suit, a checkered apron, and a medal.

Near the end of my Brand Management course, I received a message from a friend of mine. He wondered if I might be free. Long story short, a team needed a native English speaker, as theirs had quit last-minute. I agreed, and found myself mashing potatoes and bantering with audience members. I'm sure those of you who know me find it no surprise that I was feeling rather "in my element"; I love to present, and feel at my best when I'm generating excitement for a product or idea.

Well, it comes down to the judging, and I'm nervous. No one in the audience has spoken much about our dish, and I'm terrified that it didn't go over well. I should mention in advance that each team had to present a dish with a "theme". The theme was countries, and ours had been Japan. We ended up crafting a dish consisting of curry-mashed potatoes on potato chips, garlic bread with a red sauce (resembling the flag of Japan) over seaweed, and mochi milk tea.

I was stunned when we surpassed the audience favorite, team Chicken Wing (who had a fantastic nacho-based dish with amazing sauce) and team Michelin Stars (France, they had a cheesecake dessert) to place second overall! The judges apparently admired our dish (which was quite delicious) and our pleasant demeanor.

The lesson I learned is a simple one, but often overlooked: opportunity comes to those who jump at it. Some of the greatest successes in history were simply doing the right thing at the right place at the right time. But the right place and the right time don't come to you. Dive in! Go on an adventure! Networking is not, as so many places teach, the act of exchanging Facebook information with people at an event. It's sharing experiences. It's building friendships. It's demonstrating, consistently, that people should think of you when they want to accomplish something.

My time in Hong Kong is nearly coming to a close. I've been thinking about what to do with this blog when I return. Though I'm demonstrably terrible at maintaining it with consistently, I've rather enjoyed the act of blogging, and I may continue. I suppose I'll be in the market for a new name, however.

Have a wonderful evening, dear readers. And thank you for all your support.

Rising Star

Good afternoon, my friends. I deeply apologize for my silence. It has been very quiet here, and I've found myself without much to say. A large majority of that is my own fault; I decided not to travel for the Easter holiday for a variety of reasons. Still, there's much I could be seeking out, and I will do my best to acquire more experiences that might merit an update.

Yesterday night, I performed in a short film and two music videos. I'm not sure if I mentioned previously that I've been cast as the male lead for a student film. It's a part I gained through a local friend of mine in my Brand Management class. As many of you know, I'm at my best when I'm helping someone, so I was more than delighted to take the role. The young student director apparently regards my acting ability highly, as she recommended me to a classmate who needed actors for his film projects. 

Through this game of networking, I found myself wearing a doctor costume and putting things into a McDonald's bag on film yesterday. While that might sound like something out of the Craigslist personals section, I found the role pretty interesting, and remained for the full six hours it took to film that scene, as well as two other videos (a fairly shot-for-shot redo of the ABBA song "Money Money Money", and a one-scene video of "Dancing Queen" by the same, in which I danced with a guitar). 

I've never really "done" any theatre work prior. A little sketch comedy in my teenage years (primarily writing, but a few turns on stage), and a brief time at my school's short-lived improv comedy club, but no real acting experience. Despite this shortcoming, I've apparently satisfied the standards of the local students on the film track.

I'd like to take a moment to mention how very advanced the facilities on campus appear to be, in comparison to what I've seen. I don't claim to know how well-equipped the recording facilities are at my home university, but HKBU's equipment seems to be excellent. A full recording studio, adjustable lighting, camera equipment, the works. I remember hearing that this university is considered highly for film students, but it's always nice to see a school that invests heavily in its students above all else.

I suppose the lessons I learned from this experience are two-fold. One, Hong Kong doesn't sleep. We were in the studio from 7:45PM- 1:45 AM, and there still people actively hustling and bustling around the facilities when we departed. Second, I don't ever intend to become an actor, but I've found that the skills needed to be an actor are not entirely dissimilar from those needed to succeed in business. Confidence is key, as it so often is, and being able to accept criticism is a skill I'm glad I've learned over the years. While I might have preferred a nice beach in Taiwan or to have seen the elephants in Thailand (which, as Facebook is so keen to inform me, many of my friends are doing), I'm glad I stuck around to be part of this experience.

