An ordinary and great day at HKUST

Many of our blog posts have been about trips, outings and special events that we've experienced during our exchange term. Those were indeed awesome, but I also wanted to share how a regular, normal day would be for us as exchange students at HKUST. There were days where we didn't go out because, yes, we had to study! Although I may have complained and grumbled about being stuck in the library, I still view every part of my experience as a luxury. We were able to travel halfway across the world to attend a great university, continue to learn and expand our knowledge base, meet new friends, experience Hong Kong culture, eat such delicious foods and see beautiful sights. So I would like to share, from my point of view, what a normal day would be like for an exchange student experiencing student life at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology :) I hope you read on and enjoy!

7:30am was still too early...in any time zone. But, I made a vow to myself to not sleep in and skip classes during my time here. After all, the grades I achieve here at HKUST still counts towards my GPA for graduate admission committees...

The room was dark; I would have love to throw the curtains wide open but I didn't want to wake my sleeping roommate. I sneakily took my toiletries and proceeded out of our room door.

I would say that my roommate and I probably have one of the best rooms on the floor. It was far away from the washroom so we don't get disturbed by students walking past our bedroom, slamming doors and showering at ungodly hours. In addition, instead of having a room directly across from us, we have a balcony that displayed crisp Clear Water Bay scenery and beautiful mountains. There would be times where, if I woke up early enough in the morning, I would enjoy a few moments out on the balcony, taking in the glorious view and feeling the morning breeze.

I had to hurry though. Jordan and I would usually meet for breakfast before our morning classes. The thought of breakfast made me brush my teeth a bit faster. Mmm pork buns, congee and fried noodles. The food at the cafetaria of HKUST was unusually cheap to us for a few reasons. Firstly, it was subsidized by the HK Government, so it's less expensive in comparison to other foods in HK. Secondly, it's simply cheaper than the food in North America. For example, we can get a decent sized breakfast for about $2 CAD (a pork and fried noodles or taro/carrot cake 蘿蔔糕).

HKUST has 7 residential buildings, named Undergraduate Hall Block 1 to 7. My room was in UG Hall III, which is one of the ones closest to Clear Water Bay. Jordan was located at UG Hall 1, the halls closest to classes and the university. So, during the mornings, I would walk from my hall and meet Jordan at the top of his hall to go for breakfast. Getting to class was not easy feat. I was so used to living 5 minutes walk on level ground to get to my classes in Waterloo. Mind you, sometimes I had to walk another 10-15 mins to get to the other side of campus, but at least it's all flat. Here in HKUST, there are many many elevators, stairs and escalators.

The different elevations of HKUST

The hallway from UG Hall 1 to the main academic building

In order for me to get to my res to classes, I would need to take a elevator up 10 floors, walk about 500 meters to the bottom of Hall I, take another elevator up 10 floors, walk another 250 meters and then I would be at the bottom of the university building. Then, an escalator would bring me up to the cafeteria and another escalator would take me up to the Atrium/Great Hall of the University and libraries. From there, a main academic building would be where most of our classes are held. Compared to the size of universities in Canada, HKUST is quite small. According to Wiki, HKUST has about 9000 undergrads and 3000 post grads.

The view atop UG Hall I was nice. There was a vast view of Clear Water Bay but also the HKUST buildings closer to the shore, including my building, other UG Halls and the outdoor swimming pool. We were able to experience the outdoor swimming pool a couple times when it opened in the later months of our term!

Some mornings, I would wait a few moments atop UG Hall I for Jordan and other mornings, he would be there waiting for me - it was an even split. We would then walk to the beloved cafeteria (Lower Ground 7 - LG 7) to get our first meal and get our day started.

Jordan: jóusàhn! jok tong lok bak guo, m̀mh gòi! (congee and carrot cake, please!)
Cafeteria lady: Ah, neih sīk góng gwóngdùngwá a? (Ah, you speak Cantonese?)
Jordan: siu siu! (A little!)
Cafeteria lady: *giggle*

The cafeteria ladies loved Jordan. To be fair, they really like any students who aren't Chinese or full Chinese to speak Cantonese to them. I think they take joy in how hard some of the exchange students are trying and also perhaps their accents. I, as a person who looks full Chinese, usually would order in Mandarin. I really should've tried to learn more Cantonese, but I found that Mandarin got around well there and sometimes the ladies would inquire about my background and my accent.

