Alexander STANLEY

Student of The University of Adelaide, Australia
Exchange to The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Being of Caucasian complexion in China can turn heads. But a 6ft 2in, Caucasian bloke with a handlebar moustache absolutely blows peoples’ minds.

I lost count of the number of surreptitious selfies and silent stares over my seven months in Hong Kong and wider Asia. Back home in Australia, I miss Hongkongers’ fascination with my facial accoutrement and the halcyon days of ‘Whatsapp’, ’Weibo’ and ’QQ’ superstardom… But it wasn’t all about me. Hongkongers are consummate hosts; unendingly kind, gracious, polite and, best of all, they delight in late night desserts. Even if they are superglued to their smartphones on the MTR and think nothing of whiling away an entire day wandering around one of HK’s mega-malls.

I studied for one semester in the HK equivalent of the ‘bush’, out at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in Shatin, New Territories. A 40 minutes’ subway ride from the CBD, this may as well have been the back of Bourke, by HK’s standards. CUHK staff joked that the nearest traces of ‘civilisation’ were a full three minute ride away, on the famously efficient MTR. But I thought it was ideal: we were far enough away from the real hustle and bustle of Honkers, in our very own on-campusoasis. Amenities included; an art gallery,museums, theatre, student bar, pool, gym, minimart,post office, sports fields, a ‘reflection pond’,hairdresser, coffee shop, koi lake and more than 10different college cafeterias. This was all scatteredover an enormous, sprawling campus with thecharacteristic Cantonese resolve ‘don’t take nofor an answer’ evident in the gravity-defying highrises on ‘unbuildable’ sites. The real bonus forme though was the pockets of lush green space breaking up the campus concrete jungle. And if ever we grew tired of exploring the university, we’d take to the hiking trails crisscrossing the New Territories with breathtaking (literally, on smoggy days) views of Victoria Harbour’s skyline or ‘over the back’ to Mainland China.

Blissfully ignorant of the mind-bending complexities of Cantonese, I got by just fine in English or resorted to a handful of phrases learned during an initial ‘crash course in Canto’. Thankfully, almost all of CUHK’s courses are offered in English. But HK is without a doubt Asia’s ‘World City’ and nowhere was this more evident than on the CUHK campus. I was one of 600+ exchange students, hailing from universities all over the world. I studied International Criminal Law with the Scottish Dean of Law, Public International Law under a Finn with a Master’s from Harvard, and beginner’s Mandarin with a Beijinger and a bornand-bred Hongkonger. The mind still boggles.

Over the course of the semester, I was fortunate enough to travel all over S-E Asia and finished with an overland (and sea) odyssey from Tokyo to Kathmandu, via South Korea, China and Tibet. I also partook in more than my fair share of HK rooftop cocktails, gastronomical delights and frequent nights of floodlit horse racing in the surreally beautiful, aptly named Happy Valley. For all of this, and what I will make sure to be a lifelong bond with HK, I am forever grateful to have received an Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Awards. Do je sai!

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