On Spirit

Time to dust a few cobwebs off this blog, and ring in the new year.

I'd like to take a moment to formally apologize for my extended silence. I'm told I've had a few people disappointed in my lack of recent posts, and though I might doubt the full veracity of that statement, I'd still like to offer a quick "sorry" to those who have missed my correspondence.

The fact is that, what with the holidays and celebrations for the Lunar New Year, I've simply not had too much to write about.  Don't get me wrong, I've found these celebrations incredibly delightful. I've seen the annual parade, in all its glory. I've stood among a nigh-literal sea of people, and watched what is perhaps the most awe-inspiring fireworks show in my life. I've cast my wish into the Wishing Tree (good news, by the way; I was successful in my toss, so world peace should be just around the corner!), visited the flower market, and I've made quite a lot of close friends along the way.

All these experiences are exciting. But my purposes in this blog are not, if I'm fulfilling my objectives, to simply relay the story of a wide-eyed Westerner as he goes through the checklist of things to see in Hong Kong. This blog is about what I've learned. This blog is about being a student, but not in the traditional academic sense (trust me, I'm that too, I just don't think the average reader of my blog would find themselves compelled by restating my professor's lectures on the four P's as applied to a global market, or how to properly implement a Customer Relationship Management strategy), rather in a cultural role.

My objective is to be a student of the world, and to deliver the lessons of another culture to those I leave back home.

It's 10:50 PM on Thursday. I'm sitting at my computer listening to what sounds like war cries outside my window.

This is a nightly ritual. The different university halls take it in turn to "pep rally" in the main courtyard outside of the dorms. Clapping, yelling, chanting the name of the halls. It's slightly infuriating, and makes it very difficult to sleep, but listening to it has brought me to a realization. This is how the people of Hong Kong managed to organize, mobilize, and enact a protest.

They have spirit. Their students have pride in their identity, in their culture, in standing up for themselves.

Students in the US face a growing problem. We're burdened with increasing student loan debt, forced into unpaid labor through internships, suffering from a growing wealth inequality, and increasingly having our right to privacy taken away from us. Quietly, without our consent, we saw a Patriot Act strip us of so many freedoms that our nation was founded on upholding. We've seen our tuition increase without, as far as I can tell, significant benefit to the students. All I truly see are increasingly bloated administrations, budgets getting fat as teachers and students scrape by with limited resources.

And the question I have to ask myself is: why aren't my peers angrier about it? There's such a grim acceptance to how my fellow students take these concerns. The extent of our "revolutions" are a few bitter social media posts, light kvetching, and a general attitude of "yeah, but it's just the way it is." Even I confess that I often feel that way. I feel like I cannot elect real change in society. We're a generation that's grown up hearing how easy we have it.

My father, working a summer job, could have easily paid for a year of college. I worked part time since the beginning of summer, picking up a second job during the semester, and attended full time classes. I made efforts to pick up extra shifts where I could, never missing classes, asking my employers to utilize my skills and put me in a position where I could make more money, and be a greater benefit to the company. These pleas went unanswered. All told, if I had devoted 100% of the income I had to paying off my student loan debt, assuming that I had somehow acquired a car with infinite gasoline, I would have barely paid for a tenth of my current student loan debt. I wouldn't have been able to pay for roughly half my tuition costs for that semester alone.

Students in America, from what I've seen, lack the spirit to protest this mounting problem. Most of my generation will emerge from college in varying levels of excessive, crippling debt. A significant portion of us will not be able to find a job to cover this debt. Those that do can expect that some form of automation or technology will be able to make their position redundant within some amount of years.

I urge my peers to consider our current course in life. Should we accept these changes quietly? Are we doing ourselves any service by electing a position of apathy? What kind of message will we relay to our generations to come?

While I'm urging you, I might urge you to consider clicking the flattr button on my blog, if you want to flip a quarter my way. But more importantly, if you really like what I'm writing here, let me know. Tell your friends.

With love, from Hong Kong.