The fried noodles, congee and carrot cake were devoured in a matter of minutes. Sometimes we would get a drink too; Hong Kong milk tea is pretty awesome. The breakfast was small and light but greasy enough to sustain us for the next few hours until lunch again. Now that would be a big meal!

It was time to head to our classes. HKUST is an university that boasts about its research and teaching in science and technology, so I wanted to make sure I take advantage of the situation and increase my knowledge in those aspects. Plus, some of the classes just sound so interesting! My list of classes that I took from HKUST are as follows:

Tumour Biology
Animal Physiology
Introduction to Neuroscience
Ancient Chinese Philosophy
Modern East Asia

One of the most prominent thing I noticed when attending class at HKUST is how students behave in class. I'm not sure if it's only the students here at HKUST or students in Hong Kong in general, but there were many of the students who talk a lot during the class. I find that at UW when students talk in class, it is usually in a lecture of over 300 people and the talkative ones would usually sit in the back. But here, I found that even in a class of only 40, students would sit in the second row of the classroom and talk while the professor is lecturing. A couple of my professors implemented the no talking rule, which worked well and kept the class in order but some of my other professors simply kept lecturing. There were a couple times I, and other students, had to ask the blabber mouths to be quiet...

Instant coffee often accompanied me during classes. Most of my classes were interesting but I still needed help to keep me awake because I party so hard every single night :P Hehe, not really. Many of my classes had other exchange students in it; it was nice to be able to spend class time with people who were in the same boat as I. However, I did get the chance to become friends with some local students due to how we chose our seats and also through group projects. I was fortunate to be placed in groups with people who were intelligent and organized so the group project process was fairly smooth.

Alongside my instant coffee, thoughts about food would often filter in and out of my mind throughout my late morning class. Lunch was nearing - there were a few options of students to fill their stomachs and replenish their energy. LG 1 was a nice place to get some roasted pork and BBQ chicken as well as snack buns and Cantonese dishes. LG 7 offered a vast assortment of Chinese foods and also some Italian cuisine (although it is never that popular). The Cafe located in the academic building offered Western food for students to either try something different or for a 'taste of home'. Jordan and I would mainly cruise around LG 7 and LG 1 testing out different dishes and finding out our favourites so we can repeatedly order them. One of Jordan favourites was the Chicken nuggets with squid rice 章鱼鸡粒. I, being a soup noodle fanatic, liked 'Build your noodles' entree that allowed me to choose the type of noodles, soup base and ingredients such as squid balls, bok choy and chicken.

Having Ramen at LG 1 (during our first day)

There is an McDonald's on campus...how convenient!

We soon discovered after the first few days in Hong Kong that in order to compensate for the hot and humid weather outside, the AC is blasted throughout the buildings on campus. So, whenever we were in class or at the library, we would make sure to have a sweater with us and a hot cup for coffee or tea. One of the greatest things about HKUST campus that both Jordan and I enjoyed is that their fountains offer HOT water. So, if we were studying one day and found our level of tea to be too low, we can conveniently go to the hot water dispenser and fill our tea up. Amazing.

Our school day would often end around 3pm. The Atrium is usually bustling with people heading in many different directions. One thing worth mentioning is HKUST's amazing school spirit. If you are a Canadian student, imagine your orientation week - except it is 4 times as long, 3 times as loud and ran by about a third of the people. Each of the UG Halls has a committee or society, and for the month of class, their job is to promote their team, get support and be the loudest, most committed group ever. They would stand in the Atrium from morning to afternoon, shouting cheers and chants, and providing the students with activities and prizes such as folders, paper and pens. Keep in mind, this happens during class time, so these devoted students are missing class from a few weeks in order to plan, organize, and carry these events out. From an outsider, I'm not quite sure if there are more pros and cons to doing this type of thing, but I suppose it depends on each student.

Cheer cheer cheer!

And dance it up too!

Trinity - the name of the tribe for UG III, my residence!

