Studying in HK

It is now week 3 of school and the workload is getting heavier and heavier by the week. Deadlines for assignments looms ahead and there's gonna be some tests here and there. I guess it's time for me to settle down, not think of playing everyday and start to do my readings. Well, it's Student Exchange Program. Students means you are still studying and studying means you got to mug a bit. The ideas of S/U keeps lingering behind my head but still, I need to study.

This semester seems to be have the heaviest workload since i started university life. I am currently doing 6 modules, 4 geography, 1 elective and 1 cantonese module. I used to tell myself I will never do 6 mods in one semester and yet I am doing it on what is supposed to be the slackest semester for me (exchange don't need to study hard right?)

The cantonese module was a last minute decision. I knew a little cantonese before I came over to HK and I realise that little cantonese is not enough. On the streets, in the school canteen, on the bus, at my hostel, everyone converse in cantonese. At times, I feel so lost in a world of cantonese words. Especially if you are chinese, most Hong Kong-ers will assume you speak cantonese, so they will speak to you in canto. If I can understand, I will reply them in canto. That spells trouble as they will continue blabbering on in canto and I will just have to ask them to repeat in mandarin. During my hall orientation (Hall-O), the local students were speaking in cantonese most of the time during the activities and I really appreciate the few locals who translate what they said into english for us exchange students. Part of me wanted to join in the fun for all 4 days but part of me don't want to feel awkard and lost in front of them. Sometimes at canteen, I really can't understand what the canteen auntie is telling me. If I am lucky, that auntie can speak putonghua. If not, I gonna have to guess what she means, and that may lead to a disastrous meal that is served to you. So, I was thinking, since I am in Hong Kong, wouldn't it be a pity if I don't learn cantonese?

At least the choice was right. I enjoyed the class (even though i only attended one lesson and it is freaking early at 9.30am). The teacher (Leung sin sang) is so damm funny and he totally loves to talk cock (chui shui). The 3 hours just passes by very quickly and I would say I feel more comfortable speaking in cantonese after just one lesson. Now, I will try to speak cantonese to my roomie! Practice makes perfect so I gotta speak more.
My geography modules are interesting and insightful in their own way. Transport and Logistic is my favourite so far. There are really a lot of things that I have learnt after just 3 lectures and things are getting interesting as I start to see the link among the different theories. NUS doens't offer transport and I am really happy i got to do it here. Third World Development gave me a very good insight into globalisation and the impacts of western colonisation on many colonies! Understanding Ecotourism brought me on a field trip to Lion Nature Education Centre in Sai Kung and being on a field trip feels like FS09 all over again. The taking down of notes in our notebooks, taking photographs. The only thing that is missing is the jumpshots! Population & Migration is something new to me and I have only been through 2 lecture (one was cancelled due to the typhoon) so I can't comment much. And another elective Magic, Myth & Supernatural offers explanation to the existance of myths, urban legends, superstition, rituals etc etc... The lecture are always fun to attend!


Lion Nature Education Centre at Sai Kung. Basically a park where many different species of plants are grown for people to visit and learn. Like a big eco-garden.

The beautiful greenery in HK. Hiking's up next!
Lecturer giving an outdoor lesson and everyone busy taking notes. Looks like Field Studies right?

Our attempt at a self shot group photo! Grasses is our project topic!

Today marks my first month anniversary of living overseas. Time seems to fly by and it has already been one month since I left sunny Singapore (in HK, it is as sunny as well...). It takes some time to get used to living by oneself overseas but I still don't miss home. It was must the company that I have over here in HK.

Living overseas means having to learn many things from scratch. I still remember on my first day in the hostel, I don't really know how to operate the washing machine. Being a noob, I also didn't know how much washing powder to put (at home, it was just one spoon of powder into the machine). Then, I also learnt that I have to put my clothes in the dryer for at least 25 minutes for the clothes to dry. I have also learnt to compare prices when buying things, need to budget a bit. On top of all these things, still got my school work to handle (well, I am not going to study real hard....)

Travelling is part and parcel of SEP and I have travelled to quite a few places. Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Macau. Well, not a lot actually as HK is relatively well connected to many palces. And there are still many parts of HK which I have not explored. Hmm, I did have this crazy idea of getting off at every MTR station and checking out what's in the surrounding of the station. I guess that will cost lots of $$..... Perhaps taking long bus rides to the more remote parts of HK will be a better idea?

Well, 3 more months to go and I have lots of places I want to go! Next stop, Taipei!!!!

