Sonia Guiliani

University of South Australia, Australia
Exchange to The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

My Hong Kong experience – visually illustrated:

I arrived in Hong Kong on 25 August, 2008. I was fortunate to be there on the Cheung Kong (Endeavour Cheung Kong Student Exchange Programme) Scholarship with the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Prior to leaving, I had just completed 18 months of my Bachelor of Design (Visual Communication) degree specialising in Illustration at the University of South Australia in Adelaide, Australia. CUHK did not have a Design degree; however after researching the courses on offer within the Fine Arts Department, I found that I could apply what I learnt in my Design degree to the Fine Arts degree.

When I touched down at Hong Kong airport, I was greeted warmly at the airport by the staff from the Office of Academic Links, CUHK who had assigned student helpers to escort myself, and other exchange students that were arriving the same day, from the airport back to the university. I spent my first week at orientation camp and roomed with an exchange student from Mainland China. During that week, I got my first taste of Hong Kong by participating in inexpensive orientation excursions with the student helpers and many other exchange students. This was a great way to meet everyone who was in the same position and be exposed to the new city that we were to spend the next 5 months. After orientation week, we settled in to our pre-allocated resident halls. I then had a different roommate who was from Hong Kong. We got along great and she showed me other parts of Hong Kong that only a local would know.

CUHK was established in 1963 and is located in Ma Liu Shui. At the bottom of the campus is the KCR East Rail station, which is southeast of Tai Po and overlooks Tolo Harbour. The CUHK campus is divided into 4 campuses; Chung Chi Campus, New Asia Campus, Shaw Campus and United Campus. I spent most of my time taking studio classes in New Asia campus, and my residence hall was located in United Campus. CUHK has student buses that will transport you down to the rail station and from there, trains will take you into central Hong Kong. The campus is lush with greenery and has many entertainment spots. For instance, there is a student bar, several gymnasiums, cafeterias and tennis courts in the residence halls and in other areas around campus. I would also recommend joining sporting clubs to meet students away from the classroom.

I took courses within the Fine Arts Degree that included a creative workshop, ceramics, sculpture, theory and Chinese expressive painting. 3 of these courses were taught in Cantonese, which was a huge disadvantage as I do not understand Cantonese. However, my fellow classmates offered to translate for me. This was a great way to create a rapport and life-long bond with some of my classmates. They were very generous with their time and patience. The lecturers of these classes were also willing to speak English with me when it was required. The studio classes were great because they were taught practically and even though they were taught in Cantonese, the practical demonstrations were easy to follow. The creative workshop course that I took was most entertaining. We were told to practice the course as artists and the direction was minimal. Within this course we had to produce 3 major art pieces. Each art piece had to be presented as you would expect to see them in an art exhibition. The course was scheduled from 2:30 – 5:30pm, and the presenters of their art pieces would have to provide the lecturer and the rest of the class with food and wine, as you would also expect to get at an art exhibition opening. We would use the class time to present and explain our pieces followed by question, answer and critique time. I also found while studying Fine Arts, that with new friends, a new learning environment and new cultural surroundings, these influences became part of my art work. My experience became very unique in this respect. I could visually and creatively express my response to being in Hong Kong. My self portrait (above) is evidence of that expression and I have depicted myself conquering Hong Kong. I also had the freedom to experiment with technique and concept so that my work became a puzzle for my fellow classmates to piece together. This work is the best souvenir of my time in Hong Kong. It is the result of hard work in very little time. I achieved this while trying to achieve many other things, such as sporting activities, social activities and going on travel adventures.

Hong Kong makes for a convenient gateway to other Asian countries. I chose to go to Hong Kong for many reasons and as a student, you need to weigh up cost of living with access to new cultures. I have previously traveled to the United States of America and Europe. It was therefore only natural to find a place within the Asian sector of the world for my next adventure. I also found that due to many English-speaking Chinese living in Hong Kong, I would not so much feel the affects of culture shock and achieving my goals would be made easier while still experiencing Chinese culture and language. I also had the intention of continuing my studies of the Chinese language at CUHK. Sadly, the language courses clashed with the core courses that I needed to enroll in. My study load was already ambitious, I had signed up to play on the CUHK softball team and I was playing tennis twice a week. During the semester, I also negotiated a little time off from classes and sporting commitments to travel to Phuket, Thailand for a friend’s wedding. The semester did not have as many holidays as the semester at home. In fact, we were studying from September to December inclusive, without a break. However, there were many Chinese celebrations and public holidays to be enjoyed. I also took advantage of weekends to travel. For instance, I had the opportunity to volunteer my time to teaching English to Mainland Chinese high school and primary school students. This was an amazing experience. I traveled with a small group of exchange students. We were warmly welcomed and taken care of with accommodation and meals. The students were overwhelmingly excited to see us. We felt like celebrities and they enjoyed our attention as much as we did theirs.

After the completion of the semester, I also had the opportunity to travel over Christmas and the New Year. I found that booking travel from Hong Kong was relatively inexpensive when booked in advance. Along with a friend I met on campus, we traveled to Beijing and Shanghai in Mainland China, followed by some time backpacking around Vietnam and Japan. It was a great way to celebrate Christmas and between trips, I was able to enjoy Chinese New Year in Hong Kong. I used up most of my university holidays of 2009 overseas and only had a few weeks at home before commencing my final year of my degree back in Adelaide. I have so many highlights from my experience, and am always happy to show off my pictures to anyone who is interested to see them and hear the stories that come along with each and every one of them. Most importantly, I returned to Australia knowing I could far exceed the boundaries of my comfort zone, find sense of achievement in so many things and enrich my thirst for knowledge and understanding.

Additionally, the Cheung Kong (Endeavour Cheung Kong Student Exchange Programme) Scholarship made my experience financially more viable. I also attended an award ceremony in Hong Kong and officially received my award from Mr H L Kam, Group Managing Director, Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited and Mike Rann, Premier of South Australia, who contributed to making it all possible. I will be forever grateful for being a participant. I wish future participants all the best on their adventures of study, travel and meeting other students from all over the world.

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