WU Huan

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Exchange to Queensland University of Technology, Australia

I think I can summarize my exchange experience with four words, all starting with the letter S. These words are: Sunshine, Smiles, Simple and Special.

Sunshine: When I arrived in Brisbane (March 6th, 2010), I found that after the number plate of each car, there was a sentence: “The Sunshine State of Queensland.” At the beginning of my stay in Brisbane, I could not understand the meaning of these words because I was always met with scattered showers. That all changed, however, when I woke up to glaring sunshine one day at 6 am. Afterwards, I almost never needed my alarm clock because the sun took on the task of waking me up around 6 or 7 in the morning. I ended up changing my habit of keeping late hours, which helped me save a lot of time. I had never felt so close to nature before - I could see beautiful landscapes and listen to birds sing on my way to the office almost everyday – experiences which filled my heart with sunshine.

Smiles: If sunshine was the gift that nature gave me in Australia, then smiles were the gift given by the people around me. My host institution was the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (CCI) of the Queensland University of Technology. I was met with a friendly team of people who greeted me with smiles and who helped in my research. They included my supervisor Professor John Hartley, Tina the secretary, several PhD students and other research fellows. I always had my lunch with other research students who came from different countries and we discussed multifarious topics—research, international politics and cultural differences. Even though at times some of the students might disagree about specific issues, yet these lunchtime discussions always ended with smiles and a “See you tomorrow!”

In fact, I learned to smile at everyone I came in contact with, even the bus drivers in Brisbane. Even though smiles or greetings are tiny gestures, I realized that they helped to put other people in a good mood. In Brisbane, I took a bus to school every weekday and I often received smiles or greetings from the bus drivers. I even found a Bus 130 driver who insisted on greeting everybody who got on his bus even though only a few of his passengers responded in kind. Whenever I greeted people, I always received warm smiles and replies like, “Thank you!” and “Have a nice day!”

Simple: Life in Brisbane was simple. As a Hong Konger, it was hard for me to imagine a city where most shops closed their doors just when people get off work, but that’s the way it was in Brisbane. After I got used to such a simple way of life, I suddenly found that I gained more time to read, to communicate with old or new friends or just to stare at those brilliant stars in the clear night sky.

Special: When I attended the Endeavour Awards Professional Development Workshop on April 13th, 2010, the speaker, Amanda, said something that really stood out for me, which was: “Make me feel special.” In fact, there were a lot of people and events that made me feel special in Brisbane. When I worked as a volunteer for the “Building the Creative Environment” conference, the organizer, Professor Kean, adopted my suggestion and revised my poster draft that would be shown in the conference. When I introduced my doctorate study to the professors and other research students, they always listened attentively and gave me valuable suggestions. When I joined the Endeavour Awards network function, the Endeavour Cheung Kong Program Coordinator, Helen, found me and said, “I have been looking for you for a long time, Huan. Your research topic is so interesting!”

Last but not least, I appreciated the Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Scholarship greatly, as it gave me the chance to enjoy the sunshine and a simple life, to understand the meaning of smiles and to improve my confidence, not only in my research but also in my life—it made me feel special.

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