Eager to gain international perspectives, CityU students are huge supporters of exchange programmes. At the same time, top-quality non-local students are also recruited around the world to join the CityU community. Let’s hear it from those who have experienced the fun of studying abroad!

Marleen Blomsma, a Year 3 student from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Holland, was glad to have the chance to study in CityU.

This is my first time to be in Asia, and Hong Kong is a very interesting place to live in. First, the learning experience in CityU is quite different compared to the school life in Holland. Here I have much more group work and students are given more guidelines about the assignments.

There were so many fun things to do in the previous months, for example, I was there in a Chinese New Year party organised by CityU, which was really special—I imaged the “party” to be dancing, drinking, and a lot of music, but it actually turned out to be sharing food, creating New Year decorations and playing games. It helped me to learn more the local culture.

To name one more culture shock, it would be that students here stay up late studying, go to class early in the morning and would take a nap during the day! Sometimes you will see people with a neck pillow sleeping the library! That would just never happen in Holland!

All in all, this semester has been an unforgettable experience for me!

Christian Tuwahatu, originally from Indonesia, is a Year 4 Applied Chemistry student at CityU and he spent a semester in Purdue University, USA.

1) What is your best and worst experience aboard?

My best experience was simply to have a completely new vantage point of the world. There was this one exceptional moment, though. It was Thanksgiving Day and like any other places in the US, most of the stores and restaurants were closed that day. But I was visiting my sister and we decided to take a casual stroll in the city of Nashville, Tennessee. As we were out of cash, my sister and I decided to reach the ATM. Next thing we know, there was a homeless guy right behind us who tapped me on the shoulder and said, “I know this is Thanksgiving Day and I just don’t have family or relatives to celebrate.” I was terrified. Albeit my confusion, I immediately offered him a helping hand and asked whether 10 dollars was alright for him. Then he said, “it’s more than enough, kid.” Long story short, I was just in awe that day knowing that we can still be kind to people wherever we are, and 10 dollars which is seemingly nothing for a typical college kid would mean so much for a person in this world.

My worst experience, sadly, is food. Purdue lies in a small college town in North-western Indiana. Not that all the burritos, burgers, and the bagels were bad. It’s just that I couldn’t get the indulgence of a good yum cha (yes, that’s how I knew I missed HK), or even a decent nasi goreng. So, I just had to put back my cravings of these Asian delicacies for my 4 months’ journey.

2) Can you briefly describe your school life in Purdue?

School life was interesting. Unlike here in CityU, Purdue ran classes by having 3x1-hour sessions in a week for a 3-credit course instead of having a straight 3 hour-lecture. This made me excited to go toschool, but don’t ask me why. Classes were also much more interactive, with students asking thought-provoking questions and professors often replying with delicate answers.

Oh, and my earliest class starts at 7:30 am every Tuesday and Thursday. The only thing that stopped me from skipping that class: attendance.

3) What do you think are major differences between CityU and your exchange institute?

The education system. In a way, I would say Purdue has been successful in letting students to make the most out of their courses. I think they implicitly conveyed that what matters the most is the learning process. Exams are a big deal, but not in the way that it’s going to take a major portion out of your grade. The fact that some of the courses would require us to read a book excerpt or a journal once a week, and having an essay or a presentation out of it the week after, would just make the students more in the frontier of their fields. Conversely, I think that CityU puts a lot more emphasis on the basic foundation of a study field and how we are supposed to excel in those basic foundations. It was just interesting to have experienced both worlds of the education system.

4) Have you met any teachers that you found very inspiring during your exchange trip?

I literally did not have any idea that my professor was actually one of the best analytical chemists in the world before I arrived. He is Prof. Graham Cooks, or better known as the “Father of Mass Spectrometry” (in Purdue, at least). I bet he was already in his 60s or even 70s, but his passion for teaching still overcomes his age! And guess what, it was generally believed that he has stayed in Purdue for more than 40 years. His lectures weren’t always exciting and full of sunshine, but it was enough for me to see his passion, plus his unique approach in teaching that made me went berserk for his course. His approach of teaching is also very “Professor Cooks”, apparently without any textbooks and most of the notes were his personal handwriting. He is certainly one of the most intelligent professors that I’ve ever met.

5) What would you say to the CityU students who are planning to have exchange studies?

I have tried to come out with a cool slogan to answer this question, but here is the coolest slogan that I got: exchange is a “4 months 4ever” experience. It’s just hard for me to think of any other opportunity to really get such a deep insight on a totally different civilization. No matter what country that you have in mind, you will never come back to Hong Kong with the way of thinking as you did departing. And it might sound hard to deal with all the administrative work that you have to do (true that, especially pre-exchange months), but believe me, it’s all going to be worth it! Fingers crossed!

Marleen (left) explored the scenery of Hong Kong by taking excursions.

Christian representing and promoting CityU at a Study Abroad exhibition.