I said to myself, one day, I shall be back.
I didn't have to wait long.
In pursuit of a better education, I researched on A-Level schools in England, sought advice from friends who were already studying there, sent my application and passed the entrance exams easily, thanks to a thorough foundation nurtured by the Chinese education system almost solely based on exams. Chinese education, not all bad, after all. May 2005, we went on a family trip to England with a week of unbelievably sunny days wherever we visited. Incredibly lucky to have such fantastic yet deceiving (!) weather for our first visit. Still, totally felt in love with Great Britain, the campuses I've lived in, all my solo travellings, experiencing the beautiful historic cities or alfresco style buzzing seaside towns and above all, the lovely people I've met during my six years of studies with unforgettable memories...
Time flies. May 2011, a call from a graduate headhunter changed my life. I was introduced to an international graduate trainee opportunity at a FTSE 100 company, enjoyed the entire process of getting to know the company through telephone interview, face-to-face interview followed by an interesting assessment centre where I clicked with the company and its people straight away.
Six years of memories squeezed into six large shipping boxes. Sealed. A new page of my life has began. I stayed in China for 3 weeks, travelled back to the UK for a week of graduate induction meeting my fellow graduates on the same programme, off we went the two of us recruited for China, to a place that's far, far away - Down Under. 11 months in Australia was filled with a very steep learning curve getting my head around the industry and the world of work, lots of sunshine (at least I'd like to remember it this way), Aussie accent (which I brought back with me :P) , friendly locals, endless beaches, fun parties, meeting new people (travellers and professionals alike through some fantastic social networking communities), wild life encounters, concerts, theatre night out, Christmas on a midsummer day (still a strange thought to me but hey!), wine tasting, city breaks, backpacking...Such a fabulous time!
Towards the end of my assignment, I travelled intensively as I always thought I had a chance to extend my assignment further to stay in Australia for another summer, but another opportunity had come up so I learned that I had to pack and go in less than a month. I love travelling so much and yet I felt like I was getting that "local laziness syndrome" already since staying in Australia, that I hadn't been travelling as much as I wanted to, thinking to myself, I will always have time, next month, next summer...I'm sure there will be a way to do this. No. Reality check: no, no, no. Of course the purpose of me moving to a mature market is to learn as much as I could from the very experienced. Business needs determines where we graduates will go and what we will be doing in our next assignments/rotations. There are unknowns, uncertainties and we are very flexible and open-minded about the arrangements but what welcome all of us, are unique, exciting, challenging opportunities to fast-track our career internationally like no other.
Self-note: If I want to do something, I will do it. I do it now.
I didn't have time to take any days off in my final months in Sydney, so I carefully planned several weekend trips and realised there are so many things you can do within 48 hours. Just a bit more research effort goes a long way.
Friday 3rd Aug after work, I rushed to the airport, got on the plane at 20:00, arrived 5 hours later in Perth, 3000km away from Sydney, at local time 23:00 due to 2 hours time difference. First proper couchsurfing experience for me - meaning, not knowing my hosts before I stay at their place! I am always a little bit scared about the idea of sleeping on someone else's couch, as you have never met each other yet! Even though I have hosted 20+ where I lived in Sydney. I'm an experienced host but was still cautious about surfing myself. I got to my host's flat in Merrylands, beautiful place, spacious flat shared by 3 boys, massive living room downstairs by the door, where my host Robin prepared me a very comfy airbed with warm blankets. It was great! We were chatting for 3 hours or more until I could hardly keep my eyes open after almost a half-day worth of travelling after a long week of work!
2 hours sleep. Up and go again! I jumped on the first train in the morning to Perth city centre to join the 7:00 tour to the Pinnacles Desert. Solo traveller globetrotter Michelle sat next to our wonderful driver/tour guide, speaking to him and some fellow Welsh ladies during the entire tour, had great fun and happily exhausted after seeing this stunning, moon like view on earth!
The rest of my Perth weekend was completed by koala encounter, visiting the Indian Ocean Lobster factory, museums and art galleries, promenade with a Czech guy working in Perth towards the famous King's Park for a panorama view of the city, touring inside a submarine (it's tiny down there!), seaside walk, alfresco pub food and beer, exploring the neighbouring city of Fremantle at night, before catching the last flight on Sunday night departing at midnight, arrived in Sydney at 6:00 in the morning. Got home, showered and embraced another working week straight away. :) Super tired but super happy. What a weekend!
In a similar fashion, I spent some fantastic weekends in Gold Coast, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Canberra. (More travel stories, photos and city tips to come! Watch this space!) It's different when you're working full-time instead of travelling full-time. But honestly, weekend travels are great and you can, and definitely should make the most of them! :) Go Explore!
So yeah. Back to Sept 10th, I arrived in Shanghai with mixed feelings upon leaving a country I loved so much. Since then, I've been travelling a bit within China, relocated to Hong Kong, "crash course" on my new role and responsibilities, horse racing (little gambler's first time unlucky^^), company boat trip... Attended a global team conference in the amazing Antalya, Turkey, did henna tattoos, tasted many Turkish delights (sweeeet *_*), experienced traditional Turkish bath in a 150-year old Hammam place, had photo walks/shoot and finally went rock and roll at Scorpions concert in Istanbul with a couchsurfing friend Serkan who happened to be in Warwick University at the same time as me but we never met each other! Small world indeed!