The school day was over - another adventure starts! A regular day at HKUST would mean an adventure almost every single night. There were many types of evenings that we experience here at HKUST - study nights, chilling by the water nights, partying nights, hanging out with friend nights, exploration nights, random what-do-we-do-lets-do-this nights. Each was special, fun and exhausting in it's own way. We would often meet up with exchange friends and go try out new foods and restaurants away from the university and later, meet up with others for some drinks at LKF (Lan Kawi Fong, a ultimate party area in central HK). Or, we would head on together as a group to the infamous Mr. Wongs, a little tiny restaurant that serves food and pretty much all you can drink beer for an equivalent of $6.00 CAD. As students, that was like heaven to us. Or, we would head over to someone residence and have a night of playing mahjong and bet with candies that were bought from the little shop in the residence building. Or, we would venture out to a nearby subway station with hopes to reach of goal of visiting every MTR station before we left (goal was not reached *sad face*). Or, we would have the honor to be able to celebrate a fellow student's birthday and head to nearby karaoke bar to sing our hearts out. Both Jordan and I were fortunate enough to have our birthday in the first half of the year, so we got to spend our birthdays with our exchange friends!

Some nights were more chill - we would take some drinks out by Clear Water Bay to enjoy the smooth music of the waves and the ocean breeze. Sometimes, we would spend out evening gazing out at stars and the bright moon and attempt to improve our photography. And some nights were spent studying in the library; although it might've seemed boring compared to being outside enjoying the scenery, food and activities, it was still great to be able to increase our knowledge and learn.

And so, that would be one of the many days that we spent at HKUST. The evening would end with me returning to my bed exhausted, warm, but extremely happy.

Below are just some photos I picked out randomly from our adventures. There are tons and tons more photos and memories that we have, but hopefully these can give you a glimpse of our daily adventures in HK and at HKUST!

Enjoying some street food in Mongkok with Chris! After a day of walking, we were exciting to be eating...more.

Some Cantonese opera at Sai Kung, after some seafood feasting :)

Dessert with some friends! (from left: Nigel, Jean, Kelvin, Chris, Jordan)

I wish I was ambidextrous. Double amounts of food!

The busy streets of Mongkok at night

Jordan participating in the society's activities in the Atrium of HKUST. 心想事成 is a way of saying
"may your wishes come true"

A little market by Tuen Mun station

Grabbing some noodles!

At one of the amazing museums in HK (this was the HK Museum of Culture)

One of the epic nights at Mr. Wongs - lots of food and lots of beer ;)

The infamous Mr. Wong

Our friends Nigel and Nelson participate in a cook-off competition at the school!

Lots of mirrors at the Science museum

Optical illusion!

Strolling along the water at one of the MTR stations :)

Enjoying some street food! With Kelvin and Chris

Celebrating my birthday at one of the restaurants at our university! (Back left to right: Nigel, Thomas, Che, Chris, Kelvin, Rayleigh, Kevin, Ricky. Front left to right: Jean, Melody, Jaymie, Angelica)

Karaoking!! (Back left: Jaymie, Jean, Melissa, Rayleigh, Anders. Front left: Sitt, Melody, Kevin, Thomas(

Nom nom BBQ pork pastry!

Stocking up some beers from the local Park n Shop (or as I like to call it, Park n Fly)

Enjoying some time by the water.

Alice, Jordan's friend, visited us in HK and we took her around - like we were locals!!!

Mahjong and serenading night at UG Hall II

Trying out some delicious sushi

Enjoying some ice cream after a day of kayaking!

Jordan's birthday dinner at a Shanghai-nese restaurant. (From left: Nigel, Cindy, Melody, Jordan, Anders, Leo, Nelson, Che, Rayleigh, Ricky, Bryce, Jean, Jamie).

Enjoying some time on the IFC patio (from left: Jean, Melissa, Ricky peeking out, Kevin, Leo)

The boys having some drinks at the highest bar in the world - Oasis Bar. (from left: half of Bill, Kevin, Jordan, Hitch, Leo)

Moon gazing with Anders

The moonlit sea and school

At Happy Valley betting on some race horses!

Chilling out on IFC patio

Om noming on some cake at Seaside Restaurant. (From left: Angelica, Bill, Rayleigh demolishing his slice of cake, Zeya)

Random shenanigans happening. Too many people to name :P

We are at Admirality station! With Leo - he took us out for some amazing food

Splitting the dessert amongst hungry exchange students

My dad came to visit us on our last few days in HK. This was atop the peak!

Note: if you haven't done so already, check out MORE photos from our trip (taken mostly by Jordan). https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/100392703172222520614/albums