5 lessons (volume 1)

1. I like having a roommate. This surprised me, since as an only child, I’m used to privacy, and expected to despise sharing a room. But even if I could choose a single room now, I wouldn’t, because I value the social interaction. It definitely helps that I get along with my roommate, and that he isn’t here Friday afternoon to Monday afternoon.

2. Walking isn’t that bad. CUHK is a huge campus, with lots of hills. For the first month, it was unthinkable for me to walk 25 minutes from my hostel to the MTR station on the other side of campus, so I, like everyone else took the free shuttle bus (which would take 15-30 minutes anyway). But after a health scare which ended up being nothing, I started aiming for 10,000 steps a day. Thanks to 4 elevators and 6 escalators helping me up and down around 35 floors, I just walk around campus now. My phone says I’ve walked 146,000 steps, 99 kilometres and 520 floors in the past week.

Buses come every 10-20 minutes depending on route and whether it is nighttime/Sunday/public holiday

3. It’s easy to adjust to local pricing. Food at CUHK canteens cost around $19-$30/meal ($3.50-$6 AUD). When I see food off-campus for over $40, I consider it pricey, forgetting that $7.50 AUD doesn’t even buy you a meal in Australia.

BBQ pork and duck costs ~$26 at Chung Chi Canteen

4. To plan an outing or trip, find one person who’s definitely coming and organise everything yourselves before inviting others. Inevitably with large groups, most people cancel, so you end up compromising for no-shows.

5. Koreans bow when greeting their elders, even if they are the ‘same’ age. We even got a demonstration in my Chinese culture class!