ARTS & CULTURE
12 Obiter Dicta
The Obiter goes abroad
No. 1 – Anthea Chan in Hong Kong
marie park › arts & culture editor
G
r e e t i ng s f rom t ok yo! Your corre spondent has now landed in Japan for an
exchange semester at Waseda Law School.
As introduced before, this semester the
Obiter Dicta will bring you a special series covering the amazing experiences of fellow Osgoode students who are spending a semester abroad at one of
Osgoode’s partner schools worldwide. As for myself, I
will be presenting a little slice of the Japanese experience throughout the issues, highlighting many of my
wonderful Tokyo wanderings. Keep your eyes open,
as TOGA has now launched!
In this first issue, I would like to introduce Anthea
Chan. I first met her in 1L through a Pro Bono
Students Canada project. She stood out to me as an
individual who was very sure of herself, a confident
woman who knew what she wanted, and what to do
to get there. Now an Articling student at Bogoroch
& Associates LLP, she has left a definite mark at
Osgoode through the people she touched and her
many accomplishments.
Among her many notable experiences as an
Osgoode student, she went on an exchange semester to Hong Kong. I am excited to share with you her
responses about her time at the University of Hong
Kong last year.
“It was definitely a great learning experience,” she
says, “Hong Kong is any city person’s dream, with all
the shopping, great food and cheap booze your budget
can handle. Hong Kong is very tourist friendly and a
great hub for travelling around Asia.”
The reasons students wish to go on exchange are
diverse, of course. Some go out of wanderlust, some
for the international networking opportunities.
Others seek to gain a broader world view, or wish to
rediscover their heritage. For Anthea, her reasons
included all of the above.
“I wanted to go on exchange because I know I will
never have another chance to spend four months
abroad. I went on exchange to the Netherlands in
my undergrad and had a memorable experience,”
she comments. The semester was also a way for her
to connect to her personal identity. “I was also born
in Hong Kong and have never been back. It was an
opportunity to visit my birth place. I anticipated
returning to my birth town and seeing some relatives for the first time. Throughout my childhood, I’ve
heard great things about the city and had high hopes
when I arrived.”
Other notable reasons? The cost of living, for one, is
much lower in Hong Kong. Ease of getting around was
another big one. Plus, the University of Hong Kong is
high up there in global rankings, including the strong
English language
programs which
are open to international students
as well. Another
bonus was the chance to practice Chinese for four
months, being immersed in the culture and lifestyle
of a modern Chinese mega-city.
“I highly recommend Alternative Dispute
Resolution - the head of the ADR program is an
Osgoode alum,” Anthea notes. “The course is relevant
to Canadian and North American ADR practices.”
Academia aside, Hong Kong is a fascinating place
ê Eat Pray Love, the Anthea Chan version.
t o visit. “Despite being a hustling bustling cosmopolitan, I’d say the top 3 sites to visit in Hong Kong are Victoria Peak, Saigon, and Cheung Chau.”
“Cheung Chau has the most delicious seafood I’ve
ever had; a real treat away from the city,” she recommends. Obviously, food is an important part of
any trip to a foreign land; she
adds, “my most
memorable would
probably be 3:00
am dim sum right by the HKU campus in Kennedy
Town.”
For Anthea, as well as for the many other Osgoode
students who have participated in this program,
Hong Kong was an unforgettable experience as a
law student. She definitely recommends that students go on an exchange at some point in law school
- “the world can teach you so, so much in even just
“Hong Kong was an unforgettable
experience as a law student.”
a few weeks about different cultures and histories.
And it really trains you to be independent. This is one
of the few opportunities you get in life to experience
another culture for four months.”
To all students who aspire to go somewhere in the
near future, to the University of Hong Kong, or just
about anywhere else, she gives a few of her own tips
that come from experience, and it is that “exchange
does not have to cost a fortune, and travel does not
have to be glamorous.” Travelling is not necessarily expensive, especially with adequate research
and keeping an open mind. The world is a big place,
and if there is the will to travel, there will always be
a way. ◆