{"id":4207,"date":"2026-01-28T14:44:59","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T19:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/?p=4207"},"modified":"2026-01-28T16:10:57","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T21:10:57","slug":"when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/2026\/01\/28\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\/","title":{"rendered":"When a City Becomes the Classroom: Lessons from a Quarter in Hong Kong"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What does it mean to truly experience business in a global context? In this narrative reflection, Albert Odum, a Darden MBA Class of 2026 student, shares his story of spending&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":4214,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v20.10 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>When a City Becomes the Classroom: Lessons from a Quarter in Hong Kong - Center for Global Initiatives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"28 January 2026 What does it mean to truly experience business in a global context? In this narrative reflection, Albert Odum, a Darden MBA Class of 2026 student, shares his story of spending&hellip; -\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/2026\/01\/28\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Center for Global Initiatives - When a City Becomes the Classroom: Lessons from a Quarter in Hong Kong\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"28 January 2026 What does it mean to truly experience business in a global context? In this narrative reflection, Albert Odum, a Darden MBA Class of 2026 student, shares his story of spending&hellip; -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/2026\/01\/28\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Center for Global Initiatives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-28T19:44:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-28T21:10:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/files\/2026\/01\/Albert-Odum-Headshot-e1769628792603.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1063\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"912\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Natalie Merrick\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Natalie Merrick\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/28\\\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/28\\\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Natalie Merrick\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eaf047fdc85c0fcddf2727c0a4f997bc\"},\"headline\":\"When a City Becomes the Classroom: Lessons from a Quarter in Hong Kong\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-28T19:44:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-28T21:10:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/28\\\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":13,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/28\\\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/files\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Albert-Odum-Headshot-e1769628792603.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/28\\\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/28\\\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\\\/\",\"name\":\"When a City Becomes the Classroom: Lessons from a Quarter in Hong Kong - Center for Global Initiatives\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/28\\\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/28\\\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/files\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Albert-Odum-Headshot-e1769628792603.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-28T19:44:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-28T21:10:57+00:00\",\"description\":\"28 January 2026 What does it mean to truly experience business in a global context? In this narrative reflection, Albert Odum, a Darden MBA Class of 2026 student, shares his story of spending&hellip; -\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/28\\\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/28\\\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/28\\\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/files\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Albert-Odum-Headshot-e1769628792603.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/files\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Albert-Odum-Headshot-e1769628792603.jpg\",\"width\":1063,\"height\":912},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/28\\\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"When a City Becomes the Classroom: Lessons from a Quarter in Hong Kong\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/\",\"name\":\"Center for Global Initiatives\",\"description\":\"Enhances global business education at Darden\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"UVA Darden School of Business Global Voices\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/files\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/darden_mngrm_shrt_h_rgb_200x500-01.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/files\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/darden_mngrm_shrt_h_rgb_200x500-01.png\",\"width\":1042,\"height\":417,\"caption\":\"UVA Darden School of Business Global Voices\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eaf047fdc85c0fcddf2727c0a4f997bc\",\"name\":\"Natalie Merrick\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fe226ef921f2020cb6073f60137e4d72a3d3342bdb5507a9d4f949c76b0b501f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fe226ef921f2020cb6073f60137e4d72a3d3342bdb5507a9d4f949c76b0b501f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fe226ef921f2020cb6073f60137e4d72a3d3342bdb5507a9d4f949c76b0b501f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Natalie Merrick\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\\\/international\\\/author\\\/merrickn\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"When a City Becomes the Classroom: Lessons from a Quarter in Hong Kong - Center for Global Initiatives","description":"28 January 2026 What does it mean to truly experience business in a global context? In this narrative reflection, Albert Odum, a Darden MBA Class of 2026 student, shares his story of spending&hellip; -","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/2026\/01\/28\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Center for Global Initiatives - When a City Becomes the Classroom: Lessons from a Quarter in Hong Kong","og_description":"28 January 2026 What does it mean to truly experience business in a global context? In this narrative reflection, Albert Odum, a Darden MBA Class of 2026 student, shares his story of spending&hellip; -","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/2026\/01\/28\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\/","og_site_name":"Center for Global Initiatives","article_published_time":"2026-01-28T19:44:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-28T21:10:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1063,"height":912,"url":"http:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/files\/2026\/01\/Albert-Odum-Headshot-e1769628792603.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Natalie Merrick","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Natalie Merrick","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/2026\/01\/28\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/2026\/01\/28\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\/"},"author":{"name":"Natalie Merrick","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/#\/schema\/person\/eaf047fdc85c0fcddf2727c0a4f997bc"},"headline":"When a City Becomes the Classroom: Lessons from a Quarter in Hong Kong","datePublished":"2026-01-28T19:44:59+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-28T21:10:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/2026\/01\/28\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\/"},"wordCount":13,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/2026\/01\/28\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/files\/2026\/01\/Albert-Odum-Headshot-e1769628792603.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/2026\/01\/28\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/2026\/01\/28\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\/","name":"When a City Becomes the Classroom: Lessons from a Quarter in Hong Kong - Center for Global Initiatives","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/2026\/01\/28\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/2026\/01\/28\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/files\/2026\/01\/Albert-Odum-Headshot-e1769628792603.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-28T19:44:59+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-28T21:10:57+00:00","description":"28 January 2026 What does it mean to truly experience business in a global context? In this narrative reflection, Albert Odum, a Darden MBA Class of 2026 student, shares his story of spending&hellip; -","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/2026\/01\/28\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/2026\/01\/28\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/2026\/01\/28\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/files\/2026\/01\/Albert-Odum-Headshot-e1769628792603.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/files\/2026\/01\/Albert-Odum-Headshot-e1769628792603.jpg","width":1063,"height":912},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/2026\/01\/28\/when-a-city-becomes-the-classroom-lessons-from-a-quarter-in-hong-kong\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"When a City Becomes the Classroom: Lessons from a Quarter in Hong Kong"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/","name":"Center for Global Initiatives","description":"Enhances global business education at Darden","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/#organization","name":"UVA Darden School of Business Global Voices","url":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/files\/2022\/01\/darden_mngrm_shrt_h_rgb_200x500-01.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/files\/2022\/01\/darden_mngrm_shrt_h_rgb_200x500-01.png","width":1042,"height":417,"caption":"UVA Darden School of Business Global Voices"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/#\/schema\/person\/eaf047fdc85c0fcddf2727c0a4f997bc","name":"Natalie Merrick","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe226ef921f2020cb6073f60137e4d72a3d3342bdb5507a9d4f949c76b0b501f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe226ef921f2020cb6073f60137e4d72a3d3342bdb5507a9d4f949c76b0b501f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe226ef921f2020cb6073f60137e4d72a3d3342bdb5507a9d4f949c76b0b501f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Natalie Merrick"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/author\/merrickn\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.darden.virginia.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}