How Studying in Hong Kong Became a Turning Point for Growth
Elizaveta Khodus, a third-year student in Business Administration programme at the HSE Graduate School of Business, shares her experience of an international exchange at the City University of Hong Kong.
In the first semester of my third year, I took part in an international academic exchange programme. I believe this is the ideal time to study abroad: by then, you have already covered and absorbed the core material in your field in your native language during your first and second years, and you can then build on it with new knowledge at a partner university overseas. Another advantage is that there are no term papers or dissertations to submit during the first semester, which makes it much easier to design an individual study plan at a university abroad.
Throughout the semester, I studied at the City University of Hong Kong. My choice of country and university was based on several factors. Firstly, China is now one of the world’s leading financial and technological powers. Over the past 50 years, the country has made an extraordinary leap in its development and now holds leading positions in a number of advanced fields. Studying in a country like this is, without doubt, a unique opportunity and a valuable experience. Secondly, as a result of its history and long period of British colonial rule, Hong Kong enjoys a high degree of autonomy and represents a unique blend of European and Asian cultures. This makes living and studying there especially interesting. Thirdly, I had already visited Hong Kong before. I only spent a couple of days in the city, but that was enough for me to fall in love with it at first sight and decide to return for a full semester. As for my choice of university, it was important for my future career development to take a strong course in Global Marketing. I also wanted a university with a wide range of management courses so that I could find equivalents for the first-semester courses at HSE. City University of Hong Kong met both of these requirements.
My preparation for departure was quite smooth. The main task was to draw up an individual study plan together with the academic office. The approval process had several stages and turned out to be rather lengthy. Apart from that, preparing the documents was straightforward: the international mobility office was always available and helped with any questions that came up. As for packing, I tried to take only the essentials with me, knowing that I could buy anything else once I arrived. I also wanted to leave plenty of space in my suitcase for gifts for friends and family.
My first impression of Hong Kong had actually formed before the exchange. It is a warm, sunny place with remarkable natural scenery: the city is spread across more than 260 islands and is surrounded by the waters of the South China Sea. Hong Kong is mountainous, and its islands are full of greenery.
Adapting to the language environment was easy. Unlike mainland China, English is very common in Hong Kong: it is widely spoken and generally spoken quite well. Adapting to the culture, however, was not as simple, as the local mentality differs greatly from the Russian one. Some behavioural patterns were quite shocking to me, especially in everyday life: sharing a dormitory with local girls proved to be challenging. Over time, however, I settled in and no longer felt uncomfortable.
The local character of Hong Kong is especially visible in its cuisine. Local restaurants serve dim sum and wontons, egg tarts, pineapple buns and milk tea. The dishes are very interesting and definitely worth trying, but for me they were rather unfamiliar, so we mostly chose European food.
It is also important to note that Hong Kong really is a very expensive city, and you need to be prepared for that. Rent, transport, meals in restaurants and cafés — all of these are considerably more expensive than in Moscow. Over time, I figured out where I could save money and managed to optimise my spending. In terms of financing the trip, the scholarship from the Higher School of Business helped me enormously. I am very grateful to the university for this support, as it allowed me to focus on my studies and on immersing myself in the local culture.
At university, I took four courses: Strategic Management, Global Marketing, International Business, and Financial Systems, Markets and Instruments. Each course included the main forms of assessment: tests, group projects, class participation and an exam. One interesting difference between studying at City University of Hong Kong and studying at HSE is that each student’s academic track is unique: at the beginning of the semester, you can choose from four to six courses out of several hundred options. Another difference is that classes are not divided into lectures and seminars; instead, they are held in a single format, which is closer to lectures. Overall, I found the material less in-depth and less practice-oriented than at HSE. The course on financial markets was the most interesting and useful for me. I learnt how the global money market, equity, bond and insurance markets work, as well as what instruments banks, corporations and funds use to manage their finances effectively. I also particularly remember the Global Marketing project, in which my team and I developed a market-entry strategy for the Russian cosmetics retailer Zolotoe Yabloko in China.
At the beginning of this course, our lecturer also asked each of us to give a presentation on the cultural features of our home country. We prepared a presentation about Russia and ended it with a quiz for the audience. The quiz included around ten questions about well-known Russian figures in science and the arts. After the results were announced, the winners received small souvenirs: Alyonka chocolate bars and magnets featuring iconic Moscow landmarks. The lecturer and the students especially praised our presentation and said they had learnt a lot about Russia.
The main academic challenge for me was working on group projects with international students. In my experience, students from Europe turned out to be less responsible and less engaged than the people I was used to working with at HSE. The language barrier also became noticeable during project work: often, English was not the native language of any of the team members, which made communication more difficult.
Overall, I was satisfied with my academic results for the semester: I completed all my courses with grades of B+ and A−. A pleasant surprise was the feedback from my lecturers: several of them specifically praised the quality of my presentation design and awarded me extra marks. The reaction of my international classmates was just as valuable to me: they said that working with me had been both enjoyable and interesting. For me, this confirmed that language and cultural barriers can be overcome if you approach your work with full commitment.
It is also worth highlighting how much my English improved. I have been studying English since my first year at school, but I had never seen such significant progress in such a short period of time. Before the exchange, I had never been immersed in an English-speaking environment so deeply. Of course, even before the trip I did well in exams and watched films and TV series in the original language, but after completing the exchange I can not only consume content in English, but also create it: presentations, analytical reports and oral project defences helped me develop and consolidate this skill.
My university classes took place from Monday to Thursday, so almost every weekend could be spent in a different way. I visited some of the most beautiful places in Hong Kong: Victoria Peak, the Big Buddha, the nearby islands and the horse races. During the exchange, I also had the unique opportunity to travel around Asia. In four months, I managed to visit the Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea, as well as Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Travelling became the most vivid part of the experience for me. In Bali, I tried surfing for the first time in my life and managed to stand up on the board on my first attempt; in Seoul, I went to a concert by my favourite artist, who no longer performs in Russia. It is worth saying that travelling turned out to be much less expensive than I had expected, thanks to cheap flights, short distances between destinations, and sharing the cost of apartments, food and activities with the new friends who travelled with me.
The most important thing that studying abroad gave me was the ability to adapt to any circumstances and overcome difficulties. If I was able to move to another country, build a daily life there, successfully complete a number of challenging courses, make friends, immerse myself in an unfamiliar culture and communicate in a non-native language, then I now feel that I can do anything.
Without doubt, the most valuable thing I gained was the people I met. When you go through the challenges of adaptation and solve everyday and academic problems side by side with other brave people who have also decided to leave their familiar lives behind for an entire semester and change everything, you can build strong connections for decades and find friends all over the world.
Studying abroad is like a small life of its own, with its ups and downs, difficulties and joys. It is an invaluable experience that helps you grow up, become stronger and wiser, learn to take responsibility and solve any problems that come your way.
My main piece of advice for those planning to study at a university abroad is: do not be afraid, take the risk and do not give up. It may be difficult at times, but in the end you will realise that this experience has divided your life into “before” and “after”, and that you have brought home not only knowledge and experience, but also a new version of yourself — someone capable of changing the world.
During my exchange, I actively ran my personal Telegram channel, where I shared my impressions and advice: @khh_lizaa. I would be happy to tell you more about my experience and answer any questions.
