After reading my posts, many of you have wondered why I left Hong Kong, where I had lived for seven years, and moved to France. Today, I want to talk about why I was so determined to take this step.

Why I Left Hong Kong

First, I wanted to fulfill my dream of studying abroad. Growing up, much of the music I listened to and many of the films I watched were from Europe and the United States, so I was deeply influenced by Western culture. Throughout university and after I started working in Chengdu, I always wanted to go abroad. However, because my English was not good at the time and my budget was limited, I chose Hong Kong instead. Later, once I had improved my English and saved enough money to study abroad, of course I wanted to make that dream come true.

Those familiar with Hong Kong probably know what happened in 2019. I witnessed the entire process and saw a city torn apart. At the time, I felt as though I were standing on a shattered tectonic plate, unsure which way to go and able only to fall into the cracks opening in the ground. Then the pandemic came, and Hong Kong was closed off for three and a half years. During that entire time, I never returned to Chengdu to see my family or traveled anywhere. I was simply trapped on this isolated island.

Moreover, I never obtained a teaching qualification in Hong Kong. If I wanted to teach at a school, I would have had to spend more money on a PGDE (Postgraduate Diploma in Education). Since I would have to spend money either way, I figured I might as well go abroad.

Why I Came to France

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Canada was my first choice at the time because it was supposedly easy to obtain permanent residency there. I did not consider the UK, the US, Australia, or New Zealand because they were too expensive and it was difficult to stay after graduation.

The school I chose was a college. I had heard that older applicants had difficulty getting study permits, so I applied for a visitor visa first, as I had heard that having one would make it easier to obtain a study permit. Unexpectedly, Canada rejected my application, saying they were not convinced that I would return after my trip. I even cried when I received the visitor visa refusal letter. In a fit of frustration, I turned to European schools instead.

At the time, I applied to a total of five schools in Ireland, Belgium, Austria, and France. In the end, only a private engineering school in France sent me an offer. After accepting it, I did not apply anywhere else. So rather than saying that I chose France, it would be more accurate to say that France chose me. I was very happy at the time. Although this private school was much more expensive than a public school, it was still considerably cheaper than Canada. My estimated budget for studying in Canada, including tuition and living expenses, was around HK$400,000, while I estimated that studying in Paris would cost HK$200,000. In the end, I spent HK$170,000 on my studies and used the remaining money to travel to 11 European countries.

Why I Switched from the Humanities to Coding

I had always wanted to settle abroad and work remotely, neither of which I could achieve as a Chinese teacher. On top of that, my bachelor’s degree was in engineering, so I thought I might as well switch to coding. Although the industry is not as strong as it once was, it is still at the forefront of the times.

For me, switching to coding was not the dream itself, but a tool for achieving my dreams. So when I later found an internship and was able to travel around Canada while working remotely, I knew I had succeeded.