Accepting the Role of Cowardice

I apologize for the infrequent nature of my updates. I make no excuses for my actions, but hope you will accept that they are born of sloth, and a lack of noteworthy material. Classes continue well, and I'm enjoying every moment of my time here.

Tonight there was a protest.

I knew about it right away. A student posted about the event in our exchange student facebook group. I had ample time to get to the area in question, and support a just cause.

Let me elaborate on my statement, so there's no confusion. The Umbrella Revolution is a pro-democracy, non-violent organisation seeking justice in their political system. Every single free nation should be backing them. They protest injustice, and I support their message without question.

I had the opportunity to support a just cause, and I chose cowardice.

My decision is born of promises made to my friends and family back home, and to the consulate of the United States, who requests I do not participate in any such gatherings. The risks could be that I become imprisoned, get sent home to the United States (I need to take a moment to thank my parents for supplying the not-insignificant costs it took to get here), and causing an international incident.

I still should have been there. Our country should be here. Our country should be funding this revolution, risking open war with China, because these are a people protesting the very thing our country stands for.

But that would, of course, disrupt trade. And trade keeps the country going.

It's a very sad day when financial interests come before values. But then again, I just faced the same sad day. I just set my values aside to sit in my room, play video games, go shopping, and have bread and cheese for dinner. My only revolution was smuggling a beer into the dorm. I simply can't afford to lose this semester.

It's very hard to accept that I am, at heart, a coward. But it's a fact.

Dearest reader, if you've come here to read the diary of a revolutionary, a firebrand, a person of character, you've come to the right place. But that part of me is temporarily indisposed, replaced with an academic, a student, someone who bears the financial burden that my homeland places on a young man of promise.

A small word of self-shilling, to combat the self-pity you're reading. You may notice a button that says "Fuel the Diary!" on the page. I'm trying out Flattr. The idea is that you have a monthly internet budget, and you can "flattr" things with the ease of a Facebook like button. At the end of the month, your budget is distributed, one-time, to each thing you flattr'd. Your budget can be as high or as low as you want to distribute for small internet things. Even if you choose to give me fifty cents, I'll be thrilled, because that's halfway to buying a Tim Tam here.

Till next time, my friends.

Ah yes, the student part...

As my dear friends and relatives on Facebook have been quick to point out, yes, this is a blog about being a student in Hong Kong. So now that the semester is in full swing, and the sights have been sought, I'm ready to start discussing classes.

It's that most wonderful time of every student's life that we call "Syllabus Week", Having sat through six two-and-a-half hour sessions, I'm pleased to report I've decided on my four classes. My final choices are Brand Management, Customer Relationship Management, Global Marketing, and Marketing Strategy. I've decided to drop Business-To-Business Marketing and Consumer Behavior, the last one being a hard choice, made less hard by the fact that it was a three hour class on Friday mornings.

Brand Management

The teacher is actually from France, and seems really well-traveled. This class was the primary reason I decided to study abroad, as my home university doesn't have a class devoted to the topic.

Customer Relationship Management

Seems rather simple so far, but it's a field that's seeing a lot of growth in today's market. The principles of CRM are something we've always held true in marketing: a truly successful company doesn't sell a product, it sells a lifestyle. It's the difference between, say, the cold medicine I use (whatever's cheapest) and my laptop manufacturer (ASUS). Perhaps an even better example would be Apple, a business that truly knows its customers. I've never really saw the appeal; they make the only successful MP3 player on the market, but I still hate the interface, and that's the reason I have an Android phone. But they definitely build a relationship with their customers, and that kind of devotion merits investigation.

Global Marketing

This class is with the professor I had B2B with, before I dropped it. He's... a character. He asks that everyone call him "Uncle David" rather than address him by his doctorate title. He seems a very... let's say "earnest" fellow, very by the numbers. He's apparently quite the successful businessman, especially in the B2B market. Not so strong in B2C, however, as he admits.

He will be an interesting professor to work with.

Marketing Strategy

This was the first class I had this week.I earnestly don't remember discussing too much of import. It was a cut and dry syllabus class.

Oh! I'm very excited to share this bit of news! My university has a bridge club!

