1 Thing I Learned from My International Placement Experience

My placement has long been over but I've been away for much of the summer so I have yet to wrap up my international placement experience. While I've been away, I've been reminded of how writing is an outlet for expressing my thoughts and feelings, but motivation can be so hard to find. Now that I'm settling back into being at home, I've got no real excuses about why I'm not writing. This piece is so long over due and probably one of the hardest (and longest!) posts I've written so far because it's taken a lot of self-reflection and hard thinking. It's kind of a mix between what I wanted to write in a "Who Am I Out of Context? Part 2" post and as a summary reflection. I hope that you can understand the thoughts that I'm about to share with you. 

I consider my international placement experience a valuable mix between education/work and self-discovery. I initially started by naming this post "5 Things I Learned..." because I thought that it would be nice to be able to get a list of things down that I've learned in those 2 months. (Also because I love lists!) Between travelling alone, living in a new country and working/having an educational experience in a culturally different setting --5 things should be easy, right? I had some ideas for sure (which I've incorporated into this post), but I just couldn't get it down to 5 distinct things.

What OTs really are...

"We're activity analysts."

This is a phrase a fellow OT at the rehab clinic always said. Behind all the fancy words that describe us as "therapeutic" and "holistic" etc. Whether you graduated with a BSc or an MSc in OT, at the very heart of our profession, we are Activity Analysts!

Much of my placements have been about breaking things down into the smaller steps which has led me to really appreciate our skills in activity analysis. I am a pretty detailed oriented person in my own everyday life, so applying a more critical mind to looking at other's occupations comes naturally to me. But beyond looking at the details, we need to know where to focus our activity analysis on before looking deeper to discover the how's and then seek to understand the why's behind an activity... And this takes a lot more brain power than it does visual acuity. We've got to use that OT lens of ours! Which leads me to this quote:

Thus, the task is not so much to see what no one has yet seen, but to think what nobody has yet thought about what which everybody sees --Arthur Schopenhauer

I couldn't agree more!

Farewell to Fearless Dragon, my running family

"When you want to find some motivation...
... for running,
             ... for doing stretches,
                             ... for achieving your goals,
Or at times when you feel as though you are losing yourself, you can think of us."

The Fearless Dragon (猛龍隊): 看不見，聽不到，跑得好，做得到!

Last group photo with The Fearless Dragon (猛龍隊) running group at Hammer Hill sports ground in our running gear! 

Kid, get down on my level!

It was my first time helping out with this small sensory integration group for children ages 6-8. They had moved onto a table top activity where they were given a worksheet that was entirely in Cantonese. While I can converse in Cantonese just fine, my reading and writing are only at an elementary school level. I was watching a pair of boys going over their worksheet when one of them turned to me, asking me what to do:

Boy: What do we do now?
G (me): Keep reading the worksheet to see what it says.
B: (Continues to read and stumbles on a word) Do you know this?
G: Nope. Keep reading, what do you think it is?
B: (Shocked) You don't know this word?!
G: Nope.
B: (Still shocked) Have you gone to university?!
G: Yup. I have gone to university...
B: Then how come you don't know these words?!?! (Stares at me like O_O)
G: (Smiles and urges him to continue to discuss the activity at hand with his partner)

(Dialogue translated from Cantonese of course)

Children are so simple. They presume that anyone older than them would know more than them. Little do they know that I learn from them each and every day! =D Of course, he is still young and probably can't imagine studying entirely in any language other than Chinese.

That boy is a funny kid. I was so amused at how frank he was with me, but he probably didn't understand why I was smiling. I wasn't offended by any means, rather I found our conversation quite interesting. Working with kids makes me laugh so much, both with them and at myself. I think the ability to laugh at oneself and not be so serious all the time can be hard to develop as we're working towards adulthood and being working professionals. I'm happy that I've found a way to do that: working with children. =)

Who is Your Family? And Who Are You?

I met a local OT student who was volunteering at the Duchess of Kent Children's Hospital during my placement time there. We got to know each other throughout the span of the 2 weeks before I left and making this friend has been such a blessing. I truly feel blessed to have met her during the struggles I had with my placement experience there. Having studied abroad for several years, she understood how it felt to be away from home and trying to learn and adapt to a new cultural setting. She's been such a great listener and of course, it's great to be able to talk about our hopes and dreams as soon-to-be new grad OTs.

Since I left the placement and she has started her own placement term, it's been hard to find time to meet up so I have been joining her at her fellowship group. Since I've been to my friends' Catholic and Christian fellowships, I don't feel too strange joining in on my new friend's group. It's a nice way to spend my evenings after placement, and I've come to think that if religion is such a big part of my friends' lives, getting to know a little bit about what that entails is a way of getting to know my friends better.

The other night, the discussion consisted of a two part question: Who is your family? And who are you?

Funny, Familiar, Forgotten Feelings

Hong Kong is a long way from home. A 16 hour direct flight away and 12 hours ahead from what's familiar to me. Even so, I've been able to find some familiar and forgotten feelings despite my rough start to my Hong Kong placement experience. So no, maybe it hasn't been so "funny", but I hope someone gets the song reference.

You are Here. (Almost to the Big Buddha!)

Did you say "Communication Breakdown"?

I've had my share of these moments over my placement.
If a picture is worth 1000 words, then this video can be worth all the words between my preceptor Past-preceptor and I over the last 3 weeks. I applaud Dory for her perseverance!

Goodness of Fit

As I'm reading up on Sensory Integration (SI) theory and Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), I come across the term "Goodness of Fit" which is a concept that I can really relate to.

But wait.
Hold up!
Why am I reading about SI and SPD, when I'm at a placement focused on orthopedics?? Ok. Let's back up a bit.

Same Material means Less Friction

A lesson in physics and cultural competency.

A middle aged female patient comes in with carpal tunnel syndrome, and the OT decides to treat here with a static wrist splint. I'm watching from the side, because at the time, I was practicing how to mold my own paddle splint (which was and is still going terribly...). When it came time to start making her cast, the patient says that she won't be able to take off her jade bangle. She had put it on in her younger days and after two pregnancies, her wrist had grown and now the bangle no longer comes off. She tells the OT that she's fine with going home to have her husband brake the bracelet off with a hammer, but the concern was that it would be done in an unsafe manner, potentially causing further harm to the patient's wrist. My preceptor is called in to help take it off.

Who am I out of context? Part 1

Inspired by 5 second rule's post "Who are you out of context?", where she asks the thoughtful question:

When you travel, do you think you become more or less who you truly are? 

Congee vs. Soup vs. Water

A lesson in burns and cultural competency.

As my preceptor was teaching me about burns management, he asks me the question of whether having hot water splashed on you or hot soup would hurt more. And I responded...

Going international for Level III placement

Why an international placement? I've been asked this question many times, both in Canada and Hong Kong (HK), by family, friends and colleagues. This moment right now is a good chance to remind myself of why I chose to be on the other side of the world for my final placement. Especially since I will be writing my placement goals soon!

Why go international?

• To be fully immersed in the Chinese culture, as more than just a tourist.
• As a CBC (Chinese born Canadian), I've only identify with my Chinese culture through my parents. This is a chance for me to really experience Chinese culture and better develop a sense of what "Being Chinese" means to me.
• To see and learn about how OTs work on the other side of the world.
• To learn about the healthcare system and Hong Kong.
• To continue to gain self-awareness about what kind of OT I want to be.
• To develop my skills in cultural competency.