Then Istanbul - Cannes (trade show) - Athens (induction) - Hamburg (induction) - Hong Kong at the end of November. I'm enjoying my life, learning so much more every single day from all the colleagues I work with, challenging myself to step outside my comfort zone, being incredibly independent, and getting stronger, smarter, as a person. Of course, I do get homesick from time to time and I owe my parents so, so much as without their support and unconditional love all these years, I wouldn't have such amazing life experiences around the world and to be able to grow into the person I am today. There are always sacrifices and trade-offs. Right now, I am exactly where I wanted to be and I know that I will become even better. Keep going. Living my dream.
Till next time. Good night Europe.
Time flies. May 2011, a call from a graduate headhunter changed my life. I was introduced to an international graduate trainee opportunity at a FTSE 100 company, enjoyed the entire process of getting to know the company through telephone interview, face-to-face interview followed by an interesting assessment centre where I clicked with the company and its people straight away.
Six years of memories squeezed into six large shipping boxes. Sealed. A new page of my life has began. I stayed in China for 3 weeks, travelled back to the UK for a week of graduate induction meeting my fellow graduates on the same programme, off we went the two of us recruited for China, to a place that's far, far away - Down Under. 11 months in Australia was filled with a very steep learning curve getting my head around the industry and the world of work, lots of sunshine (at least I'd like to remember it this way), Aussie accent (which I brought back with me :P) , friendly locals, endless beaches, fun parties, meeting new people (travellers and professionals alike through some fantastic social networking communities), wild life encounters, concerts, theatre night out, Christmas on a midsummer day (still a strange thought to me but hey!), wine tasting, city breaks, backpacking...Such a fabulous time!
Towards the end of my assignment, I travelled intensively as I always thought I had a chance to extend my assignment further to stay in Australia for another summer, but another opportunity had come up so I learned that I had to pack and go in less than a month. I love travelling so much and yet I felt like I was getting that "local laziness syndrome" already since staying in Australia, that I hadn't been travelling as much as I wanted to, thinking to myself, I will always have time, next month, next summer...I'm sure there will be a way to do this. No. Reality check: no, no, no. Of course the purpose of me moving to a mature market is to learn as much as I could from the very experienced. Business needs determines where we graduates will go and what we will be doing in our next assignments/rotations. There are unknowns, uncertainties and we are very flexible and open-minded about the arrangements but what welcome all of us, are unique, exciting, challenging opportunities to fast-track our career internationally like no other.
Self-note: If I want to do something, I will do it. I do it now.
I didn't have time to take any days off in my final months in Sydney, so I carefully planned several weekend trips and realised there are so many things you can do within 48 hours. Just a bit more research effort goes a long way.
Friday 3rd Aug after work, I rushed to the airport, got on the plane at 20:00, arrived 5 hours later in Perth, 3000km away from Sydney, at local time 23:00 due to 2 hours time difference. First proper couchsurfing experience for me - meaning, not knowing my hosts before I stay at their place! I am always a little bit scared about the idea of sleeping on someone else's couch, as you have never met each other yet! Even though I have hosted 20+ where I lived in Sydney. I'm an experienced host but was still cautious about surfing myself. I got to my host's flat in Merrylands, beautiful place, spacious flat shared by 3 boys, massive living room downstairs by the door, where my host Robin prepared me a very comfy airbed with warm blankets. It was great! We were chatting for 3 hours or more until I could hardly keep my eyes open after almost a half-day worth of travelling after a long week of work!
2 hours sleep. Up and go again! I jumped on the first train in the morning to Perth city centre to join the 7:00 tour to the Pinnacles Desert. Solo traveller globetrotter Michelle sat next to our wonderful driver/tour guide, speaking to him and some fellow Welsh ladies during the entire tour, had great fun and happily exhausted after seeing this stunning, moon like view on earth!
The rest of my Perth weekend was completed by koala encounter, visiting the Indian Ocean Lobster factory, museums and art galleries, promenade with a Czech guy working in Perth towards the famous King's Park for a panorama view of the city, touring inside a submarine (it's tiny down there!), seaside walk, alfresco pub food and beer, exploring the neighbouring city of Fremantle at night, before catching the last flight on Sunday night departing at midnight, arrived in Sydney at 6:00 in the morning. Got home, showered and embraced another working week straight away. :) Super tired but super happy. What a weekend!
In a similar fashion, I spent some fantastic weekends in Gold Coast, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Canberra. (More travel stories, photos and city tips to come! Watch this space!) It's different when you're working full-time instead of travelling full-time. But honestly, weekend travels are great and you can, and definitely should make the most of them! :) Go Explore!
So yeah. Back to Sept 10th, I arrived in Shanghai with mixed feelings upon leaving a country I loved so much. Since then, I've been travelling a bit within China, relocated to Hong Kong, "crash course" on my new role and responsibilities, horse racing (little gambler's first time unlucky^^), company boat trip... Attended a global team conference in the amazing Antalya, Turkey, did henna tattoos, tasted many Turkish delights (sweeeet *_*), experienced traditional Turkish bath in a 150-year old Hammam place, had photo walks/shoot and finally went rock and roll at Scorpions concert in Istanbul with a couchsurfing friend Serkan who happened to be in Warwick University at the same time as me but we never met each other! Small world indeed!
Then Istanbul - Cannes (trade show) - Athens (induction) - Hamburg (induction) - Hong Kong at the end of November. I'm enjoying my life, learning so much more every single day from all the colleagues I work with, challenging myself to step outside my comfort zone, being incredibly independent, and getting stronger, smarter, as a person. Of course, I do get homesick from time to time and I owe my parents so, so much as without their support and unconditional love all these years, I wouldn't have such amazing life experiences around the world and to be able to grow into the person I am today. There are always sacrifices and trade-offs. Right now, I am exactly where I wanted to be and I know that I will become even better. Keep going. Living my dream.
Till next time. Good night Europe.
