Tufts Blogs

It’s very interesting to be studying in Asia when you’ve never studied in Asia before. There are a few major differences between the two systems. One thing that really threw me for a loop during my first day of classes was how no one asked questions. Or even answered them. Professors are used to just posing questions, allowing them to hover for a split second while quickly surveying the lecture hall, and then answering the question themselves.

I had never really thought about missing my 30-person classes in the School of Engineering at Tufts.  There’s something about knowing the people, the professors and the system that makes learning so much more comfortable. Also, what irks me is that fellow students talk in the engineering classes at HKU all the time. And the professors, aided by microphone and speaker, continue to talk over those students. The class sizes at Tufts are something that I miss immensely, none of my three classes at HKU (all in the Faculty of Engineering) are smaller than 60 people. And though I understand that the Engineering Faculty is quite large at the University of Hong Kong, at Tufts, the professors knew everyone’s name regardless of whether that student went to ask questions or not. This difference is likely an artifact of the large class sizes.

I really miss Professor Leisk’s new product links and his relation of what we are learning to the newest products on the market. I miss Professsor Saigal’s inside jokes about other professors. I even miss Professor White’s labs and the challenging write-ups that followed. There is little to no practical hands-on work in my classes at HKU. I miss seeing professors hands gliding across the board, their half-legible scribble detailing proofs and information step-by-step.

I went to South Korea last week and flew back on the day that President Park Guen Hye was impeached.

I saw snow for the first time in a long time. I went to a cat café, even though I’m allergic to cats.

I climbed the tallest mountain in Seoul without being remotely prepared to do so.

I FaceTimed my girlfriend who was thousands of miles away at 7:30 AM.

I was stopped by riot police and was asked whether I was a tourist or not.

And one day, after walking through a village packed with street art, my friends and I watched the sun set from a quaint little cafe. 

Thanks for reading my blog. More blogs to come soon!

Stay golden,

Vincent Hwang