I'm sure that many of you are people I know personally, so it should come as no shock to you that I love contract bridge. I started playing last semester back in my home university, and I got hooked immediately. I'm apparently the first exchange student to ever join the club in HKBU, and I had to get used to slightly different bidding conventions (they open on 12 points, rather than 13, for example) but I picked it up pretty quickly. I even opened a grand slam tonight... but I digress, because this is not a bridge blog, and absolutely no one other than myself will gain anything out of a recap of tonight's hands.

Well, dearest readers, I hope to relay more of the lessons I learn here shortly. The real classes begin soon. As the sun sets on Hong Kong, many of you are just waking up back home, so enjoy your Fridays! Tomorrow: the weekend!

On the Lessons we can Learn about Hong Kong Advertising

I am, as previously mentioned, a student of marketing. Though classes have not yet begun, I've been taking the time to observe the way people in Hong Kong advertise and do business.

The advertisements I've seen (well, those I've been able to read; I'm shamefully unable to read any Cantonese) have been quite sophisticated. A memorable camera ad that I saw in a Fotomax (a photography/print shop where I bought passport photos) depicted a woman walking across a busy street. She appears slightly blurred, but then comes into focus, staring at the viewer. A third section depicts a young man with a camera, looking out at something. In the bottom corner, a Polaroid of the man with his arm around the young woman, the background depicting an apartment in which the couple have just begun to unpack. The slogan reads "Photographs are more than just pixels and data". Beautiful ad. Tells a story in a purely print media, but it could have very easily been a TV ad as well.

Advertising is only one small part of sales, however. The other aspect I truly admire involves sales pitches. In the USA, retail workers do not get to change the price of items, or give customers better deals. Companies couldn't allow that behavior in America, because they have to meet profit margins to satisfy investors, and retail workers, far and away, are high school/college students who aren't formally trained in the skills of sales.

Today, I went to Starbucks. The coffee server chatted with me as I waited for my order. She asked how long I had been in Hong Kong, asked how often I drank coffee, asked about my major...

I want to stop you right here, reader. When was the last time you had a Starbucks employee that didn't just go through the motions of your transaction? In my experience, the most I've received out of a Starbucks employee was detached apathy, a latte, and my change.

Well, her kindness worked. My new friendly Starbucks barista had an exciting offer for me. I could get a snazzy reward card that stored value for Starbucks, and for $50 (that's Hong Kong dollars; we're talking about 6.45 USD), I could get one of these cards. What's more, I could get stars every time I got coffee, which got me free things. Now, I'm a big fan of coffee. Not usually of Starbucks, but I'm a long way from Rise Up or Viva Espresso, and Green Tea smoothies are always on the menu, so I'm not complaining. The prices are very good, too. So I decided to do it.

Pictured: Cool Starbucks Card.

Once again, pause. Here's how this would have happened in the USA:

Barista: Your total is $7. Do you want to apply for a reward card today?
Me: No.

I have a tendency to reject things like that out of hand. Many of us do; we live in a society with constant bombardment from companies who want to earn our repeat business without a large amount of effort. But a simple sales pitch, mixed with an ounce of friendly behavior, is a game-changer.

Retailers, this is a message to you. Train your workers in the art of the pitch. I'd love to suggest letting workers be able to provide discounts and coupons to ensure customer loyalty. I'd love if that type of customer relationship management found its way into Best Buys, into Staples, into Giant, because research shows that making your employees more powerful pays for itself. But I know that isn't going to happen, so for now... baby steps?

One final note I have to make is the aftermath of that Starbucks card. I unfortunately cannot activate it, as I need to provide a Chinese mobile number, and I'm having trouble with my SIM card. I bought a prepaid one today, but I have to get  it cut down to Nano SIM size. I hope I didn't break it trying to do it myself. I also fear that it won't work because my Verizon phone is not unlocked. I'd like to be able to do that, and I know it can be done, but not easily. The way cell phone companies (at least, Verizon in particular) seem to make things hard for their customers baffles me.

