Hello everyone!
Well, it’s been about one month now since I left BGSU to come to Hong Kong Baptist University. The experience has been one that I will never forget. When I first got off the plane, I was really nervous considering I didn’t know anyone. Before I left the country, I made sure to request to be greeted by HKBU student ambassadors. If you go, I highly recommend you to do this. I was greeted by two student ambassadors and at the same time met 12-15 other people who landed around the same time as I did. A shuttle bus was provided from the airport to the university which was nice. It was 10:30pm so I really couldn’t see all of Hong Kong, but I did get to see many of the buildings lit up. Coming from Bowling Green, seeing all the lights and the sounds was something I’ve never experienced. After arriving at the university and getting my student id card, I made my way up to my room to meet my roommate who had already been here for a couple of days. Her name was “Yuki” and she is a native of Hong Kong.
Living in the dorms themselves does remind me of BGSU though. For those that have lived on campus before, the rooms are a little bigger than say Kreischer or Harshman dorms, but smaller than a Rodgers dorm. Rather than having one hallway share 6-7 bathrooms and 4 showers, every 2 rooms share a bathroom. My room and the room next door share a bathroom with two sinks, a shower, and a toilet. Toilet paper, you have to buy yourself. It’s really cheap though so it’s not a problem. Also, you have to pay for air conditioning. Most of the time, the air conditioner will be on. There is a box on the wall that controls the air conditioner. Your student id is loaded with pre-paid money at first, but then you eventually have to add money to it. You can scan your id card along the box on the wall to add money to the air conditioner. If you don’t put money into the air conditioner, it will automatically shut off and won’t work. Usually you and your roommate pay half and half so it’s not so expensive. Also, beds are not lofted and cannot be lofted. There are storage compartments underneath where you can put your clothes. The closest is a little small so don’t pack a ton of clothes. Also, there are no cable lines in here so you have to watch TV in the lounges if you want to. I think with all the dorms you have to have an ethernet cable as well. Trying to set up the internet at first will be a big pain, but you’ll figure it out eventually.
So far, I’ve made a few close friends here. One girl named Jocelyn who is from New Jersey and the other girl whose name is Kathrine. She’s from Germany. All of us usually go travel Hong Kong every weekend. There’s so much to do in Hong Kong that even after going out so much, there is still so much more I haven’t seen.
As for school, their format is a little different here. All of the classes are either 2 or 3 hours long. When you’re used to 50 minute classes, it gets a little tough to pay attention. But, we get breaks around every hour so it’s not too demanding. Rather than have classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday or Tuesday, Thursday, classes are mostly just once a week. Right now, I’m taking about five classes including an introduction to Cantonese course. Even after just a couple weeks, I firmly believe that Cantonese is much more difficult than Putonghua. I would say that I’m the only Caucasian in 3 out of 5 of my classes. Sometimes it’s a big challenging, but the other students are friendly and are always curious to ask questions about where you’re from and what your major is and other various things. The only problem I really have about the schooling is that the classes are so far away. Some of the classes are close, but most of the time you have to walk up hill to get to what they call “Old campus (Ho Sin Hang)” where most of the classes are.
The biggest problem you’ll come across here is the heat. It’s always hot here no matter what time of day it is. If you study from August-December like I am, pack nothing, but shorts and shirts. Maybe the occasional light jacket because it does get cold sometimes in the buildings. I’m used to the Ohio weather where it is only warm about 4 months out of the year. It’s like having an extended summer here. So, just pack lots of t-shirts and shorts if coming in the fall.
If you’re like me are a picky eater, you should try to prepare yourself for “real” Chinese food. There are McDonald’s on every block, but you can’t eat it every night. Most of the food that the grocery stores and restaurants carry are Chinese or Japanese. The grocery store called “Jusco” in the Lok Fu shopping center (closest grocery store to campus) sells some American things like Frosted Flakes, Cheerios, and fanta (the drink, very very popular here).
When traveling, most frequently you will take the MTR (subway). There’s a funny video of the MTR in Hong Kong up on youtube if you just type ‘MTR song’ in the search toolbar. But, the MTR is definitely the way to go. It may be busy, but you can go anywhere in Hong Kong using it. First thing when you get here is to get an Octopus card though. Octopus cards are sort of like pre-paid debit cards. You can use them on most vending machines, stores, and MTR stations. You upload money on it in the MTR stations. It’s very convenient and is very very useful when you don’t have any cash on you.
So far, I’ve been having a great time. I’ve got to do tons of shopping and visit some very breathtaking places. It’s good to know, but speaking Cantonese is not a necessity. I can get around town just fine. If it wasn’t for doing this program, I would probably have never met the people I hang out with now. It’s really interesting though. I get to live and feel what it’s like to live in Chinese culture. I’m going to have a Bachelor’s degree in Asian Studies so I’m really happy I had the chance to live here in Hong Kong to truly understand all things that make up the degree.
If anyone wants to e-mail me with more questions or comments, my e-mail is: jward@bgsu.edu
I also have tons and tons of pictures and videos up of my time here thus far on my myspace. You have to be added as my friend to read my blogs with the videos in them, but you can go to my pictures and see those without adding me as a friend. So, if you want to see videos, you have to add me. Otherwise, just go to my profile and check out the pictures.
Until next time,
Jessica