Greetings from Hong Kong

Tanya and Manon report on their semester abroad in Hong Kong

Greetings from Tanya and Manon in Hong Kong, China. We have been enjoying our cultural adventure here for three months already, and with one month to go we are reflecting on the amazing experiences we had. We arrived in late August and were greeted by people from all around the world. Hong Kong is an international hub that pushed us to try new things and engage with many different cultures.

There are many opportunities to get involved on campus; Manon was excited to learn Cantonese and Tanya joined the soccer team. The university also organizes many workshops and day trips for free, or a small fee, to immerse yourself into the local culture and see some famous monuments. The university work load allows us to have a good balance between learning and leisure. With the diversity on campus, we were also challenged with learning how to adjust to the different teaching methods and group dynamics. Overall, this was a great learning experience for us which helped us develop our cultural sensitivity and taught us different approaches to projects.

Hong Kong is an expensive city. We found that living in the dorm was the best option for cost, convenience, and atmosphere. It allowed us to meet many local and international students. It has fun amenities like a pool, a gym, ping pong tables, billiards, dance space, and a piano room. There are also canteens on campus and smaller local restaurants that offer delicious food on a budget.

There are lots of affordable travel opportunities to neighboring countries. We broadened our horizons by taking trips to Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, the Philippines, and Mainland China. The ability to experience many different Asian countries made us realize how beautiful and different each individual culture is with their own traditions and cuisine.