This past week was crazy overwhelming! I cannot believe it is honestly Friday! I am still home sick but the amount of work I have to do helps keep my mind off of it a little. On Wednesday, I had my orientation meeting with World Green Organisation (WGO). This is where I will be doing most of my service work. The people there were really friendly and open to allowing us get the most out of the experience. I learned a lot about Hong Kong's waste issue and how urgent it is. There are 7.18 million people in Hong Kong and only THREE landfills! I did the math and that is about 2 million people per landfill. Out of curiosity, I looked up what the landfill situation is in the U.S. and we have about 10,000 landfills. Obviously we have more people but the math showed that about 100,000 people share one landfill in the U.S. DEFINITELY not 2 million. It was shocking to me what I learned and very inspiring to see how much of an initiative groups like WGO are taking in order to address the issue before it gets even worse. I know we talk about it in the U.S. and how we need to be more sustainable, but I personally don't think people are very conscious or don't see the urgency in the issue. I am really excited to continue working with WGO and learn more about how they make an impression on the general public. When I heard their presentation on the types of work they do, I thought to myself, "Why don't we do that in America? It would make such a difference."
Then things really sped up. We had a group presentation on our service work due the day after our orientation. Then we had a long project proposal due the day after that (today). We finished!! I feel like I can relax for just a minute but then I have to continue with something. A major part of our service work includes creating an exchange corner in certain parts of Hong Kong and spreading the message about the waste production issue to the locals. We will have a booth set up with donated items anyone may choose to take for free and they may donate any items of their choice to us. This spreads the message of "one man's garbage is another man's treasure." There is only a week before that event kicks off and we have a lot to do in that short time frame!
I also visited the Salvation Army's nursing home today. It was a 2 hour commute. The residents in the nursing home were diagnosed with moderate to severe dementia. I have the opportunity to volunteer there as many times a week as I can. It was really interesting to learn more about the nursing homes and how they work here compared to the U.S. Anyone that is not a resident must wear a mask while walking through the unit. They live in rooms of 6 and have a public bathroom to share. There are opportunities for exercising and entertainment. The elderly were all so welcoming and happy to see us. One woman kept wandering and looking for her family members. It was sad to see. The volunteer work I would be performing is helping them in activities that are planned for them. It was explained to us in the orientation that the reason behind creating a "dementia corner" is because they believe some of the elderly act out, scream, or wander because they are bored or do not have their needs fulfilled. The dementia corner is a new program they have implemented in which there are scheduled weekly activities for the elderly to do. Their hopes are that the elderly will not act out as much. I am not sure how accurate this theory is but in my opinion, the people of Hong Kong seem to have a very different understanding of dementia than we do in the U.S. In America, we believe the reason for the actions of dementia patients results from the physical changes in the brain. It appears there is a different understanding of the disease here and it would be interesting to learn more about how they perceive the illness.
I am learning so much about the culture and relating it back to healthcare, even if I am not necessarily performing direct nursing care. As home sick as I am, I'm grateful for this opportunity.
The Singapore girls also have been amazing to me. I am glad to know that I have some great people to spend my meals with. They brought back some halal fried beef dumplings for me for dinner! I cannot wait to try it!
Friday, June 12, 2015
Monday, June 8, 2015
A Day Worth Blogging
Actually, it is more like a couple days worth blogging... but that title would just reiterate the definition of a blog.
Anyways... Sorry I haven't been updating this as much! I initially stopped because nothing new or interesting happened; but of course when something that was worth mentioning happened, I was too busy or exhausted to even think about forming words and sentences.
About four days ago, I met a really great group of students who are here from Singapore, doing service work. I participated with them on Friday and learned more about what service learning means and what it entails. I spotted two hijabis in the group and naturally had the urge to get to know them. I am REALLY glad I decided not to go on a day trip with the exchange students from America and instead decided to attend the lecture with the Singapore group. That day started off really crummy because I felt more and more like I did not belong anywhere. Once I socialized with the Singapore group, I felt like I had a community not only to fit in with, but also to learn from.
The next day, the IWU group went to the history museum and Avenue of Stars with the Singapore group. It felt great to be able to just walk in and know they are accepting of me. For the first time in a very long time, I was able to let down my guard and talk to strangers without feeling self-conscious. I am the type of person who needs to feel welcomed before I let myself walk into a vulnerable situation. I am the type of person who needs to be invited in order to know this is a safe place. I am the type of person who needs to see a person's body language matches their words of kindness. I am very intuitive. I haven't felt this much kindness in some time and I am genuinely happy.
