In the true sense of City College diversity, 20 students from four different countries visited Hong Kong Jan. 15 to 20 to study the unique culture and fast-paced economy of the nation.

The Santa Barbara Global Team Explorers, comprised of  students from Sweden, Brazil, Japan and America, is a “non-profit group which travels overseas to learn global business, management and marketing skills.”

Throughout the trip, they kept with them a general goal of better understanding the various strategies, procedures and concepts needed in the Hong Kong business world. They visited the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong stock exchange and made up 20 of the 21,418 visitors of Hong Kong Fashion Week – the largest fashion show in Asia.

International Business Instructor Anna Kwong went along for the trip.

“The idea for the travel led from a very casual conversation. I always used to tell my students that the best way to teach International Business would be to take them [to travel internationally] so we finally decided to go,” she said. “Students from other schools went as well, not just City College students.”

Students from Brooks Institute, UCSB and City College attended. City College business student and Explorer Ola Hammar was pleased with the experience he got from the trip.

“We learned a lot about the culture, the food, and how to behave,” he said. “These are things you have to learn. You need to watch what you’re doing and how you’re behaving so much more.”

The student trip has been in the works for six months. Although there were activities held to fundraise, including a car wash and a Halloween party, members of the team paid $1,500 per person plus airfare to attend the trip which turned out to be around $2,500 total per person.

“We tried to make it as affordable as possible,” Kwong said. “We had no other funding so we were very limited.”

The group also budgeted for a charitable donation and is currently in the process of making contact with an orphanage in China with the intention of sending books.

Nima Eil, President of the City College Business Club and also a member of the Explorer team, felt that he gained a great understanding of the culture during his visit.

“The people there really want to establish a good relationship with you before you do business, they want to get to know you and how you are as a person first,” Eil said.

“It’s more long-term there because of the amount that you put into it from the beginning. They do things safely, if you compare it to other countries.”

Kwong said the goals of the trip were not only academic but charitable and, as it happened, palatable.

“We wanted to try ethnic food there – no Americanized food. The Peking Duck was unbelievable!” she said. “I can’t tell you how happy I was. It was a wonderful trip.”

Arguably the most important aspect of the trip was to make the students aware of the difference in the way people from all over the world do business. Both Eil and Hammar said they intend on doing business in Hong Kong in the future.

“I want to move there and I want to work there,” Eil said. “I’ve always wanted to do business in Asia. It’s a growing market and things are advancing. Everything is from there,” he said. “If people didn’t do such massive business with that area, your computer would be double the price.”