1. Your study programme or your internship programme
I studied at the university of Hong Kong at the Journalism and Media Studies Center. A lot of exchange students take an exchange as an opportunity to take courses offered at other departments then the one they study at back home. Being a media studies student back in Groningen I did the opposite because of the difference in the courses offered here than at faculty at the RUG. I chose courses that were all very hands on such as photography, magazine design, and online journalism. I’m extremely happy with the courses I took here.
The course load was doable, maybe even a little lighter then back in Groningen, which for an exchange student is a huge benefit. These courses also didn’t have exams. Although I was quite busy in November because I had a lot of final projects, I did have the entire month of December free to travel while a lot of other people were in exams and studying. I learned a lot of skills which are not available at the RUG. For example, I greatly improved my skills in InDesign during magazine design, which is a skill that I can use later in life. The teachers overall in this department are great. Most of them are from English speaking countries so there was no language barrier. They were also very involved in the student community, so if you have an issue or problem they are very understanding and aren’t too strict with
deadlines if you let them know beforehand. The university itself is very impressive. It is very very large (takes approximately 20 minutes to walk across campus completely). The facilities are also excellent. The local students that I was in class with were all very open to exchange students, however they are sometimes hard to work with because they are not as proactive as European students are used to. Which means that they often just wait until someone assigns them a task with a clear objective instead of helping brainstorm or participate.
2. Language
Language in Hong Kong is quite hard to understand. They speak Cantonese here which is a more difficult version of mandarin. Though I did my best to learn some basic words, I only learned how to count to 5 and say thank you. But Hong Kong having been a British colony until the handover to China in 1997, most people speak basic English and you can
communicate at a basic level. The other nice thing that historic fact has brought Hong Kong, is that all the street signs and names are (generally) in English. This may not seem important but places like Korea don’t have this and it really complicates navigating and understanding where you are. At university, some teachers are hard to understand because of their accent, this complicates understanding the class materials, but most of them work with PowerPoints and readings so you can easily get the information from there.
3. Finance and other conditions
Going on exchange is expensive. It costs you a lot of money so be aware of that before you apply. Having said that, Hong Kong is a cheap city to live in. Most meals cost between 4-10€
so living on a budget here is possible. However, there are many costs that you need to be aware of. Activities are a big part of the spending of your budget. Things like boat parties and student gatherings always cost around 10-25€ without any drinks or extras. Another factor that plays into living in Hong Kong is the lack of space and therefore a kitchen. Most university accommodation have a common room that you share and where induction plates are available to cook on. But since it’s so cheap and easy to eat out, food is definitely my biggest outgoing cost. Another thing to be aware of is the cost of alcohol. Though it is of course not a concern for every exchange student, alcohol in a bar or club is very expensive. A beer is on average 7-11€ in any bar, restaurant, or club. This is something to consider
because this is a drastic difference between Hong Kong and Groningen. Overall, I stayed in a 1500€ per month budget.
4. Preparation and contacts with the faculty before, during and after your stay
The contact with my faculty went very smoothly as it was a very small faculty. I had an issue with enrolling for a class, but they immediately made an appointment for me with the head of admissions and the issue was resolved. During my stay, not much contact was needed as they classes were straight forward. One thing I would recommend is contacting the faculty with your course list from your home university and asking them if that is sufficient for the courses you want to take at HKU (in particular for business and engineering). A lot of my friends ran into problems while applying for courses they wanted to take because they were deemed too hard for their level.
5. Housing
Getting housing is difficult at HKU, they have a lot more exchange students than housing available. I emailed them before hand with the question of what I needed for the application (which is online). It is a first come first serve basis, therefore the faster you apply the more likely you will get accommodation. Almost all accommodation is shared, which I did not find a very big issue, but I can imagine some might think differently about this. One thing I can say for sure is that you are rarely ever home as you’ll most likely be experiencing the city or be at the uni. The state of the housing differs per accommodation. I stayed at Pokfield Road Residence which is one of the most run-down places they offer, however I thought it was fine for the half year that I lived there. Lastly, money wise getting university accommodation is very important as off campus housing can easily cost 1000€ a month in Hong Kong, so be aware of this when you apply to the university.
6. Culture
Kong Kong’s culture is very predominant throughout the city. Though very modernized, the older traditions and values of the population are still visible in the interaction between people and the older shops and restaurants. Though the people in Hong Kong are not the friendliest at times, they are open to different experiences and learning different things.
7. Free time
I found that I had a lot of free time. Almost every weekend I went hiking (there are some amazing hikes and views around the city), went to the beach or did something cultural.
There is also a “reading week” in the middle of the semester which is supposed to be for studying but most students use this for travelling (I visited Seoul for 8 days).
8. Travelling
In total I visited 5 countries; South Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka. I had more enough time to visit all these countries and seeing that Hong Kong is quite central in Asia and is a very big air traffic hub, the flights are quite cheap to all places.
9. Other
