"Having cultural experience and knowledge of the Chinese language opens up significant perspectives in professional development". Ivan Karmanov spoke about how he started learning Chinese and why getting to know the culture of the country is a crucial step on the way to successful communication both in business and in life

Ivan Karmanov, a 4th year student of the Business Management programme at the HSE Graduate School of Business with a specialisation in Financial Management, spent the first semester of his 4th year at the City University of Hong Kong. Ivan took several courses in English for his specialisation and also joined a group of foreigners studying Chinese. Read about why the politeness and shyness of Hong Kong residents can be a problem for a foreigner and also Ivan's general impressions of the university in the review.

My name is Ivan Karmanov, I am a 4th year student of the Business Management programme at the HSE Graduate School of Business with a specialisation in Financial Management. In the first semester of my 4th year, in August-December 2023, I was lucky to take part in the academic mobility programme. I was hosted by the University "City University of Hong Kong", located in the special administrative region of China - the city of Hong Kong. 

Today the relations between Russia and China are successfully and intensively developing. I am sure that having cultural experience and knowledge of the Chinese language opens up significant prospects in professional development. Besides, Hong Kong is one of the largest financial centres in the world with a well-known and strong business education. It was for these reasons that City University of Hong Kong was my first priority for the academic mobility programme.

Preparing for departure

In June, three months before departure, I bought tickets to Hong Kong with a quick connection in Beijing. I got round-trip tickets right away. I prepared and sent all the necessary documents for my student visa to the coordinator of academic mobility programmes at the host university back in May. In August I received the visa document in the post office - I had to present it at the customs control in Hong Kong, where the student visa is stamped.

On arrival in Hong Kong, university volunteers met us and escorted to the transfer directly to the university. You need to apply for the transfer in advance. Hong Kong immediately impressed me and other exchange students from our university with its unusually tall buildings and beautiful views of the islands and bays. A bit later our group of students from Russia went to Hong Kong Island itself, where we could admire the beautiful skyscrapers of this large metropolis.

Getting to know the university

The university itself is very large and unusual. All the academic buildings are located in one place, and it is enough to cross the bridge over the road to get to the student dormitory from the university. In order to help new students to settle in more quickly and adapt to a new culture, a special meeting of exchange students was organised. We participated in a quest around the university campus, doing tasks related to Chinese culture and language. After the quest, we were invited for a special lunch to a Chinese restaurant, which was also located right in the university building. During my stay on the academic mobility programme, I was able to participate in a culturally significant event in China and Hong Kong - the Mid-Autumn Festival, which was held on the university campus.  

The study at the host university started from the first week of September. It was conducted entirely in English. A student can take a maximum of 6 subjects at City University of Hong Kong. I chose such subjects as "Corporate Finance and Control", "Solving Business Problems Using Spreadsheet Modeling", "Simulation", "Global Project Management", "Machine Learning for Business" and "Mandarin Language for Non-Chinese Speakers". The difference with GSB is that three specific hours are reserved for each subject each week. So, each subject takes about three hours on the same day of the week and at the same time. 

For some subjects there are mid-term exams and for other subjects there may be no exams at all! The most useful subjects for me were "Corporate Finance and Control" and "Simulation" - as they are directly related to finance and financial modelling, and also "Mandarin Language for Non-Chinese Speakers", where I first started learning official Chinese.

Experiencing culture and leisure activities

I came across a few interesting features of the culture of Cantonese (as Hong Kong people call themselves) that I found difficult at first. 

Firstly, some people in Hong Kong speak English well enough, but others don’t. So when you need to ask a person on the street something, he/she can get very shy and may not understand you even in sign language (or they may start talking to you, but in Chineese!). Secondly, many Cantonese people are very shy. They can keep pretending to understand you, and it's only after a while that you realise that they didn't understand you at all. Thirdly, it is common for most Cantonese people: they never express their thoughts directly, so it is not always easy to understand them immediately. It was very interesting to observe cultural differences and to learn how to interact with people from a different culture.

Some of my most vivid memories were walking around the centre of Hong Kong. There is the Hong Kong Park, the Bank of China Tower, the International Finance Centre Tower, and the towers of many other corporations. The skyscrapers look very beautiful, especially from the park. I also went to the observation deck at the top of Hong Kong Island - Victoria Peak. The view of the sea, the islands and the whole city was amazing from that point.

A memorable trip happened to Lantau Island, where there is a Big Buddha and a Buddhist temple in the mountains. Buddhist temples are very unusual and interesting. To get to the temple you have to take a lift, which opens you a very beautiful view of the mountains and jungle. I also liked the unusual Temple of Ten Thousand Buddhas, which is also located in the mountains: golden statues are situated alongside the road that leads to the temple. The temple itself also has many different unusual statues and also offers beautiful views over the mountains and city buildings.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to go to other countries as my subjects and online courses proved to be quite time consuming, especially Chinese. However, other Vyshka students have travelled to Greater China, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan.

Conclusion 

The Academic Mobility Programme allowed me to experience the culture of Hong Kong people. I had a very valuable education abroad experience that improved my English language skills, and also taught me new skills and gave me new knowledge. For example, I gained skills in communicating with people from different countries, as well as experience in working with multinational teams on the projects. I also learned a lot of new things about finance and financial modelling. Learning Chinese  was my personal challenge: I didn't expect it to be so difficult. However, in general I passed the tests and assignments in this subject with a high enough score, so I think I coped with this difficulty. 

The academic mobility experience at City University of Hong Kong has been very useful for me in terms of my professional development as well as my communication and language skills. I would advise other students not to put off travelling to the last days of their mobility programme - there may not be enough time after the session. Also, if you are going to learn a new foreign language during this period, you’d better start learning it at home, at least a little bit. During the academic mobility programme itself, you should definitely immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the country, enjoying the opportunities that the HSE Graduate School of Business offers.

Ivan Karmanov (Part I) - Exchange program in CityU, Hong Kong

Video: Ivan Karmanov

Ivan Karmanov (Part II) - Exchange program in CityU, Hong Kong

Video: Ivan Karmanov

Ivan Karmanov (III part) - Exchange program in the CityU, Hong Kong

Video: Ivan Karmanov