@CUHK

It has been 4 days in CUHK and it's the end of orientation tomorrow. Will be moving out of our orientation dorms and into our permanent dorms, where we will meet our roomie for the next 4 months. Orientation here for exchange students isn't like the orientation camps that nus has. No screaming and cheering and stupid games. Just campus tours, administrative issues, talks, course registration etc etc. Well, the schedule still allows us to hit town for the night before coming back to school, in time to catch the shuttle bus uphill to ur dorms.

Just like any orientation, you meet a lot of people. Some will become good friends, some will be acquaintance while there will be some others whom you will forget. Saying, "Hi! I am Shan Jun. What's your name?" and a handshake, followed by "Where are you from?" is like the typical and SOP when you meet someone. One can't possibly remember 101 names in one day so those that I tend to remember are the ones that I had a more meaningful conversation with. Another thing I have to admit, all ang mohs looks the same to me. I really could not differentiate David from Paul and Mary from Alice. I could only remember my fellow sgporeans exchange mates names well, as well as the random people in the Singaporean clique.

Talking about clique, just like any other orientation, cliques are bound to form. Since we exchange students are all new in a foreign country, we tend to stick to our own clique. There are the ang moh clique (some cliques are like all americans or all germans), the PRC cliques, the korean cliques, the japanese cliques and of course the Singaporean Clique. Of course, there may be one or 2 people of another nationality joining a particular clique. Of course, yours truly is sticking in the familiar Singaporean clique, where i can just ratter off in singlish freely. Well, I do try to speak in standard english where there are non-sgporeans around. I don't mix only with singaporeans only ok?

Speaking is another interesting thing here. To some who are not as proficient as us in english, we have to speak slower. To some, we have to speak in standard english with a certain slang so that they could understand us. It's tiring at times but that's how it goes here.

Socializing is another thing that we have to constantly do. If you are stuck in a lift with students from other nation, or the person seated next to you in the LT happens to be an american, even in the toilet while you are brushing your teeth or filling up your bottle in the pantry, you are bound to meet someone whom you may or may not know. Apart from the "Hi I am blah blah blah" thing, the situation makes it such that you have to bring the conversation to another level and that is socializing. You think of topics to talk about, chat about your home country, chat about things that you know about the other party's country. One can gain a lot of insights through these conversations.

For example during the Welcome Dinner, we were seated with a few Swiss and americans and it is probably their first time having a chinese banquet dinner. We, as chinese, would definitely need to tell them more about chinese food, how we eat, the dos and don'ts on the table etc etc.... I am of course proud to introduce the chinese culture to them and they were as equally amazed and at times amused at the things chinese do. For example, the swiss guys were so amazed when they saw the chicken head served on the plate along with the chicken meat. They were also curious on how to use chopsticks the correct way. (Talking about chopsticks, all the westerners on my table were trying their best to use the chopsticks even though the westerners were provided with fork and knife. When in China, do what the Chinese do!) I am equally happy to share what I know with them and I did enjoy hearing stories from them about food back in their home country. That's what SEP is all about! Mix around and get to learn more!

Well, tomorrow we shall all be separated and I shall be moving into a hall, where the majority are locals. Another round of socializing shall begin all over again and I may need to use terms like " lei hou ma?", "lei sek jor fan mai?" etc etc.... Well, I did come to Hong Kong to learn more about this place and improve my cantonese. So I shall not be one of those anti-social people who will hide in their room the whole day.

Adam Schall Residence (our orientation hostel)

My room for 4 days.

the small bed.

walking around in Central (taken at IFC mall)

Group picture (6 sporeans, 1 malaysian and 1 japanese)

we each got our little mailbox.

Welcome Dinner for IASP students

Cam-whoring

Group picture before the dinner!

After like close to 8 hours of travelling, I am finally back from Shanghai in Hong Kong once again. Lugging a 15kg backpack and crossing the border at shenzhen is really a bit crazy.

Once on campus, it was going around school settling all the admin stuff. Getting our matric card, getting information on course registration, checking into orientation hostel, setting up bank account, setting up internet, getting lost around school, conquering the slopes and stairs in CUHK. Phew! Most of these stuffs are settled. Next up will be course registration which I hope it won't be a pain in the ass. I think I won't ever complain about NUS anymore. The hill in NUS is nothing compared to here.

Still trying to get around with my broken cantonese. Did manage to ask for some stuff in cantonese as the other party could not speak english or mandarin. Even had to help some ang moh translate into canto at supermarket. Speaking a bit of canto is ok, but when the other party start to reply in bullet-train speed cantonese, I will just switch to mandarin.

Ok. Time to hit the town. What's exchange without enjoying ourselves?