E-mail:anne_dekleine@hotmail.com
Study Program: Human resource studies
Exchange semester: first
Academic year: fourth
Host University: City University of Hong Kong
Country: Hong Kong/China
General information
I went on exchange to Hong Kong. This is an amazing city with the biggest
skyline ever seen. The city is very crowded and never sleeps. It is a very
interesting city because of the mixture between the western world (used to be
a British colony) and the Eastern world/Asian world. It is a big financial center
and therefore there live people from all over the world. People are very
friendly and helpful. A good thing about Hong Kong is that a lot of people
speak English, which you won’t find in for example Beijing. Everything is more
focused on English which means it is easier to get around.
Although the city itself is very crowded, there is a lot of nature as well and you
can find nice and silent temples whenever you feel you need some peace and
quiet.
The University itself was in the center of Hong Kong which was really easy to
go to from all over the city. Unfortunately I did not get a place on campus, but
I lived quite close to the university which was convenient.
Because Hong Kong is such a big city, there are a lot of nice places to go to.
For clubbing Wan Chai and LKF(Central) are the best places to go to. For
having dinner Mong Kok/Sham Sui Po/ Yau Ma Tei are the cheapest and
Central is really nice to go to but a bit more expensive. In SOHO (Central
station) there are more expensive restaurants where you get mainly western
food for Dutch prices. Moreover, you have to try Dim Sum (‘One dim sum’ at
Prince Edward station).
For playing sports the University itself offers facilities. There is fitness, team
sports and even a swimming pool!
There are a lot of fun things to see and do in Hong Kong. I always checked
the website: discoverhongkong.com, which gives you a lot of different
possibilities.
Also the locals can show you some nice places, and they mostly love to show
you around!
Compared to Tilburg, Hong Kong is completely different. The university level
and mostly your exam is only worth 50 % or sometimes you only have
assignments. Locals are not really hard working in the beginning, they love to
do everything last minute instead of keeping track.
At the university there are a lot of exchange students. Do realize that there is
not really an introduction week as we are used to back home. It was mostly
some practical stuff but there were no parties or anything arranged. This is of
course something you can do yourself but don’t expect a full program in the
introduction week.
In my semester, the exams were planned from the 5th of December until the
20th. We heard the exact exam dates on the 5th of November. As said before,
the exam was mostly 50% and the remaining 50% consisted mainly of
assignments or presentations. The deadlines were stuffed in three weeks in
November, after which you had the exams in December. This gave quite
some freedom for travelling in the first 2 months.
My faculty, social sciences, received our pre-arrival information very late with
a bad excuse. Therefore we knew about 4 weeks, or perhaps even later, after
the economic faculty got information whether we were accepted and we did
not receive our acceptance letter until three weeks later. Because of this, we
did not have enough time to arrange our visa which meant that we had to go
to Hong Kong without our visa and re-enter Hong Kong before the start of the
semester to activate our student visa. The costs of the student visa were
approximately 55 euro. Because everything happened last minute it resulted
in quite some stress and therefore I must say that there were definitely
difficulties in the beginning for the people studying at my faculty.
For arrival there were apparently busses during the introduction week which
took you to the campus of CityU, but as I arrived earlier and did not stay on
campus, it was irrelevant for me. At university, everything went quite
smoothly. The welcome was fine, and we had our student card in no time, but
as said before, don’t expect an introduction week as in Tilburg.
I had a buddy, Sandra, which contacted me beforehand and who I could ask a
lot of stuff which was very convenient. She was really nice, and it was nice to
know one local girl in the beginning.
I booked my accommodation in advance. I did not get on campus, therefore I
arranged a room at a company which another exchange student from Tilburg
told me about. We did not get any support from the university though, only
really expensive apartments so luckily we found this. My room was very small,
about 8m2, and I shared it with another girl who also studies in Tilburg. We
paid 400 euro each which was quite a good price for Hong Kong. If you do not
get on campus, although you should be fine, you can always contact the
organization WKHL or live in Apple dorm.
Living costs
I saved money to pay for my exchange. I worked and saved money for quite
some time. And my father paid a part of my room. My living expenses in Hong
Kong were higher, because I was almost never at home. Which means you
always buy food on the streets which adds up, although food is cheap there.
Also I travelled, which made it obviously more expensive than when being at
home. I spent most of my money on travelling, sightseeing and food. My
budget for housing was 400 each month, food/drinks etc approximately 400
each month, Transport about 50 euros each month and travelling depends on
where you want to go.
Academic calendar
I arrived on the 20th of august and the introduction week started the 25th of
august. The first day of my semester was the 1st of September and last day of
class was around the 3th of December.
International office
There is an international office at the university which can always help you. I
did not really have contact with them, but the information they provided was
good.
Social activities
There was the possibility to subscribe for a buddy program in the beginning.
They organized certain activities with both locals and exchange students. The
exchange students organized mostly parties/gatherings. I had contact with
both exchange students and locals. It is really nice to hang out with locals as
well and not only with exchange students because the locals can show you
certain places which define Hong Kong or let you try the local food.
I went to Beijing and Taiwan during my exchange and afterwards I went to
Thailand. Beijing was amazing, because there you could see the real Chinese
culture because Hong Kong is still different compared to China. And of course
the great wall was an amazing experience. Taiwan is really nice if you want a
country that is not as touristic as most Asian countries. It is a beautiful country
but just not that known.
Culture and language
I think I experienced a bit of a culture shock in the beginning. I had never
been to Asia before and had to get used to the crowd and different habits in
the beginning. Their culture is different from ours mainly because they avoid
conflicts and therefore they will never tell you when they do not like something
you are doing. Moreover, for them it is more important how other people think
of them and that they do not embarrass themselves. People our age almost
never go clubbing, only some do. The reason for this is mainly that it can lead
to embarrassing situations. I learned about my own culture that we are seen
as very direct people.
Another aspect which was different was that I expected them to be less open,
but it is just a matter of getting to know them and they mostly open up. I think
that I learned quite a lot about my host culture, mainly because I had contact
with a group of locals from my class. They told me stories about how they
were raised and how they lived with their family which was really interesting.
Personal development.
What I mainly learned from my exchange is that some cultures have a really
different view. I learned to open up and see it from their perspective.
Academic information
The courses at university were in English. I took psychology courses. This
because I wanted to develop the personal aspect of my studies. The workload
at the university is less and it is easier than in Tilburg. It is more practical as
well, the exams are mostly worth only 50% and for one course I had 2
quizzes, 1 assignment and therefore no exam. The level of English is quite
fine. I had only lectures while taking my courses. The exams were both
multiple choice and open questions.
There is a library at the university where you can print stuff (you get 1600
pages or so for free) and where you can study. There is the possibility to
borrow a laptop for a day at the university.
Courses
Course
GE 2129 Psychology
for young
professionals
GE2223 interpersonal
skills and positive
personal development
SS3701 Psychology of
interpersonal relations
SS3709 Personality
and individual
differences
SS3712 Cognitive
psychology
Prerequisites
None
Basic
psychology
Basic
psychology
Exam
No
exam
ECTS
6
Comments
2 assignments, 2
quizzes
No
exam
6
Assignment and
presentation
Written
6
Presentation, paper
Written
6
Presentation, paper
6
Presentation, paper
Written
Basic
psychology
I think this picture symbolizes Hong Kong very well. On the one hand the beautiful and
peaceful nature and temples and on the other hand the big skyscrapers which show the
crowded city.
A picture taken in Mong Kok (place where I lived) with a friend from Hong Kong.
One of my groups with the teacher.