{"id":5566,"date":"2019-12-16T17:59:38","date_gmt":"2019-12-16T09:59:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.ift.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/?p=5566"},"modified":"2020-01-08T16:02:10","modified_gmt":"2020-01-08T08:02:10","slug":"twin-exchanges-abroad-are-twice-as-nice-for-student-dinelle-wong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/twin-exchanges-abroad-are-twice-as-nice-for-student-dinelle-wong\/","title":{"rendered":"Twin exchanges abroad are twice as nice for student Dinelle Wong"},"content":{"rendered":"\u4e2d\u6587\u6458\u8981 \/ Summary in Chinese<\/span>\n

IFT<\/span>M<\/span> has arrangements <\/span>with <\/span>scores of<\/span> institutions<\/span> of higher education <\/span>around the world<\/span> that <\/span>offer<\/span> students opportunit<\/span>ies <\/span>to broaden their horizons <\/span>by going on exchanges<\/span>.<\/span> Dinelle Wong, <\/span>a student <\/span>taking the <\/span>IFTM <\/span>programme leading to a bachelor\u2019s degree in <\/span>T<\/span>ourism <\/span>E<\/span>vent <\/span>M<\/span>anagement, took not <\/span>1<\/span> but <\/span>2<\/span> such <\/span>opportunit<\/span>ies<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dinelle<\/span> spent the first semester of <\/span>a<\/span>cademic <\/span>y<\/span>ear <\/span>2016\/17 as an exchange student at Bo<\/span>u<\/span>rnemouth University<\/span>,<\/span> in <\/span>Britain. <\/span>In the second semester of <\/span>a<\/span>cademic <\/span>y<\/span>ear <\/span>2018\/19<\/span> she went on exchange to IMC University of Applied Sciences Krems<\/span>, in Austria<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The English coastal resort town of Bournemouth, <\/span>about 1<\/span>7<\/span>0 <\/span>kilometres<\/span> south<\/span>west of London<\/span>, <\/span>felt to Dinelle like it was a world away <\/span>from the British <\/span>capital<\/span> and its reputedly grey skies. <\/span>\u201cThe weather was really nice,\u201d <\/span>she says of Bournemouth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dinelle <\/span>used <\/span>her time <\/span>on exchange there <\/span>to improve her English and <\/span>other <\/span>communication skills. \u201cYou have to <\/span>talk to others<\/span> every day, so you learn how locals speak and you even pick <\/span>up <\/span>some slang, some new words<\/span>,<\/span>\u201d<\/span> she says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Student life at Bournemouth was <\/span>different from what <\/span>Dinelle<\/span> was used to in Macao.<\/span> \u201c<\/span>In<\/span> Asia<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>parents and professors just tell you to study more<\/span>,\u201d Dinelle says. In <\/span>Britain<\/span>, there was more social interaction with lecturers out<\/span> of <\/span>class<\/span>, she found<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Overall<\/span>,<\/span> it was great<\/span>,<\/span> but I felt like I was not really prepared for an exchange experience,<\/span>\u201d Dinelle says. \u201cSo <\/span>I missed on a lot of things<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d<\/span> In <\/span>particular <\/span>she felt she wasted chances <\/span>to <\/span>meet people from different places<\/span>.<\/span> \u201c<\/span>I thought I should take a second <\/span>exchange<\/span> before I graduate<\/span>,<\/span>\u201d<\/span> she says<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Second chance<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Once <\/span>s<\/span>he was <\/span>back <\/span>in <\/span>Macao, <\/span>Dinelle <\/span>set her sights on Austria<\/span>. Austria is <\/span>one of the <\/span>most popular <\/span>countries <\/span>among IFTM undergraduates <\/span>wishing to go on <\/span>exchange<\/span>s abroad<\/span> because it gives easy access to <\/span>the rest of <\/span>continental <\/span>Europe<\/span>, allowing <\/span>exchange <\/span>students to <\/span>use it as a base for <\/span>visit<\/span>ing<\/span> countries nearby<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dinelle <\/span>went on exchange to <\/span>IMC University of Applied Sciences Krems, <\/span>in <\/span>Krems an der Donau, <\/span>a <\/span>town of only <\/span>2<\/span>4<\/span>,<\/span>0<\/span>00 people. \u201cIt was quiet,\u201d she says<\/span>.<\/span> But Krems an der Donau<\/span> is <\/span>just <\/span>70 k<\/span>ilo<\/span>m<\/span>etres<\/span> from Vienna<\/span>,<\/span> from where she could travel to <\/span>places<\/span> and encounter <\/span>cultures\u00a0<\/span>that were new to her<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Having <\/span>taken <\/span>classes <\/span>at<\/span> Bournemouth University<\/span> attended by <\/span>100 students at a time<\/span>, <\/span>Dinelle was surprised by the personal attention the staff of IMC University of Applied Sciences Krems give <\/span>the<\/span>ir students. <\/span>\u201cStudents really concentrate while in class and try to answer whatever the <\/span>lecturer<\/span> asks<\/span>,\u201d she says<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>They feel it\u2019s al<\/span>l <\/span>right to make mistakes in class as long as you learn from them<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Off campus, Dinelle<\/span> had other <\/span>new experiences, including <\/span>buy<\/span>ing<\/span> groceries in<\/span> supermarkets where <\/span>the product <\/span>information<\/span> labels were <\/span>only<\/span> in German. \u201cIn the first few days I couldn\u2019t read anything, so I had to Google Translate everything and spend an hour to buy just a few things,\u201d she <\/span>says.<\/span><\/p>\n

S<\/span>tudying abroad <\/span>gave <\/span>Dinelle <\/span>more confiden<\/span>ce<\/span> in <\/span>herself <\/span>and<\/span> made her<\/span> more <\/span>independent. <\/span>Her experience <\/span>abroad <\/span>influenced her decision to take <\/span>another<\/span> new<\/span> plunge<\/span>: to compete in <\/span>the\u00a0<\/span>2019 <\/span>Miss Macau <\/span>pageant<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of her <\/span>reasons <\/span>for competing was that part of the winner<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s job is <\/span>to<\/span> promote Macao <\/span>abroad. \u201cI<\/span>t was a bit sad <\/span>for me <\/span>to see that 80 percent of the people I met in Europe kn<\/span>e<\/span>w nothing about Maca<\/span>o<\/span>,\u201d <\/span>says <\/span>Dinelle, who was born and brought up in the city. She came third in the Miss Macau contest.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dinelle\u2019s<\/span> academic exchange<\/span>s<\/span> broaden<\/span>ed<\/span> her <\/span>outlook<\/span>. \u201cI now feel like the world is so big and you have so many places to explore,\u201d <\/span>she <\/span>says. \u201cEven i<\/span>f I stay in Maca<\/span>o<\/span>, <\/span>there are<\/span> still many international <\/span>opportunities<\/span> here.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IFTM has arrangements with scores of institutions of higher education around the world that offer students opportunities to broaden their horizons by going on exchanges. Dinelle Wong, a student taking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":5598,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[136,186],"tags":[674,1307,1308,93],"class_list":["post-5566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main_headline","category-utm-around-the-world","tag-bournemouth-university","tag-dinelle-wong","tag-imc-university-of-applied-sciences-krems","tag-tourism-event-management"],"views":1169,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5566"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5571,"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5566\/revisions\/5571"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}