The next day, we went to Tai O, which is an island in Hong Kong. Oh my God, it was HOT! I seriously did not know how we kept walking. I guess being surrounded by amazing people helps a lot. We took a lot of pictures there. Hanna was our rockstar photographer but I swear, we need to get her into the pictures, too!
Lunch and dinner has become a lot easier. The girls knew that halal food would be almost impossible to find here so they stocked up and brought a ton of food from Singapore. They have been very generous and invited me to eat meals with them. Thank God no more McDonalds! We have laughed and shared so many stories and exchanged cultural knowledge from each other. I found myself questioning why I don't live in Singapore. My values match closely with their values. But then I realized it isn't the country I live in that has shaped who I am (completely), it is the culture I was raised in. Although I am always going to be an American, I also will always consider myself to be Indian. I have never been to India but hearing stories from my family and embracing the culture that has been passed down to me is beautiful. I will listen to Bollywood over American music any day and until this day, I still cannot tell you what Brad Pitt looks like but I can tell you all of the famous and popular Indian actors and actresses.
I questioned why I fit in with ease within the Singapore group but yet have always had a hard time mixing in with Americans. I used to think it was just me and my personality, but I discovered that is not at all true. It is in my Asian blood to be someone who lives in a high-context culture. Words, word choice, and body language are all very important to me. American culture is a low-context culture, which creates a challenge. I am very willing to continue my journey in learning how to combine two very different cultures into one because I do identify with two cultures that clash.
Anyways... Sorry I haven't been updating this as much! I initially stopped because nothing new or interesting happened; but of course when something that was worth mentioning happened, I was too busy or exhausted to even think about forming words and sentences.
About four days ago, I met a really great group of students who are here from Singapore, doing service work. I participated with them on Friday and learned more about what service learning means and what it entails. I spotted two hijabis in the group and naturally had the urge to get to know them. I am REALLY glad I decided not to go on a day trip with the exchange students from America and instead decided to attend the lecture with the Singapore group. That day started off really crummy because I felt more and more like I did not belong anywhere. Once I socialized with the Singapore group, I felt like I had a community not only to fit in with, but also to learn from.
The next day, the IWU group went to the history museum and Avenue of Stars with the Singapore group. It felt great to be able to just walk in and know they are accepting of me. For the first time in a very long time, I was able to let down my guard and talk to strangers without feeling self-conscious. I am the type of person who needs to feel welcomed before I let myself walk into a vulnerable situation. I am the type of person who needs to be invited in order to know this is a safe place. I am the type of person who needs to see a person's body language matches their words of kindness. I am very intuitive. I haven't felt this much kindness in some time and I am genuinely happy.
The next day, we went to Tai O, which is an island in Hong Kong. Oh my God, it was HOT! I seriously did not know how we kept walking. I guess being surrounded by amazing people helps a lot. We took a lot of pictures there. Hanna was our rockstar photographer but I swear, we need to get her into the pictures, too!
Lunch and dinner has become a lot easier. The girls knew that halal food would be almost impossible to find here so they stocked up and brought a ton of food from Singapore. They have been very generous and invited me to eat meals with them. Thank God no more McDonalds! We have laughed and shared so many stories and exchanged cultural knowledge from each other. I found myself questioning why I don't live in Singapore. My values match closely with their values. But then I realized it isn't the country I live in that has shaped who I am (completely), it is the culture I was raised in. Although I am always going to be an American, I also will always consider myself to be Indian. I have never been to India but hearing stories from my family and embracing the culture that has been passed down to me is beautiful. I will listen to Bollywood over American music any day and until this day, I still cannot tell you what Brad Pitt looks like but I can tell you all of the famous and popular Indian actors and actresses.
I questioned why I fit in with ease within the Singapore group but yet have always had a hard time mixing in with Americans. I used to think it was just me and my personality, but I discovered that is not at all true. It is in my Asian blood to be someone who lives in a high-context culture. Words, word choice, and body language are all very important to me. American culture is a low-context culture, which creates a challenge. I am very willing to continue my journey in learning how to combine two very different cultures into one because I do identify with two cultures that clash.
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