Reflective Journal - Conclusion

After the tour, I found that my focus is on the culture of Australia, the beautiful sceneries, the ads, the notices, the wines and etc. All these attract me to think about the differences in Hong Kong and why are there these differences, and of course, whether these differences are good. One of the things that I think of most is the pace. Why does Australia have such a slow pace yet being so prosperous? In Hong Kong, shops open till 11pm in Mong Kok, people are working very hard and very late to earn the most out of the day. Yet, out standard of living is lower than them. And of course, I have no concrete conclusion for this, maybe it’s because of the government. :p

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Although my focus in the tour did not go to the use of English and the Australian English, I believe that this is not a waste as I have been the main communicator in the group, asking for directions and etc. I believe this will still assist me in my improvement.

Reflective Journal - Week 2

Week 2 is so much more packed than week 1. First we went to Hunter Valley to experience the drinking culture of Australia. Although I wasn’t feeling too well that day, I tried my best to focus and participate in the visit. In this visit, I understand different wine and jotted down which were the wine that I enjoyed. And now I have gained a lot more knowledge in wines and I even bought O from the duty free to Singapore and introduced it to my parents. Even when going to restaurants, I will look out for Mascato as it was my favorite in the valley. Also, in the valley we have got chance to ask the staff more about the tourism in Hunter Valley. With this, we can communicate with the locals and also collect more data on our project.

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Our next visit is to Blue Mountain, and once again, it is a great place to see how beautiful Australia is. Although it is a little foggy, being on a mountain is still a great experience. The mountain is also very clean, free from rubbish, if Hong Kongers cannot maintain the natural environment clean, soon we will lose all of them. Here, it is kind of fun to play a game of race while looking around at the sceneries. But, this does hinder the passion to look around. .

The story of the Sydney Opera House is also very touching. I did not expect such a landmark of Australia actually involved a big political issue in the past. But in listening to the stories, It is expected that political issues does exist. Thus, we should all treasure the landmarks that we have in Hong Kong as they might have involve lots of hard work too before it was successfully built.

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On Day 12, the free day, I went to Paddington Market. This is also another day for my exploration of Australia culture. The market is similar and even bigger than Bondi Market. What I appreciate most is their culture of arts. Lots of the stores there create their product and sell them there. Their encourage people to use their creativity. And you are able to get things like accessories that you can’t get else where. There are places like this in Hong Kong but the promotion is truly not enough. More promotion on places like this can encourage the arts culture in Hong Kong too.

Reflective Journal - Week 1

Week one started with giving me a high chance to practice communicating with the local Australians as most of the time we have to find our own route. The second day of the tour would be a typical example, the committee brought us to China Town and we are on our own. It was unexpected but it provided us with a good chance to ask for directions. And through asking for directions, I see that Australia is really slow in pace as compared to Hong Kong. Bus drivers can stop the bus on the side of the road and give you the direction before continuing the drive. This once again shows the carefree culture of Australia.

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On the 31^st, I went to the Sydney Bridge for firework with my classmates, there I saw how the locals behave and celebrate during the festive seasons. Although I wasn’t there for X’mas, I can clearly visualize the way of celebration. That night, I spent some time walking along the streets of Sydney enjoying the atmosphere, from the bridge to Hyde Park.

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The best days of first week will be 1^st and 2^nd Jan. On the 1^st, my group and I explored our way and went to Bronte Beach. This beach has one of the best sceneries that I had seen in Australia. We climb up the cliffs and too lots of great pictures. Here, I realized that the cultural upbringing is very important, beaches and cliffs are free from rubbish. This brings me to the contrast of beaches in Hong Kong. Are the beaches not as pretty as Australia’s or did the people resulted it? The second day to beach will be Bondi, there I had a great experience of beach culture of Australia. However, it’s a pity that I did not surf at the beach to further explore the feeling.

Reflective Journal - Pre-tour learning aims and reflections

1. Aims: To help me communicate effectively in English in real life situations, I plan to open up myself to the interaction of locals in Australia. I also hope to be able to spend more free time exploring Sydney instead of staying with the Hong Kong Students.

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Reflection: With the aim set, I was able to be very independent in the traveling and I managed to visit places much earlier than my classmates and much more places than them. This exploration gave me more chances to experience different culture of Australia. E.g, people like to walk without shoes when they are around beaches, some even took bus without shoes. This might not be very helpful to the studies but this shows me deeply about the free and easy culture of Australia, and this is what my personal aim was. I even took off my shoes to walk to enjoy this culture.

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2. Aims: To help me identify the expressions used in different situations, I plan to check up on some common phrases and slangs before the tour. Also, I will keep my mind open and ask directly when I come into expression that I am not clear of.

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Reflection: Research was done on the Aussie Slangs. However, I is still difficult to use the comfortably towards the local as I do not get the meaning of the slangs fully. Sometimes, I will also have one or two slang that I have forgotten from the huge list of slangs. But somehow, in real life situation, sometimes it is difficult to ask directly in a conversation. Especially when asking directions or queuing to buy stuff. Luckily, I still managed to use some easier nouns like bakies.

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3. Aim: To help me act appropriately when interacting with the host university and the people you will meet when you engaged in visits, data collection etc, I plan to read up some of the Aussie culture. Also, I will ask my friends in Australia for more prominent customs of Australia. Talking to some Australian exchange students in Hong Kong will also help gather more information.

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Reflection: I did not get to have much interaction with locals in the universities as we are the only students in the college for two third of the trip. This greatly lessen the chance of interaction with the local students. This is also one of my greatest disappointment that there is no locals. I did asked a friend studying in Australia for more details of cultures, telling me about the lifestyle of students after school, but I didn’t get to experience it.

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4. Aim: To help me describe the differences between the daily life habits/culture of the community/country of destination and of my life in Hong Kong, and help me demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of the diversity of values of different cultures of different peoples/countries I plan to take note of the media in Australia, e.g Ads. Also, I will buy some local magazine to observe the main differences.

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Reflection: In Australia, I found that ads usually contain humor. This might be one of the cultures of Australians’ carefree lifestyle, everything should be free and easy, including ads. Besides looking at ads, I have found another interesting area that demonstrates that Aussies prefer informality and carefree, and that is notices. Quite a number of notices in Australia contain humors to reduce the formality of the message. This makes it fun to read it and might attract more people to look at it.

ADs

"Go home and tell all your friends about it"

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5. Other aim: I would hope to get a good culture tour in Australia and on their famous tourist attractions.

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Reflection: I tried my very best to fit myself into the culture of Australia and in every attractions I went. For example, I fully enjoy the culture of Bondi, having a nice tan and enjoying the cool waves of Australia. Being able to fully put myself in the culture allow me to gain the most out of the trip. I am able to experience personally instead of just seeing or listening. And finally I can share my experience with my friends in Hong Kong.