Hi everyone!
I'm an Asian-American going to study abroad in HKU in the fall. I'm really excited! (:
I have a few question..
1. Are most of the people in dorms first year students? I'm going to be a fourth year in the fall. It would be unfortunate to not have anyone around my age.
2. I'm looking at the halls... I'm deciding between Starr, Simon KY Lee, and Swire.
I speak pretty fluent Cantonese with no accent (I think). Communication isn't a problem for me, and I really want to meet more locals. That's why I am kind of dismissing Starr, since it's not really my goal to meet more exchange students. I'm really hoping to befriend many locals that will take me to places.
I did, however, read that hall life there is kind of intense. People are really involved and stuff. I plan to get a lot of traveling done on the weekend, so I don't really know how that would work. Should I just stay at Starr and meet fellow exchange students that might want to travel with me? I'm thinking the more the better.
3. If I'm not really involved, will they kick me out of the dorms. I kind of read about that too... I mean if they kick me out at the end of the semester, I obviously wouldn't mind. I'll be gone by December anyway.
4. Since they put so much emphasis on these halls. Are all the hall mates REALLY close to each other/know each other very well? I mean in America, we are not ever forced to do any activities if we don't want to go.
5. I'm going with a friend, but I'm deciding whether I want to room with her or not. I want to get close to my potential room mate, and I really hope she's a Hong Kong local. The thing that concerns me the most is stealing. ): Does anyone have anything to comment about that?
6. How do the local students feel about exchange students?
7. If the iPhone 5 comes out in America before I go to HK, I think I'm going to buy it and try to use it there. Then... sell it to someone before I come back to America because I am a dedicated Android fan... It's just that my phone is not unlocked, and I want to have a smartphone with me. Does anyone think that this plan will work? I heard that there's a really high demand for iPhones in mainland China, which I plan to go to after I finish school in HK.
Last thing.. does anyone have any advice for an exchange student going to Hong Kong? Like what to bring.. or what not to bring?
Thank you!