Greetings from Tokyo! Your correspondent has now landed in Japan for an exchange semester at Waseda Law School. As introduced before, this semester the Obiter Dicta will bring you a special series covering the amazing experiences of fellow Osgoode students who are spending a semester abroad at one of Osgoode’s partner schools worldwide. As for myself, I will be presenting a little slice of the Japanese experience throughout the issues, highlighting many of my wonderful Tokyo wanderings. Keep your eyes open, as TOGA has now launched!
In this first issue, I would like to introduce Anthea Chan. I first met her in 1L through a Pro Bono Students Canada project. She stood out to me as an individual who was very sure of herself, a confident woman who knew what she wanted, and what to do to get there. Now an Articling student at Bogoroch & Associates LLP, she has left a definite mark at Osgoode through the people she touched and her many accomplishments. Among her many notable experiences as an Osgoode student, she went on an exchange semester to Hong Kong. I am excited to share with you her responses about her time at the University of Hong Kong last year.
“It was definitely a great learning experience,” she says, “Hong Kong is any city person’s dream, with all the shopping, great food and cheap booze your budget can handle. Hong Kong is very tourist friendly and a great hub for travelling around Asia.”
The reasons students wish to go on exchange are diverse, of course. Some go out of wanderlust, some for the international networking opportunities. Others seek to gain a broader world view, or wish to rediscover their heritage. For Anthea, her reasons included all of the above.
“I wanted to go on exchange because I know I will never have another chance to spend four months abroad. I went on exchange to the Netherlands in my undergrad and had a memorable experience,” she comments. The semester was also a way for her to connect to her personal identity. “I was also born in Hong Kong and have never been back. It was an opportunity to visit my birth place. I anticipated returning to my birth town and seeing some relatives for the first time. Throughout my childhood, I’ve heard great things about the city and had high hopes when I arrived.”
Other notable reasons? The cost of living, for one, is much lower in Hong Kong. Ease of getting around was another big one. Plus, the University of Hong Kong is high up there in global rankings, including the strong English language programs which are open to international students as well. Another bonus was the chance to practice Chinese for four months, being immersed in the culture and lifestyle of a modern Chinese mega-city.
“I highly recommend Alternative Dispute Resolution – the head of the ADR program is an Osgoode alum,” Anthea notes. “The course is relevant to Canadian and North American ADR practices.”
Academia aside, Hong Kong is a fascinating place to visit. “Despite being a hustling bustling cosmopolitan, I’d say the top 3 sites to visit in Hong Kong are – Victoria Peak, Saigon, and Cheung Chau.”
“Cheung Chau has the most delicious seafood I’ve ever had; a real treat away from the city,” she recommends. Obviously, food is an important part of any trip to a foreign land; she adds, “my most memorable would probably be 3:00 am dim sum right by the HKU campus in Kennedy Town.”
For Anthea, as well as for the many other Osgoode students who have participated in this program, Hong Kong was an unforgettable experience as a law student. She definitely recommends that students go on an exchange at some point in law school – “the world can teach you so, so much in even just a few weeks about different cultures and histories. And it really trains you to be independent. This is one of the few opportunities you get in life to experience another culture for four months.”
To all students who aspire to go somewhere in the near future, to the University of Hong Kong, or just about anywhere else, she gives a few of her own tips that come from experience, and it is that “exchange does not have to cost a fortune, and travel does not have to be glamorous.” Travelling is not necessarily expensive, especially with adequate research and keeping an open mind. The world is a big place, and if there is the will to travel, there will always be a way.