If you are going to live in Hong Kong, or Asia, or you have just arrived there: I will tell you what learned and give you some tips that can help on this mega-multicultural experience.
Source: Own image.
In the most unexpected way, in 2019 the opportunity to live in Hong Kong for work arose. To be honest, I knew little or nothing about this little big island, or rather, a group of islands. I remember that I looked at the map, called a very close contact, and he told me “And do you dare? To go to Asia? The truth is that I had never looked at Asia as a professional destination, but boy is it. And I didn't doubt it either. So here it goes:
Hong Kong is going fast.
When I say fast, it's very fast. Like any financial city, time is money, and speed is the order of the day: they eat fast, walk fast, work fast, the taxi goes fast... That's how they live, and in general, you adapt.
It is equally effective and efficient.
So yes, it's fast, effective and efficient. Efficiency is the order of the day. You sit in a restaurant and your food will be at the table in 5 minutes. I have seen highly complex structures assembled and disassembled with a transience that left me perplexed. You'll probably find that the store you saw yesterday is a gym today, literally in days.
What do you learn? This is an important handicap in your professional life, well, in your life. To simplify the tasks, because there, pragmatism becomes more necessary than ever.
Small spaces.
If I had to define it, it's chaotically organized and chaotically charming. In the same space you can find a store that sells jewelry inside, and eggs in the window. And this is part of its charm. Also, as you imagine, it's very crowded, it can be overwhelming at first, but again, you adapt.
What do you learn? You organize yourself better, you create order and space where there is none. And especially you learn not to have what you don't use. In my case it was very easy for me, by nature I am very minimal in spaces. But for those who are not, it is a plus.
Play hard, work hard.
That's right. You work a lot and many hours. And in your free time, there are countless things to do. And now that we are no longer in COVID times, even more so. Everything is 100%. It is difficult to find a day when there are no proposals to go here or there. Trips for the weekend, climbing, events, "we all get together on the rooftop of...". Enjoy!
Hong Kong is Safe.
Yeah, the safest place I've ever been, and one of the things that takes some getting used to once you leave.
A Multicultural place.
There is a Asian-Western mix that probably isn't elsewhere, or at least not to the same extent as Hong Kong. It's a great mix of Hong Kong, China, Latin America, Europe, South Africa, Australia. There are many expat communities, very many! Today, I could make a world map of my friends, from China to Colombia to Portugal.
Asia is a very different culture.
It doesn't matter that you've lived in other countries. Asia is something else. You will have THE cultural EXPERIENCE of a lifetime, learn, take all the good stuff you can. Prepare for some culture shock, go with an open mind, with some patience, and most of all enjoy it!
Before coming to Hong Kong, I had been exposed to various cultures. I am from Uruguay, I lived and live in Barcelona. Asia is unlike anything you've seen before. Given this, my tips:
- Be patient, many do not speak English. It can happen that you enter a store and they do not understand what you want. In these everyday situations, speak little, get to the point, show photos if you need it.
-The local society follows rules, processes and hierarchies to the letter. You get used to it.
Working with the Asian culture.
This is one of the most fascinating lessons in interpersonal communication, especially in communication with professionals from China. They think and communicate in a way very different from the western one. In that way?
-Many times, their communication is not direct, and a YES/NO response is avoided. Understand this and patiently try to get the answers you need. There are no recipes, you will learn it.
-Sometimes you have to “read between the lines” of what they are trying to say or ask for. Very different from Western culture, and Western business cultures, where everything is very direct, like: I agree, I disagree. So don't despair of a “right to the point”. Given this, my advice: this is a great opportunity to learn how to manage your communication with other cultures. Learn as much as you can.
Later I will make a specific post on this last point, since we are talking about communication here.
My conclusion:
There is no better learning than your own experience. So, if you have had the proposal to live in such a different and diverse culture: it is a great professional and life opportunity that will really change your perspective.
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