Lung Yip Sang

Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
Exchange to Curtin University of Technology, Australia

In February 2006, I was chosen from my department and got the chance to go to Perth as an exchange student. That period gave me a valuable experience in learning and also broadened my horizons. I would like to express my special thanks to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Cheung Kong. In addition to the sponsorship from my university, Cheung Kong gave me the scholarship, which greatly supported my expenditure during the exchange period that enabled me to fully enjoy my exchange without financial worries.

Perth is a city in Western Australia, which is far away from the Eastern part of Australia, like Sydney. Perth is a quiet city when compared to Hong Kong. However, this city provided me with a very good study environment. There are a few universities in Perth and I was at the Curtin University of Technology during the exchange period. This University is six kilometres south of the city centre and it takes around 30 minutes of traveling to get to the city centre. The campus of the University is very large, with large grass areas that cannot be found at the universities in Hong Kong. Students can sit on the grass, having their lunch, reading books and chatting with friends. These activities made me feel very relaxed and I enjoyed brainstorming while sitting on the grass under the shining sun.

There are nearly 11,000 international students at the University. People there, especially at the University, will not think anything special if they see a Chinese person, because there are quite a number of international students from China, Singapore, Japan and Malaysia. People there are very nice to all those international students. I did not face any discrimination problems there. The computer facilities are more or less the same as universities in Hong Kong and students can use the computer in the libraries or in their department. The lessons are more interactive, as the students are more willing to put up their hands, answer and ask questions.

I lived in a dormitory near the University, with six people living in one flat. My housemates were all from different countries, including Singapore and Malaysia. They are all very nice and we celebrated birthdays with the housemates. During the exchange period, I learnt to live independently, especially when it came to learning how to cook. In Perth, the living style is very different to Hong Kong. Shops close around five to six in the evening – only some restaurants or bars stay open at night, therefore I had to buy food from the store and cook my own dinner. When I first arrived in Perth, it took some time to adapt to the environment there, as well as the food. The weather is very dry and hot, but there is still some breeze so it is still comfortable. There is nearly no air pollution as I saw blue skies everyday. I took a hydrographic surveying course there and as part of the practical work I needed to take measurements from the river. The river was very clear, I could not imagine being able to see jellyfish in the river, I even saw a dolphin!

Besides studying at the University as an exchange student, I stayed a period of time in Perth. This was a wonderful chance to discover and learn more about the culture and history of that place. I decided to visit all the museums in Perth. However, as some of the museums were under repair, I could only visit most of them. I discovered that most of the visitors at the museums were foreign people, I seldom saw an Asian. That is a relatively big difference to the city centre where I saw many Asians. As I remembered, when I visited the Army Museum, one security guard asked me my reasons for going to the museum. I chatted with him for a while, I guess he was surprised that a young Asian would have interest in visiting that museum.

Perth gave me the feeling of a totally different living style. A city with many different nationalities of people, the living style is more relaxed and comfortable. It is also a place with beautiful scenery, very suitable for learning because there is little enticement. In Hong Kong, you can buy whatever you want very easily, however, this would sometimes be impossible in Perth and things are also more expensive than in Hong Kong. The school library was very important to me, as the books there are quite expensive. I treasured this exchange journey, as I may never have the chance to do so again.

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