As the storm gradually subsided, everything, including my classes, returned to normalcy. For this semester, I am taking MGT4227 (International Business), PIA4071 (Globalization and the Environment), EF4321 (Derivatives & Risk Management), and GE1202 (Managing Your Personal Finance). For classes at CityU, there is only one lecture every week, and each lecture lasts three hours. There is a short break of fifteen to twenty minutes about halfway into the lecture, as the university requires. The professor can also divide the fifteen-minute break time into three 5-minute breaks, each given at the end of every hour. For these classes, the professors emphasized the importance of catching and punishing the so-called free-riders who tend not to contribute to group projects. They also do not allow homework and project extensions, so you must plan accordingly. The cloud system they use for downloading lecture materials and completing assignments, similar to Laulima and the upcoming system UH Manoa will adopt, is called Canvas. The lectures generally happen at the lecture theaters, and the classes can run as late as 10 PM. All my classes occur from 12 PM to 6 PM on Thursdays and 12 PM to 7 PM on Fridays (with a one-hour break from 3 PM to 4 PM). The language of teaching is in English.
One observation I have about these classes is that some people never pay attention in class. They usually do other homework, chat with friends, or watch YouTube videos silently. At the same time, a few diligent people pay close attention to the professor, take detailed notes, and ask the professor as many questions as possible. People also tend to skip classes and form friend groups that are usually exclusive of others when people, especially exchange students, try to find partners for class projects. Thus, with everything being fresh and unfamiliar, exchange students like me often must go the extra mile to reach the same result as the local students when finding project partners. Nonetheless, the professors are very knowledgeable about what they teach, and I learned a lot from their classes.
Before I end my classroom experience sharing, I also want to stress that people in Hong Kong live an intense life and tend to get sick on a large scale. My advice for you, therefore, is to buy boxes of masks and wear them in class to prevent yourself from getting the germs and bacteria.
Next, the College of Business also hosted a trip to Lau Fau Shan for the exchange students. Halfway into the trip, we passed by and stayed temporarily at the famous Tsing Ma Bridge. Lau Fau Shan is an area known for its seafood, and we were fortunate to try the Cantonese-styled shrimp and fish on the menu. The table I was sitting on consisted of people from Canada, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the U.S. We also had sweet and sour ribs, fried celery, and eggplants. After lunch, we traveled along the seafood market where vendors worked tirelessly to sell live sea products, hand-made candies, drinks, and dried goods. Such markets are not something people usually see in Hawaii. After a short stay at the market, we traveled to a nearby farm and learned how to feed the sheep and make cakes for the coming Mid-Autumn Festival. For someone like me who rarely interacts with animals, feeding the sheep is a unique and memorable experience I will never forget.
