Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Samuel Lafontaine, HEC Montréal, Canada
6/1/2014, Monday
Today was the day I arrived in Hong Kong. Sixteen and a half hours of flight
and two layovers later, I set foot in what would be my new home for the next five months. After picking up
my luggage at the conveyer belt, I found my way to a taxi and tried to explain to him where I’m going. It’s not always easy in
Hong Kong, with the taxi drivers. Nonetheless, he brought me to CityU and dropped me off in the U circle… I walked the short distance to residence with my luggage, and I signed in to my residence. I was assigned room 707, in Hall 7, Jockey Club Harmony Hall. I
walked into my room and met my two roommates: Leo, from Hong Kong,
and Ronald, from the Netherlands. We talked for a little and we got along very well. I unpacked, and meet the two other students at CityU from my home
university outside; we spent the night exploring CityU and the area around
it.
7/1/2014, Tuesday
We spent the Tuesday
visiting the fishing village in Tai Po. Despite everyone being extremely jet
lagged and tired, it didn’t stop us from enjoying the experience. What is great
about being a Canadian in Hong Kong is that everything is novelty. Every
experience is new; tasting new foods, hearing new languages, discovering new
traditions, etc. From the moment I set foot in Hong Kong I knew I would fall in
love with this place. The fishing village was interesting and particular, but I
would have to say that most of my time was spent meeting new people and making
new friends. After all, the best part about exchange is the everlasting
relationships you build with people from around the world.
8/1/2014, Wednesday
On that day, I decided to go out and explore Hong Kong. Along with
my roommate, Ronald, and a Canadian girl I had met the previous day,
Anne-Julie, I woke up extra early and headed to Kowloon Tong MTR station. Our
first stop was Mong Kok. Upon exiting the MTR, I was shocked. I had never in my
life seen so many people at one place at the same time. The streets were
completely filled with people from all ages, running around busy Mong Kok to
get to one place or another. I was also hit by the different smells all over,
coming from the million food stalls spread around a few blocks. As I had told
myself coming into this exchange, I had to try new things and go out of my
comfort zone. I tried out a few things from the food stalls, which were tasty
and very different. One particular dish that stood out was the fish balls.
After Mong Kok, we went out to Central, where we spent the rest of the
afternoon shopping and hanging around in Victoria Park. We went home just
before dinner, in order to have time to prepare for our first real night out –
in Wan Chai.
9/1/2014, Thursday
After a big night out
meeting more and more incredible people from around the world, I woke up around
10. I headed down to the student residence canteen to have my first noodle soup
with egg and sausage breakfast. I heard some people speaking French, so I sat
down with them. It turned out that these people were also from Montréal, where
I am from. We got to talk a lot, and we all hit it off from the start. After
breakfast, every exchange student had to meet the student exchange club down at
the U Circle. We were all put into different teams, and had to roam the school
in order to take pictures and get as many points as possible. Along with
meeting even more people, this activity has allowed me to discover the school:
all the different lecture halls, the different buildings, the sports complex,
all the different canteens, the pool, the hidden study spots, etc. It was also
good to have my first Dim Sum lunch. I had heard so much about it. All in all,
it was a good day of meeting people and discovering the school. 10/1/2014, Friday
On that day, we all set
sail for Lamma Island. As soon as we got there, we took a picture from all the
exchange students, and when I look back at it, it makes me smile to see that on
that day, I knew only a few people, and 5 months later, I know practically all
of them! We started to hike for about two hours, and to our surprise, ended up
on a beautiful beach. A few of us dared to go swimming but the Hong Kong water
is still freezing in January. Instead, I and a few other guys I had met during the week decided to
play some beach rugby. It was a beautiful day, and I’ll remember it for a long
time. We hiked back to a different spot on the island where the boat took us
back to Hong Kong island. The day ended with a big dinner at AC1 Canteen, and
then we went out in Lan Kwai Fong. The first week of my exchange experience in
Hong Kong was only an indicator of how amazing that experience would be. I am
very grateful for all the good work done by the student exchange club. Labels: 2013/2014 Semester B
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