1.   Why did I choose to come to India?

My friends found it puzzling

It’s probably puzzling for my friends that I chose to come to India for exchange. Very often they wondered if I was forced to come here because I didn't have many places to choose from -- or if I wasn’t sober when I was picking out choices from the list.

No, I definitely choose this place out of my own will – and yes, I am sober as I say this.

My expectations for India

Yes, I too expected India to be a place less developed than Hong Kong and the living conditions would probably be pretty bad – and at this stage I can justify that it is pretty ‘shitty’. In fact, I couldn’t be sure of anything because I seemed to be the first student from my school to go on exchange to India and I didn’t have the privilege of counseling before my departure as most of the other exchange students did.

My major consideration for exchange

But when I chose India, my major consideration wasn’t about satisfying my needs and desires but, in the contrary, it was more about living out of my comfort zone and meeting challenges I had never encountered before. I believe that satisfaction and comfort only lead to ignorance and laziness, whereas as it is new and adverse situations that make a person grow and mature.

Living out of my comfort zone

In summary, I decided to leave the comfort and routines of my home in Hong Kong and live an Indian life. I’m going to try my best to stay away from the desire and temptations of staying in my comfort zone and living the same life in HK, and hopefully I will be able to experience and learn as many new things here as possible, and maybe even return with a different view on life and core values that will change my life for the better. Of course, I’m, at the same time, very excited about sharing all my adventures and experiences with my friends and family!