Linda during her internship in Hong Kong

At first, I thought it would be so humid here that I had a bit of an internal crisis about how my makeup would survive! I wasn’t even fully off the plane yet and was already worried my foundation would melt off my face.

So many people

The number of people everywhere is shocking. The number of offices, businesses, shops, and restaurants in such a small space. You can always go out and do things. Every day there are happenings. Because of that, I almost never feel homesick; I Skype a lot with my friends and family in the Netherlands.

I understand the culture

At first glance, I look Asian and I understand the culture, cuisine, and landscapes. It’s still very exciting to explore new places. I’ve been very lucky to be able to live and work in these countries; my apartment is exactly how I imagined it, and I can do the things I enjoy for fun.

Because I don’t speak the language and I’m not a local, I sometimes realize I will never truly be part of this society.

Expats

I live in an area where many expats are. I enjoy making friends with locals by being introduced through their expat friends. Many of my friends are Dutch / German / French, but they all date local girls! And I meet them at house parties. You can quickly find out who likes to go out or what their hobbies are. Hong Kong is quite small, somehow you meet all the people in the same circles.

Eating chicken feet

I really can’t handle chicken feet! I’m not a picky eater, but this is just bones and skin. Oh, and I also skipped the mice/rats. I haven’t tried durian or chòu dòufu yet, but they smell really, really bad.

Places in every culture

It doesn’t really matter where I am, there are always places in a culture and country where people share the same ideas and values as me. At first, I was very shy, not very vocal, to avoid being rude or disrespectful. Pretty quickly, I learned that when you speak up, people always show up to hear what you have to say – and if you’re lucky, they might even contribute to your vision.

Hong Kong is 70% nature and 30% city, but mostly you only see photos of the harbor, which you can walk through in 10 minutes! Look at the photos to see what Hong Kong really looks like :-)

Citizens of Hong Kong in three words:

Diverse, shy (at first), outgoing (once they trust you).