In January 2013, I – Falco Slegt – went on exchange to Hong Kong to study at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. During my exchange I made friends from across the globe, created unforgettable memories together, and learned a lot about myself. An AWESOME experience!
To give you a taste of what it was like, I will share some memories about school, accommodation, traveling and leisure activities with you. 
The campus was nothing like any University I had seen before; it is huge compared to the Wageningen University or NHTV . The courses I took were with 50 to 150 students and the vibe & approach were really different; when we had to deliver a presentation it was compulsory to suit up and present as much information as possible. On the other hand not much importance was attached to presentation skills. Lectures were really formal, but not much attention was paid to the audience; during many lectures students were sleeping. The only informal class I had was Elementary Chinese 1, which was a blast. Very funny to see local people’s faces when you said something in Chinese!
The thing I liked most about being on exchange in Hong Kong was exploring the country and being close to many amazing places I wanted to visit! Because of many flights from Hong Kong and cheap ticket prices I was able to travel to for example Beijing, Tokyo, Macau, Taiwan and Shenzhen.
What I liked least was the accommodation I lived in! I had to share a 15m2 room with another student. In the beginning I really found it hard to have no privacy or alone time at all. But in the end I did get used to it. 
The cool thing about the accommodation though, was that all exchange students lived in the same building. We were always meeting up, relaxing in someone’s room and having big parties! Being away from home was something shared by all exchange students, so I think that is why we became really close to each other. Especially because we were in a culture which differed a lot from our home cultures.
Hong Kong is a great place to go on exchange. There are so many events throughout the year, loads of activities you can do, and beautiful landmarks to visit. 
To mention a few, there is the 10,000 Buddha Monastery, Big Buddha, Panda´s in Ocean Park and beautiful islands like Lamma Island. One of the events that I was fortunate enough to experience was the Chinese New Year, which was beautiful. There are New Year parades and firework shows that are breathtaking.
Based on this experience I would recommend going on exchange. And you don’t have to go to afar away destination like Hong Kong to have an amazing unforgettable experience!
