Week 2 - Classes begin... (Professional Blog)

This week I started my academic classes in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, I arrived later than the other international students, so have a lot of work to catch up on because their semester started on the 3rd of January and we have missed 3 weeks of classes. Thankfully, the University is off this in-coming week because of the Chinese New Year and this will also give us the chance to catch up on our studies.  Hopefully, if I work hard, I will also have time for joining in the New Year celebrations, which I am told are spectacular!

This week we had to do some group work for an assignment which is due next Tuesday. I found this a thoroughly enjoyable but also a challenging experience. We had to work with a local student called Edmund and as expected, we encountered some language barrier problems. This meant we had to try and explain succinctly, but precisely, our thoughts and ideas whilst ensuring that he still got involved and was integrated as an active member of the group. I feel that experiences such as these will prove invaluable in the classroom environment, especially back in Northern Ireland due to the increasingly diverse nature of the modern primary classroom. I have learnt the importance of speaking slowly, clearly and using simple language to ensure that we both gain an understanding of what points we are trying to put across. The internet was also a fantastic tool to overcome this problem where any words which we used could be put into the language translator to give a definition in Cantonese. Our group work involved creating two rubrics (which is a statement of characteristics associated with different levels or grades of performance by which student work can be understood) for our assessment class. The first was a holistic rubric which will be used by the audience to assess our oral presentation later on in the semester and the second was an analytic rubric which will be used as a peer assessment tool for each member within the group. 

Working hard in the library!

Yesterday we went out to lunch with some of the people we had met at church. I had an interesting discussion with a primary teacher about her perception of the schooling system in Hong Kong. She told me that the schooling system in Hong Kong is very much based on public examinations and much emphasis is placed on individual success as a consequence of passing examinations. Indeed, even young children at pre-school or kindergarten are assessed before going into Primary School. This is extremely significant and important to parents, as it determines whether the child enters a band 1 top-tier primary school ranging to a third tier primary school which obviously is not as highly regarded. Consequently, education is at the centre of a child’s life from a very young age with the usual pressure to do well.  Unbelievably, parents often feel obliged to provide their children with extra tutoring, resulting in less ‘free time’ (i.e. play time, fun time) for children. In comparison to the education system back home and particularly the hot topic and debate over the replacement of the 11 plus, we would be shocked at assessment of children so young.  However, the strong examination culture in Chinese societies has been used as a means of improving the life chances of individuals for a long time and is an accepted part of their educational philosophy.

We had good fun at the games night in Robert Black Halls!

Despite having classes this week we still had time to have some fun. On Monday and Tuesday night there was a games night where we played a football game called Winning Eleven on the Playstation 2. This was great fun and having been a bit of an addict to the same game back home when I was younger, Allen and I managed to get into the final of the ‘doubles’ tournament where we were unfortunately beaten on penalties!  

First goal in a close-fought final!

On Wednesday night we also attended the Spring Festival on campus. At this event we got a taste of some Chinese culture where we saw a student doing Chinese calligraphy, we also heard a couple of students play the kucheng which is a traditional Chinese instrument. Some of the international students also took part in Chinese game-cock fighting, where I managed to win! 

Rachel and I with our fighting masks on!

My winning prizes!

Some kucheng music being played.

Chinese Calligraphy.

Another highlight of the week was when we went to Lantau Island on Friday. The cable car ride lasted around twenty minutes and gave us a great view of the city. We visited the Giant Buddha which is gigantic - 34 metres tall.  It sits serenely atop Ngong Ping plateau amid the fantastic mountain scenery of Lantau Island. 

The Big Buddha.

Standing outside the monastery on Lantau Island.

Around the campus there has also been a lot of sport going on this week. On Monday night I attended the touch rugby session which was good fun, despite the fitness at the end, after training for nearly two and a half hours! The tennis courts are also very good and I played some tennis, but after watching Andy Murray getting completely outplayed in the Australian Open Final it could take a while for me to recover before I get onto tennis court again!   I have also been to the gym a few times and have been playing some football with the other International students and locals. Being so close to the sport facilities means I am never bored!

I am particularly looking forward to the Chinese New Year Festivities next week, one of their biggest cultural activities of the year. I will keep you posted next week on what I get up to during this massive week in Hong Kong.

Until next time...

Joi Gin (Goodbye)

Michael