18 May 2026

by Paul Haneke

Preparing

Before I started working on my bachelor’s thesis, all that was left was to complete my semester abroad. First, I attended the information session RPTU offers and decided to apply for one of the partner university exchange programs. Hong Kong immediately stood out among the English-speaking countries, especially since I hadn’t yet had the chance to visit an Asian country—let alone live and study there!

The preparations, though more demanding at times than others, all in all, went fairly smooth, and after the Education University of Hong Kong (EduHK) sent me my approved student visa, I could finally and fully embrace the excitement. I used the weeks prior to departure to gather travel tips, inform myself about Hong Kong’s political and historical background, and say goodbye to friends and family, even if only for a semester. I also hoped that the two Chinese (Putonghua/Mandarin) courses I took at uni would give me a slight advantage in terms of language. However, it turned out that Cantonese and Putonghua have less in common than I had assumed, aside from a few shared words (which are of coursed pronounced entirely different) and the same writing system.

During my stay in Asia, however, I was able to pick up some basic knowledge of Cantonese, Korean, and Japanese; while in mainland China I had the opportunity to put my Mandarin skills to the test (moderately successful... I am fairly certain the people complementing were just being VERY nice.)

At the end of August, I headed to the airport heavily laden with luggage, and shortly thereafter I was already flying via Bangkok towards Hong Kong International Airport.

Arriving

My arrival in Hong Kong was as stressful as it was breathtaking. There was a minor issue with paying for my accommodation at EduHK, but in a new country and after a fifteen-hour flight, even tiny issues can quickly spiral into seemingly insurmountable ones. Once everything was sorted (and I no longer stressed) out, I was finally sitting in a taxi heading toward my new university for the next four months, and all that was left to do was to gaze out the window, where I was greeted by picturesque mountains ranges. Slowly nodding off to these images, subtly accompanied by the taxi driver’s jolly singing along to some heavy hitting Canto-Pop tunes, is forever etched into my memory as one of the most beautiful first impressions of a country, ever.

When I arrived at the university, I felt a little lost at first, since I didn’t know exactly whether or where I was supposed to check in. Funnily enough, the staff at the International Office didn’t really know what to do with me either; so I just headed straight to the student hostels located on campus with only one mission in mind, one of utmost importance: SLEEP. Arriving there, after a quick paperwork session and ID check, I was given my official EduHK student ID card, which had to be presented every time I entered the campus or the dormitory. I sent a quick message to my family saying I’d arrived safely, after which I immediately fell into a deep slumber (despite it being 40 degrees Celsius with sauna-level humidity, and an hour long struggle to get the air conditioning to work. Unsuccessfully, of course.)

By the time classes started a week later, I had had the chance to settle in a bit, get to know the other exchange students, and familiarize myself with the new surroundings. To my pleasant surprise, I got used to the excessive humidity combined with the high temperatures surprisingly quickly, while it took many others several weeks to adjust.

Studying (yes, I did that too)

The courses at the EduHK fit very well with my language and literature studies; in “Linguistics,” I felt the material was tailored to my level, in “Literature” and “Drama” I was able to analyze novels and plays I hadn’t read before, and through “Language and Well-being” I gained interesting new insights into the connection between language and health. Almost all of my professors were extremely friendly.

Classes, however, were quite an adjustment. Although the classroom setting is, on the whole, very similar to what we have here in Germany, there were still some differences in the way classes are taught. Probably the most disconcerting thing was the behavior of many students from Hong Kong: There was a lot of talking in class—and not exactly in whispers—and to our amazement (me and the other exchange students had all had similar experiences), the instructor almost never reprimanded any of the students who were disrupting the class with their noise. Of course, I expected a different learning environment, but I had assumed beforehand that things in Hong Kong would generally be stricter than in Germany, so I hadn’t anticipated the deviation in the opposite direction.

Nonetheless, I was able to take away a lot from the experience. Once the exam period was over, it was already time to say “Goodbye, Hong Kong.” In addition to studying, I spent the last two weeks saying goodbye to my fellow students and friends and took one last trip to places in Hong Kong I hadn’t seen yet, such as “Victoria Peak,” which overlooks the city, from where I could watch the bright red evening sun slowly set between the islands in the sea.

I also joined the “EduHK Karate Team,” which allowed me to discover a love for martial arts and enjoy some lovely dinners after practice with my fellow team members. I’ve since continued my training back here in Germany.

Expanding Personal Horizons

The absolute highlight of my time in Hong Kong was the cultural exchange. Since not all Hong Kong residents speak English, I was more than a little nervous during my first few visits to authentic, long-established Cantonese restaurants. But using hand gestures, body language, and—at first—a translation app, I usually managed to get by somehow. And let me tell you, overcoming the social awkwardness turned out to be worth it. Every. Single. Time.

I was lucky enough to make a number of new friends, and it was always special to me, hearing them share their honest thoughts about their homeland, history, and daily lives. I also had the opportunity to take short trips to some of the nearby countries, where visits to museums and temples gave me an increasingly vivid picture of the histories of those countries. Seoul, much like Hong Kong, was an interesting mix of a modern metropolis and excellently maintained, traditional temples. Walking along the Great Wall near Beijing still feels surreal to me, even now. Hong Kong also had breathtaking Buddhist temples and cultural monuments. Above all, however, I loved the nature, which is why I went on numerous hikes and island excursions in Hong Kong itself.

The most impressive thing to me, however, was Hong Kong’s geographical cityscape: a hypermodern metropolis with a more than impressive skyline, seeped in culture and age old tradition, surrounded almost entirely by the island spattered sea and lush, green mountains. I could never get enough of that view and already miss it dearly.

Hong Kong has definitely not seen the last of me and I am extremely grateful for this once in a lifetime opportunity and, most of all, for the friends made along the way.