My Personal Experience: My Living Experience In Hong Kong

I am an international student who comes from Macau where people usually do not know where it is. Every time when people do not know where is it, I will tell them it is near Hong Kong. It is a very small city and it is well known as the small Las Vegas in Asia. Our living environment is surrounding by many casinos. I once did not like Macau because it is so crowd. There are many visitors from everywhere, mostly from China visit everyday. However, when I went study abroad in the United States, I changed my mind. I think Macau can easily describe me. For example, it is a small city and I am a tiny person compared to American. People who do not like the casino will think why do I need to go visit Macau, there is nothing to go around. It is the

I took an English writing class. We were put in groups of 4 people randomly. In my group, we have two Vietnamese American girls, one White guy, and one Chinese, which is me. At first, I was worrying about the situation would repeat itself. I knew that I had already had some bias on the people from the previous experiences. Fortunately, their attitude made me feel respectful and comfortable, and we shared a lot of experiences. We had to prepare a presentation for the class. We perfectly define the idea of "superadditivity" when our outcome was 1+1=3, by Scott E. Page from "Making the Difference: Applying a Logic of Diversity". I am not good at English, however, I have various thoughts. I told them and one of the Vietnamese American girls would help me to turn it to a complete version. The other Vietnamese American girl is good at making PowerPoint, thus, she made it and it looks very good. The White guy who can give out interesting speech was responsible for presenting our ideas. In the working process, we were very happy and harmony. This was the first time in the U.S., I felt I was working in a group. If we did not have each other, the presentation might not be so perfect. It was a precious experience in my life that teaches me to work with other who does not have the same cultures, background, and knowledge. I also learned that although the ability of myself is important, the power of

After that class, I took another class that also needed to do some group works. We had 5 people, one American girl, one American guy, one Vietnamese girl and two Chinese, including me. The American guy seldom showed up in class. However, when he came, the American girl would talk to him happily. When we had group discussions, she would just listen and agree with what he said. When we three Asians tried to express our views, she would just nod her head and did not ever think of our opinion. It was so obvious to notice that because when it was our turn to tell the class what we found, she only used her or his ideas every time. The most relevant reason that can explain her attitude was she was biased and she liked to work with someone who has a similar background with her, which is in-group favoritism. On the other hand, I had benefited from in-group favoritism. I used to go to a Chinese restaurant with my friend. The owner is also a Chinese and she gives us discount during some Chinese festivals. It was so blissful to have people in the U.S. cares us. In-group favoritism can be useful and also can be harmful. After the discussion in class and my experience, I recognize I should avoid in-group favoritism in my future life or