Expedition: Hong Kong 2013

Inroduction:

Nihao, Wo shi Gao Ming Jun were just a few of the phrases I had to master when I

arrived in Hong Kong. I intended to spend the next four months studying at The Chinese

University of Hong Kong in the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, however

after the four most incredible months I decided to extend my stay to a total of nine

months abroad, this being one of the best decisions I have ever made. The Chinese

University of Hong Kong is situated roughly 9200km northwest from the University of

Waikato in South East Asia. I decided to study in Hong Kong to further my

understanding of the Asian culture, values and customs as this was one of the regions

within the world that I was so unfamiliar with and after just nine months abroad I could

most likely answer any question about Asia that I am faced with.

Arrival:

After spending ten great days in Sydney my semester abroad began. I jumped on a

plane from Sydney and took a 7 hour flight directly to the centre of Asia (Hong Kong).

After flying over the thousands of islands that inhabit the South China Sea, seeing the

first skyscrapers, instantly knowing that the Boeing 747 will soon land onto Hong Kong

soil. I grabbed my luggage, got my visa stamped and jumped on the first bus I saw that

was going in the “Sha-tin” direction. As I arrived at the CUHK campus, I was extremely

surprised that the university is surrounded by dense forest in one of Asia’s most densely

populated cities. I checked into the orientation hostel (Lee Woo Sing College) and

prepared myself for a big day of exploring the new and exciting city. On my first day at

CUHK I got extremely lost on campus, found out that most people do not speak English

and that I was not completely prepared to venture of by myself. After finding my way

around and meeting some other exchange students with the same troubles, we

ventured towards Hong Kong Island and entered the vibrant city centre. Hong Kong is

completely different to any other city that I have ever been to. Due to the extremely

high real-estate costs every building is at least 30 stories high and it is difficult to find

buildings that are not considered sky scrapers, thus being completely different to my

hometown of Whangarei. Being a little unadventurous at first, my new found friends

and I decided the safest lunch would be McDonalds, when entering McDonalds we

discovered that it is indeed the cheapest place to eat in all off Hong Kong, with Big Mac

combos valued at a low NZD $2.50, at first this was a dream come true but after

multiple visits to this fantastic franchise I had to crawl out of my shell and be fearless

when it came to tasting the local cuisine. After the first fortnight I was pretty convinced

that I had at least tasted every animal known to man ranging from pigeon – snake –

cuttlefish mouth – suckling pig – an assortment of offal.

After a few days of orientating myself and making a whole bunch of new friends, I

moved out of the orientation hall and moved into I-house, where I would be spending

the next nine months. I stumbled into my new home and instantly thought to myself

that this might take some time getting used too. International House was the oldest

among all the halls of residence, everything seemed as if it was at least 50-60 years old.

However you slowly adjusted and learned to love the place and make it feel as homely

as possible. As well as I-house’s antique furniture, the place came with a bunch of new

rules and regulations that every student must follow, I felt as if I had stumbled back into

my first year of university following the rules of Student Village. Rules ranged from no

overnight visitors - no noise after 10pm.

Before arriving in Hong Kong, I had already pre-selected all the papers I wanted to take

at the University. When I arrived at my 8am class on Monday morning, being the very

first day of academic adventure as well as the earliest time I had woken up in the last 3

weeks, I came to the realisation that I was the only western student in the lecture

theatre. It took a few more moments for me to realise that the language the lecturer

spoke was indeed not English and that I may have made a small mistake when it came

to choosing my papers. Luckily during the first two - three weeks of the semester they

have an add/drop period where students were urged to attend any papers that they

were interested in as well as giving students the capability to change papers that did

not interest them. Luckily for this otherwise I would have been stuck with “Managerial

Accounting” all semester.

The university was located roughly 40 minutes out of the city centre, in the luscious

green mountains of Kowloon. Buses were available to all students, free of cost to travel

around the university. It would roughly take 30 minutes to walk from one side of the

campus towards the other making it necessary for public transport at the University.

Being located 40 minutes out of the CBD in the mountains ensured that the students

had the perfect mix between the vibrant city CBD and the nature New Zealanders are

used to. The Chinese University of Hong Kong also has a magnificent lake (filled with

hundreds of colourful fish and turtles) and a park where students would relax when the

university has had their toll on them. The first month was soon over and it had been

both the scariest and best month of my life so far. Everything you did was something

new, everything you saw was something new, even everything you ate and drank was

something completely new, it was incredible.

