Source: My UM

UM attracts scholars and students from around the world. In this issue of My UM, we interview several UM members from outside Macao to learn about their lives in a city far away from home. If you have ever studied abroad, you will probably be able to relate to their experiences.

Making New Friends

Sally is a sophomore from the Faculty of Business Administration (FBA). A girl of Chinese descent from Costa Rica, Sally came to Macao because of her mother ’s decision to move the family here. Before the family’ s relocation, Sally had only been to the city a few times for family visits. Her first impression of Macao was that it was a ‘food paradise’. Later Sally started to notice the many differences between Costa Rica and Macao, including those in lifestyle, climate, food, and culture. She also finds life in Macao to be a little bit more stressful. But as much as she misses Costa Rica, Sally believes that eventually she will adjust to her new life in Macao. So she works hard to learn Chinese and joined a dance organisation at UM, through which she has made some good friends. 

A Home Away from Home

People are apt to feel lonely when they are away from home. Left, a second-year student from the FBA, is no exception. Coming from mainland China, Left was homesick during the first days of living in Siu Pong College. ‘Only very few students were living in the college at that time,’ she said. ‘At one point I got so bored I went out randomly knocking on doors, hoping to make some friends.’ She recalls how College Master Prof Kenneth Leung and resident fellows Dr Bruce Liu and Dr Sun Shanyi invited her to join them for dinners, which helped to ease her homesickness, and her feeling of loneliness gradually disappeared when more students moved in the college.

Becoming More Familiar with Macao

Loo Hong Liang is from Malaysia. He now studies in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Loo had only visited Macao once before joining UM a year ago, but that visit didn’t leave a deep impression on him. Loo is fascinated with the mix of Chinese and Western cultures and the historic sites in Macao. He loves to explore Macao during his free time, and hopes to become more familiar with Macao by the time he graduates. ‘The true beauty of Macao lies in the small shops and tiny alleys instead of the popular tourist attractions,’ he said. Loo adds that he likes UM’s residential college (RC) system very much. ‘A residential college is more than a dormitory building. The RC system provides a platform for students to communicate and or ganise activities. We even celebrate birthdays for each other in the college. These are joyful experiences.’ Loo and his friends plan to establish an or ganisation for international students in the coming year . ‘In the new year, I hope to get better grades, acquire more knowledge outside the classroom, and make more friends,’ he said.

Slowly Falling in Love with Macao

Dr Hsu Heng-Chia comes from Taiwan and is currently a resident fellow in Chao Kuang Piu College. While many from Hong Kong and Macao love the lifestyle in Taiwan and hope to emigrate there, Dr Hsu is already contemplating staying in Macao long-term, after having lived in the city for a mere eight months. He loves Macao for its mix of Chinese and Western cultures and the harmony among people from different cultural backgrounds. ‘It is very easy to travel from Macao to mainland China and other places in the world,’ said Dr Hsu. ‘More importantly, there are many opportunities to interact with foreigners and other cultures.’

Dr Hsu also enjoys Macao as a small town and is very fond of wandering in the streets and alleys. He once walked all the way from the Areia Preta area to UM just to observe and experience the local people and culture. His students are usually very surprised when they learn about his experiences, because they have never done the same as locals.

Dr Hsu adds that people in Macao are especially friendly with him when he inadvertently discloses that he comes from Taiwan, which makes him feel very warm. ‘Y ou can’t fall in love with a place until you truly understand its people and culture,’ said Dr Hsu. Dr Hsu found it dif ficult to adapt to life in Macao at the beginning. However , he has gradually fallen in love with the city after learning more and more about it. ‘Despite the small size of the city , the locals are very warm towards others, and there is a lot of room for career development,’ said Dr Hsu.

An Austrian in Macao

Prof Rostam Neuwirth from the Faculty of Law has been living in Macao for more than eight years. Originally from Austria, he has always been keen to learn about and experience different cultures – an interest that is also reflected in his research. Prof Neuwirth first learned about Macao from the ‘Made in Macau’ label on his childhood toys. Previously he has studied and worked in Austria, France, Canada, and Belgium, but it was during his time as a visiting professor in India that he learned about a job vacancy at UM, so he applied for it. ‘I thought it’d be a good opportunity for me to learn more about Chinese culture and to develop my research career,’ said Prof Neuwirth.

Prof Neuwirth loves the variety of activities and the cultural diversity of the city, and he finds life in Macao full of pleasant surprises. The most pleasant surprise for him was his meeting with his wife, with whom he is now happily married with two children.

‘Macao is a hospitable city with a great deal of diversity, which makes me feel at home even though I am not from here,’ said Prof Neuwirth. ‘Surely Macao has been a very important place in my life. I hope to contribute to its society, especially through my work with the students. I hope they can take something from my teaching and my experiences, and find them useful in their future careers.’ When asked about his plans for the next year , Prof Neuwirth replied that he hopes to finish his book project. ‘It’s hard to plan and predict what will happen in the future,’ said Prof Neuwirth. ‘But I enjoy the time I spend in Macao for sure.’