Blog#4 DST;Becoming brand-new 'Eugenia'

For me, travel has been a mentor, teaching many things in my life. My trip in winter 2011 to Hong Kong and Macao provided me with valuable life lessons. My personal character is change. Also, from travel, I find what I want to do in the future. The Hong Kong and Macao trip is the turning point of my life.

During the trip, asking questions to somebody makes me become an outgoing person. In the past, I was shy person. I hardly expressed my opinions. However, in Hong Kong, I started to ask somebody how to go or where is it. At first, I feel embarrassed to ask what I don’t know. However, I became more and more outgoing person. I don’t fear about expressing I don’t know. Moreover, it makes me have more confident in dealing with problems. Thanks to my changing in attitude, I can travel well in Macao. Actually I don’t have enough time to plan the trip to Macao in one day trip. I had difficulty in finding transportation to ‘Venetian Hotel’. I asked one person. He got much information and was good at Cantonese. I can go safely and easily with him there.

I found that speaking second language is useful. I realized that English is beneficial to me. When I was on the way to ‘Harbor city’, I couldn’t find where the place is. I asked to woman in English, and she told me right direction very kindly. Finally, I could find the place and see the beautiful night view in Hong Kong. Without English, I might be lost. If I only can speak Korean, I had a difficulty in traveling. I was motivated to study English much harder.

I make a plan for a future. I found the cultural diversity in life in Hong Kong. The mixed culture of western and eastern in Hong Kong was intrigued me. For instance, they have a tea time with dim sum. Tea time is from United Kingdom. Dim sum is their traditional food. Two different aspects of culture are fused in one. By seeing the character of culture assimilation, I want to study cultures in-depth. As my major was International Trade in Korea I got an interest in International Marketing which is based on understanding various cultural concepts. As I want to develop multi-cultural idea, I decided to study International Business in America. America’s multicultural is called as a ‘melting pot’. I want to experience what is the melting pot culture for building up my multi-cultural idea. Now, I am OSU in Columbus, Ohio. I am very appreciated that I can experience diversity in here. I met various people with various ethnic identities. I can share the ideas of cultural similarities and differences with them.

The most memorable place that I have visited is Hong Kong. I learned how to overcome my shyness in the trip. I became an outgoing person and I realized the importance of English. Moreover, I set my dream firmly in there. Everything that I saw and experienced during the trip is worthy to me. This summer I am planning to go to New York. I expect that I will be able to learn precious lesson for life from the next trip.