{"id":6627,"date":"2019-05-24T13:07:04","date_gmt":"2019-05-24T03:07:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/qut-exchange-students\/?p=6627"},"modified":"2019-05-24T13:07:10","modified_gmt":"2019-05-24T03:07:10","slug":"mountains-and-the-hustle-and-bustle-of-hong-kong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/gone-global\/2019\/05\/24\/mountains-and-the-hustle-and-bustle-of-hong-kong\/","title":{"rendered":"Mountains and the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong"},"content":{"rendered":"

Millie G., Bachelor of Creative Industries
\n<\/strong><\/em>Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong (Semester 1, 2017)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Host University<\/strong><\/p>\n

Situated between the mountains behind it and bustling Mong Kok in front of it, HKBU was a wonderful place to undertake my studies in HK. There was such energy about the campus, with market and uni club stalls almost every day of the week, and countless activities to get involved with. The assessment style was quite different to what I was used to doing Creative Industries at QUT. They preferred smaller, cumulative presentations and tutorial involvement to one or two larger pieces of work, and almost all of the presentations and essays were on topics of our own choosing. I was slightly disappointed to find that the units were pretty different to what was described on the syllabus, but I enjoyed them nonetheless.<\/p>\n

Host Country<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I am so incredibly happy with my choice of HK as my exchange destination!!! For such a small place, it\u2019s incredible the variety of things there are to do \u2013 from beaches to museums to night clubs to mountain hiking to temples to shopping to amusement parks, there\u2019s something for everyone. Even just walking around and soaking up the atmosphere of the vastly different districts was something I never got tired of. The city never sleeps with malls staying open till 11 and supermarkets and restaurants till the early hours of the morning. I think this is a big reason why I\u2019ve never felt safer out at night before. I could walk back to my apartment at 2am from another district and there\u2019d still be people minding their own business out at bars and restaurants \u2013 there were never any strange people wandering the street. Certainly made a change from Brisbane haha.<\/p>\n

Being there in the first half of the year was great as I got to experience the more traditional side of HK culture, being right at the front for the Chinese New Year celebrations and Buddha\u2019s Birthday. While people didn\u2019t speak as much English as I expected (particularly in the more traditional Mong Kok district that I stayed in), the locals are incredibly helpful despite the cultural divide. While supermarket and restaurant\/bar prices were comparable to Australia, the cost of things like public transport and market stall goods was significantly cheaper \u2013 it was less than one Australian dollar to get the subway to university each day! That was another thing that made HK so enjoyable \u2013 their public transport system was so amazing. You could get to literally anywhere using the trains and buses, with services coming every couple of minutes. Living off campus, this made exploring and getting around so easy.<\/p>\n

Highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n

Man, literally the whole trip was one big high for me. The city, particularly at night, is so aesthetically beautiful. I honestly had the best time just calling the place my home. But if I had to name a few I\u2019d have to say:<\/p>\n