Studied History and Ancient History at the University of Hong Kong
- After studying in HK, Ben motorcycled round SE Asia and India. Picture taken in the Spiti Valley, India
What were your first impressions upon arriving in Hong Kong?
The overriding emotion was excitement; I remember sitting on the bus from the airport into town with my head sticking out the window amazed by all the tall buildings. The height of the buildings and the density of the city gives it a feel quite unlike anywhere else I’ve been.
What where the major challenges you faced that you weren’t expecting?
Struggling with rent was a big one, as I was expecting a place in uni halls but didn’t get one. Also, generally feeling distant from family back home; you have to really make an effort with an 8 hour time difference.
What was the craziest local tradition or experience you got involved with?
In Hong Kong the Mid-Autumn festival and Chinese New Year were both memorable, celebrating with moon cakes, paper lanterns and fireworks helped me feel part of the local culture. In terms of crazy….perhaps doing shots of rice wine, smoking a tobacco bong, and eating snails with a bunch of locals in the mountains of Vietnam.
How did the local diet compare to the British?
If you don’t like white rice you’re f*cked; the everyday food did get very repetitive and there were times I would have crawled over broken glass for a Yorkshire pudding with some gravy. However, the highlights were mind-blowing, my personal favorites were dim sum, dumpling noodles, and Chinese seafood.
Favorite night out?
Lan Kwai Fong is the destination for any night out in Hong Kong and offers its fair share of drunken revelry. Also, Siem Reap in Cambodia was fantastic and involved debauchery, which for the sake of my integrity, shall remain undisclosed.
Was the work load manageable?
There was certainly a lot more work than at Exeter but I survived and did well. I now feel ready to crush my final year with the ‘Asian work ethic’ I picked up abroad.
The best thing you did on your year out?
The highlight for me was discovering a passion for motorbikes and mountains; something I plan to be doing a lot more of in my future travels. Straddling a combustion engine through twisting turns, each revealing a better view than the last offers an addictive cocktail of serenity and excitement.
What do you miss the most?
Friends. Definitely the people I became close to and shared my experiences with. Being in a similar boat so far from home and having such memorable experiences travelling with each other forges very close friendships which I hope to maintain.
How did you find settling back in returning home?
Initially I was very welcome for home comforts and gorged myself on toad-in-the-whole with onion gravy. Then after a couple of weeks being at home I got bored and, inspired by my year abroad, decided to go to India for three weeks.
What would you say you gained the most after your year away?
The experience of going to such a variety of interesting places and making great friends. Over the year I went to Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Japan, Cambodia, Thailand, Bali, and India; it certainly won’t be a year I’ll forget anytime soon and I urge anyone in their first or second year to consider the option, even if you think it might be outside your comfort zone! Coming back from my year abroad I feel a lot more independent, confident, and ready to face what fourth year has to offer.
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