My experience:

Hong Kong is a country that is both influenced heavily by the west and the east thus

benefiting us students as there are a significant amount of public holidays. During these

holidays it gives you a perfect excuse to travel to the neighbouring countries such as

China, Taiwan, Philippines, and Thailand. The University is only 30 minutes away from

the Chinese border of Shenzhen. Shenzhen is one of China’s major shopping hubs with

huge department stores where you can buy anything you can even dream of for

ridiculously low prices, however you must learn to haggle otherwise you may not get

the better end of the transaction. Traveling just 30 minutes to Shenzhen is a complete

change in scenery. You will notice that you are the only westerner insight and that you

receive a lot of attention from the locals.

My first trip was to Taipei (Taiwan). Flights to Taiwan are incredibly cheap. I only stayed

there for 4 days (over a long weekend). My favourite thing about Taiwan were probably

the night markets, filled with hundreds of different assortments of Asian delicatessen

for low prices. Another awesome activity to do in Taiwan is prawn fishing, indoor

prawn pools that are open 24/7, where the local Taiwanese spend time after work

relaxing, drinking a few beers and catching their dinner. Fishing for prawns was much

more difficult than anticipated and we ended up spending about 3 hours there with

about 2 prawns/per hour. However the constant supply of beers made it worth it.

If you decide to travel to Taiwan I would highly recommend the prawn fishing, eating

everything your stomach can handle at the night markets, traveling to the cultural town

of Juifen or even traveling east to go for a surf in the freezing cold Taiwanese waters.

After deciding to extend my stay in Hong Kong, and not flying home, I had one month to

spare before the next semester started. I purchased a cheap 70L backpack and a one-

way ticket to Vietnam with the intention of backpacking through all of Vietnam,

Cambodia, and Thailand. I only had 23 days so I created a travel itinerary that consisted

of 11 cities in three different countries. I travelled on an extremely tight budget,

however both Vietnam and Cambodia were more than affordable that I was able to

purchase three course dinners for under NZD$5, relieving me of any financial burdens. I

started my travels in Hanoi, Vietnam and then continued on to Halong Bay and Hue.

Within 5 days I had seen more temples, mausoleums, museums that any human could

bear and decided take a few days break in the incredible village of Hoi Ann. Hoi Ann is a

romantic seaside village in Vietnam and probably my favourite place out of all my

travels. Hoi Ann is simply so peaceful and beautiful.

My journey soon continued, I jumped on a 16 hour night train to Ho Chi Minh City, the

largest city in Vietnam. I spent a few days in HCM city before I crossed the border into

Cambodia, luckily I had received my visa prior my departure and making it simple to

travel across borders. I spent a short time in Phnom Penh, learning about the

Cambodian genocide, visiting various museums and killing fields where 40% of the

Cambodian population were killed during the Pol Pot regime only 40 years ago. I soon

travelled to Sihanoukville to spend a few days on the Cambodian islands to receive my

long needed tan. We rented tree huts on the private island of Koh teh Kiev and spent a

few days relaxing there.

My trip was soon coming to an end with only one week left, I travelled north to Siem

Reap to visit both the famous Angkor Wat and the pub street. Angkor Wat was

incredible, it put every other temple I had ever seen to shame and possibly ruin the

enjoyment of ever seeing another temple. Angkor Wat is a must see sight as it is simply

mind blowing. I spent my new years in Bangkok (what a night!) and then travelled to

Koh Chang spending my last three days on the beach and alongside the crystal clear

water. After traveling for 23 days, jumping straight back into university, was a shock but

I was happy to be home.

The second semester was again completely different. Most of your friends you made

during the first semester left and a whole new bunch of people arrived. It only took a

short while till you made new friends and the adventure started al over again. The

second semester gives you a chance to do all the things you didn’t get to do the first

semester and successfully conquer Hong Kong’s must sees’, do’s’, eats’.

The second semester flew by and my time in Hong Kong was soon over. I would never

have believed that in this short time I had already had the best year of my life and

feared that nothing else could ever compete with the year I had. Going on an exchange

was the best decision I have ever made as it’s truly has shown me that there is so much

more out there and so much more that I want to see. One of the best things about

going on an exchange is that you end up having friends all over the world and where

ever you go, you know there is someone there that will be able to accommodate you

and look after you.

A Few Final Tips Before You Leave:

It is crucial that you organise your Studylink and credit transfer before departing New

Zealand as this will save you a lot of time and frustration.

Organise a multi entry visa to China in New Zealand as this will save you the hassle and

cost of getting a single entry every time you decide to travel up north.

Take every opportunity that is handed to you. Especially the teaching trip to Zengcheng,

China. It is such a great weekend where you learn so much about the Chinese culture as

well as teach English in a Chinese classroom.

Overall I would highly recommend going on an exchange, it will end up being the best

decision you have ever made as it was mine. It gives you the opportunity to see a part

of the world that you have never experienced before, make a bunch of new friends and

study at a completely different university where you can cross credit all the papers you

do. I would like to thank the University of Waikato, for giving me this opportunity and

urge any other students out there to do the same.