Notes

This summer, I joined the Cultural and Language Immersion Scheme which aimed at improving students’ English language skills through a series of intensive lessons taught by local English teachers. We were assigned to different classes by the level obtained in the IELTS placement test which were done at the beginning of the course, so that teachers could provide tutorials that were beneficial to every one of us. This included training in aspects such as speaking, reading, writing and listening, and we were encouraged to participate actively in class. By putting ourselves in an English environment, all of us made progress steadily and found it more confident to express our thoughts in English – both spoken and written. It is proven by the IELTS test results that the course has been successful.
The lessons made the course succeed, but it was the cultural experience to make the whole programme valuable and memorable. It was a huge sensation to us when we first came across the cultural variations between London and Hong Kong.
We were allocated to stay in separate host families during the program which allowed us to acquaint with the life in a typical English family. People in London had a slower pace of life than that of Hong Kong (the locals thought it was already very fast though), and they usually live in houses with a garden which is uncommon in Hong Kong. There was no air-conditioner in the houses as the weather was comfortable such that the temperature was usually under 20°C with low humidity even in summer nights. In contrast, Hong Kong has very high humidity and temperature even at night due to sub-tropical climate and heat island effect so it is almost a must to have an air-conditioner installed in every flat.
London is an old city with almost a thousand years of history. It really surprised me that a lot of historic buildings were perfectly kept during the city’s development towards a leading global city. Many of the antiquities such as the House of Parliament and Winsor Castle were still being used. The city has been successful in preserving these valuable architectures and striking a balance between conservation and development, which is the aspect that Hong Kong is lacking. There have been enough cases that antiquities were removed or damaged to give ways for development in Hong Kong, the Queen’s Pier, the Old General Post Office and the Old HSBC Building, for instance. The built heritages are the evidence of development of a city. They have witnessed the city’s ups and downs, from a tiny fishing village to an international financial centre, and they represent the traditions and values of several generations - they are more than just buildings. I have to admit, London is doing far better than Hong Kong in antiquities preservation, and it is the thing that Hong Kong has to learn.
Despite the success in built heritage conservation, there are things that London cannot hold a candle to Hong Kong, such as scaffolding. The scaffolding is made by steel in London, which is heavy and costly. That is why people from the west are always amazed by the unique Hong Kong-style bamboo scaffolding which can be constructed up to 60 or 70 stories by tiring rows of bamboo into a frame with plastic straps. “The real Spiderman” – this is how they describe the workmen who put up the bamboo structures, and it has already become one of the marks of Hong Kong. This technique inheriting from ancient China has significant advantages over metal scaffoldings as bamboo is cheaper, lighter, more flexible and takes less time to erect and dismantle. This is the wisdom of traditional Chinese that we should be proud of.
A number of activities were also organized for us to discover the English culture, such as traditional English sports including horse riding and cricket. There were guided tours to some of the famous attractions like London Eye, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Stonehenge, Bath, Thames River, etc. The guide did an excellent job to introduce us the history and meaning of each site which helped us understanding more about the culture of London. Among the activities, watching the Phantom of the Opera and visiting local primary school were definitely the highlights of the whole tour. Phantom of the Opera was recognized as a masterpiece in opera, it was a humbling experience and an extraordinary enjoyment to appreciate this classic in the Capital of United Kingdom even we were not familiar with this art. On the other hand, the local visit to primary school was unexpectedly an eye-opening experience because the way of teaching was so different than what we were used to. Teachers did not speak much - they were more like a guide to students and gave directions instead of providing them answers straightly. Students were encouraged to express their own views – no matter how naive the points were. As a result, they were curious about the unknown, behaving more attentively and energetically in class than students in Hong Kong. The great differentiation in the approach of education between two places has resulted disparity in students’ attitude towards learning. All these activities had helped me understand the culture of England a lot, and as there were so many variations to Hong Kong, I was being flashed with new ideas. It was quite hard to adapt at first, but the trip became more sensational when time moved on.
After all, the experience in this one-month programme has definitely broadened my horizon – not just talking about the improvement in language, but also the ability to admire a different culture. It gave us a chance to understand more about ourselves, because knowing more about other cultures would allow us to realize the aspects that we are in advance of the others as well as the aspects that we are lacking by comparison. That is why we are always encouraged to step out of our comfort zone and it really helps to mature ourselves.