My First Day in Hong Kong
I’m Georgie and I am doing a semester abroad at Lingnan University!
While I am having a great time here, I admit the days leading up to my flight of to Hong Kong that were the most nerve-wracking of the whole experience. Now that I’m here and settled in, everything is fantastic. But the lead up to my arrival was ridiculously stressful.
The biggest problem I have had so far were some issues with the department of immigration in Hong Kong, as my visa was very late in coming. It arrived two hours before I was booked in to fly. By that point, I was practically pulling my hair out with nerves. What if I miss my flight? What if I can’t actually go? It was torture! Thankfully everything was sorted out really efficiently by the Go Global team.
The flight was not as bad as it could have been, only 12 hours from Heathrow to Hong Kong international airport. While I’ve heard horrible stories about Jet lag, I haven’t really experienced it at all. As soon as I reached the student accommodation I went straight to sleep and woke up feeling fresh as a daisy.
The next day, when I went out to explore Tuen Mun, the cultural shock was a lot worse than I was expecting. Aside from the students most of the people working on campus and around the city have very limited English or none at all. This means that ordering food and simple things like buying a bus ticket can be pretty difficult. I would definitely advise that anyone who is considering coming to Lingnan try to pick up even a little bit of cantonese. It makes everything you do so much more simple.
The welcome tour involved an emergency Cantonese class, a brief list of the big safety tips for the city and a chance to get to know the other exchange students which has been a lifesaver. Getting to know a bunch of people who were all in the same boat as me really helped me settle in.
I’m only a week into my stay, but I would really recommend signing up to spend a semester at Lingnan University. The campus is beautiful and aside from the upset with the visa, everything has been really well organised. The city is stunning and I am looking forward to exploring!
