Eli Cleves (economics)
Eli Cleves, an Economics student, took the opportunity of completing a co-op at Book Talk English Learning Center in Hong Kong as a social media and events coordinator and an English teacher.
Working in Hong Kong
“My main role was teaching English to children through a variety of class formats. My responsibilities involved preparing lessons and teaching children, creating videos for social media, and other miscellaneous tasks at the center.
My work environment was quite high energy and chaotic due to the nature of my work. The team that I worked with was largely international. The other teachers at the school included other co-op students, European immigrants, African immigrants, and Hong Kong locals.”
Traveling through Asia
Motivated by a desire to travel, Eli’s decision to do his co-op in Asia allowed him to explore neighbouring countries such as Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
“Flights within Asia are relatively inexpensive and quick, my visit to Taiwan for example was during a long weekend I had from my work. I spent two weeks in Japan and tried to visit as many cities as I could within that time period. Every new place I went to, I had to try their regional ramen.
The varied cuisine in Asia was definitely one of my favourite things about my trip. Food quality in general is much higher than in Canada, from one dollar sandwiches in Hanoi, to BBQ pork buns in Hong Kong, and dollar sushi in Tokyo. I rarely had a meal I didn’t enjoy.”
“A close friend of mine and I rented motorcycles and embarked on a four day 400+ km drive through the mountains of Ha Giang, Northern Vietnam. This trip was planned somewhat on a whim and I can’t stress enough how beautiful an experience it was. One of the coolest things I have ever done in my life, a highlight of the whole trip and my #1 recommendation for travellers in Vietnam/Southeast Asia.”
Learning about different work cultures
Over time, Eli slowly adapted to the bustling life of Hong Kong and picked up surprising insights during his time abroad.
“The largest struggles that I had were just adjusting to living in an extremely dense and busy city. The amount of time and dedication that people are expected to give to their jobs and their education in Hong Kong is far greater than that in Canada. I worked 10 hour days with at least two days off a week the whole time I was in Asia, but I had numerous co-workers who worked 12+ hour days for 7 or more days in a row. While I knew the working culture in East Asia was more extreme than that in North America, I never expected the difference to be so clear, and officially defined.”
Connecting with people
“One thing that I have taken away from my experience is just how kind and generous people can be. In all the countries, massive cities, medium sized towns, and tiny rural villages I visited I was almost exclusively met with kindness and generosity.
Finally, I would say I learnt the importance of trying to talk to and make connections with people. My best memories from my time abroad are all from meals and experiences that I shared with others.”