Steven Pang

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong
Exchange to University of New South Wales, Australia

“Wow, Australia!” - this was the very first thing I said to myself when I found out that I was selected to go on academic exchange to Australia. These were also the words I heard when my parents found out the news, except that they replaced the “Wow” with “What?”

The pictures of Sydney still come to mind from time to time. The Kensington campus of the University of New South Wales (UNSW), the Anzac Parade, Coogee, Bondi, Manly, Circular Quay and Chatswood (where my aunt lives) are all memorable places, filled with fun experiences and memories. I still recall the one occasion when I walked from UNSW campus to Circular Quay on foot. Yes, on foot! I believe walking through the city is a very nice way to experience local life, though it is quite exhausting.

Through the university, I had the chance to experience tandem skydiving. I know that if I were in Hong Kong, I would not be able to attempt it for 2 reasons – the first being that there is no such business operating in the region, and the second being that my parents would be so worried. This experience was so great, except for the fact that my skydiving instructor accidentally switched off the video camera before we jumped off the plane, which meant that I could not get the DVD of the whole experience.

Somehow I could not stay in a single place for long, though Sydney was a very nice place to live in. Throughout my exchange, I have managed to visit as many places as I could, including the capital city of Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane, Byron Bay and most parts of Tasmania. The time in Tassie was particularly nice and I was able to meet quite some number of wild animals, like wallabies digging on the beach, peacocks jogging around in Cataract Gorge in Launceston, and a snake as thick as an umbrella (and all snakes are extremely poisonous on the island state!).

To my friends, my exchange probably means chocolates to them, as I managed to bring back a dozen packs of Tim Tams to Hong Kong. They are surely a blessing of Australia, being such a wonderful snack. Probably they make Aussies happy too?

Australia certainly gave me very fine moments. I made lots of friends from all over the world, making my friend list on Facebook highly international. For now, I enjoy talking with them over the internet, through instant messaging and Facebook, but for sure this cannot substitute the moment when I first met them in the Aussie land.

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