I have a few more thoughts on the attitude of businesses in Hong Kong, versus the United States, but this is getting wordy, and I'm sure your eyes have glazed over. Next time, perhaps. I leave you with something I cannot get over: Fliiike! A real-time facebook like counter. SO COOL. Seen for the first time today in the University Library.

You won't see this on the news back home...

As mentioned in my last post,here is a poster from the Umbrella Revolution, the movement to keep Hong Kong free.

Stay turned! I'm still getting my thoughts organized about the cool time I had yesterday, but for now, it's about time for orientation.

In mostly one piece...

Anyone who believed I would actually make the Monday deadline that I set in my previous post is, indeed, about as blindly optimistic as a turtle training to race a jet plane.

Unless, of course, that jet plane happened to be scheduled from BWI to Newark.

After a whirlwind lesson in flight delays, a quick trip to the Windy City, and a flight in which time lost meaning, I am pleased to report that I find myself in a cozy 2-bedroom, no pillow, no blanket living quarters. Of course, I'll be better settled in by the time you read this. I write, knowing full well I have not received my WiFi login yet. It is 4 AM, but the hustle, bustle, and screaming is still alive and well outside my dorm.

Today, I met the other exchange students, and our local student ambassadors. A very friendly bunch. A New Yorker, formerly of Israel, a charming London lady, a Canadian born madam from Canada, a rather tall German gentleman, a young lady from... California, I believe... and a few others, perhaps? I've a terrible memory for trivia about a person's life, when the interesting experiences they've experienced are far more enticing.

I've not yet met my roommate. I'm told Hong Kong citizens do not sleep, according to my student ambassador, until roughly 4 AM. There are beautiful decorations in the halls. I may do more exploring later.

Perhaps the most interesting experience I had today was with a local student. While we were checked into our rooms, she brought up some of the signs around campus. She asked if we knew what the Umbrella Protest was (I quickly gathered this referred to the protests so scarcely mentioned in the US news, of Hong Kong versus China's government) and explained that the signs were from that.

She told us that the protest had lasted for a "little while, when we gathered to demonstrate displeasure to the Government's actions." And that it had "stopped". This last bit was the most curious to me, and I asked what she meant by that.

She replied that the protest stopped when they found that the government did not care about the protest. Pressed a little further, she said that the government and police were mighty, and that the police had stopped them. They used... violence.

The way she said it was so... meaningful. Like the use of violence by the police was above and beyond. In America, our protests truly have violence at their heart. Death and blood is common news. Police brutality is often the subject OF our protests, and end up being dispersed by, again, police violence.

Our ambassador talked of the art they created during the protest. I've never seen that on our news. Our protests are angry, destructive... I will grant that there is a powerful message in destruction, and where there is a message, there is the room for artistic relay.

To put it plainly, yes, a car on fire is art.

But a protest of creation and calm is just so... moving...

I've promised my dear mother that I will not involve myself in this conflict, and I don't intend to break that promise. But this conversation brought me great insight into the way that Hong Kong people communicate.

I shall likely talk of this further.

Let's get to know each other...

My name's Alex. I'm a twenty-two year old business student from a small little city on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Please try not to hold that against me.

I find myself in a unique situation. In a couple days, I'm going to board a plane that will take me thousands of miles from my home, family, friends, and loved ones. You might assume that such a decision was the result of careful planning, backed by solid reasons and necessity. Were you to assume such a thing, you would do me too much credit. I'm not a careful person.

Whim and wanderlust are my primary motivations for this study abroad program. As a student of marketing, it is my belief that businesses must tailor messages to the culture of their target audiences. It only follows that foreign culture must be experienced before it can be understood.

I hasten to explain, at this point, that I have never left the United States of America. I have barely left the state of Maryland for any extended period of time. Please, put yourself in my shoes. I hope you, dear reader, can feel the excitement, the nervous energy, and the fear that I am going through. I am afraid, very afraid, of the journey ahead.

That's why I'm inviting you along with me. I plan to blog on my experiences, observations, and lessons learned overseas.

Thank you for your attention. Check back in on Monday, when I (Lord willing) will be arriving in the great city of Hong Kong.