Settling into life in Hong Kong: the honest truth

By Anna Belsham, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

I have now been in Hong Kong for four weeks and have just completed my third week of studying at HKPU, it has flown by. I came to Hong Kong with a friend that is doing the same course as me and I had already lived with her for two years and we are sharing a room in Hung Hom halls, this took the pressure off a lot as we were in it together and I did not have to worry about meeting a new roommate, however, I have met so many other exchange students who came on their own and they have all got a long well with them and I think that it is a great way to make friends. I was so excited all summer about moving here, but as it got closer it did start to feel a bit daunting that I would be across the world from all of my family and friends for a year and would not be able to just pop on a 2 hour train and go home for the weekend, but i think this is to be expected as its such a big change. Once I had said by goodbyes to everyone and my roommate and I met in the airport, the excitement kicked in and when we arrived in Hong Kong my Dad’s friend met us at the airport and took us to the hotel, we were only here for a night as could not move into accommodation until the next day, I would recommend doing this as it gave us a chance to get some rest before meeting all the other exchange students and moving in. Once we moved into our halls it was just go, go, go from there! Especially as the 1st day we moved in was my 21st Birthday, which felt weird without seeing my home friends and family.

I expected Hong Kong to be obviously very different to Manchester, and I had been to Bali in Asia before, but never a big city like Hong Kong, it still does not feel real that we will be here for a whole year. The heat and humidity was a big shock, we were warned but had never experienced anything like it before, it is starting to cool down a bit now and we are getting a bit more used to it. There are so many things to do here, from beaches, to museums, parks, islands, so many amazing restaurants, the nightlife, malls, hikes and so much more. We only arrived a week before classes start so did not have long to explore the city, especially with all of the welcome events, which I would definitely recommend going to as it is a great way to meet and socialise with other exchanges as well as local students. In the 1st week we did a lot of exploring but still had a lot more we wanted to do, but it is important to remember that there is plenty of time to do and see everything.

About three days into being here I got ill with tonsillitis, which was tough as I just wanted to go out and do everything, but felt so ill I just had to rest. It was tough being ill in a brand new city as I just wanted to be in my own bed and have someone to look after me. But the university health services are so good and you can easily get a doctors appointment.

Something that we did not expect was how expensive the groceries would be and how difficult cooking would be, it is nice to eat out to begin with and try all the amazing foods that they have here. But after a couple of weeks we did start to miss the food from home and it does get a bit annoying having to go out and find food every time you are hungry. But before I came I was told that there is M&S in Hong Kong, so we went there, which was so weird, felt like being at home again it looked the exact same, it was more expensive then in England, but compared to local grocery stores the prices are not to bad and it is nice to have the option to buy home comforts once in a while.

Hong Kong is now starting to feel like home and I feel so lucky to be living in such a vibrant and exciting city for a whole year, there are so many more things that I want to do and areas to explore. So excited to see what amazing memories and experiences I will have in the coming year!