As I was strolling along a floor, I saw a sign written “Room 704”. I thought for a while and plunged in an electronic key and opened the door. I saw a middle age couple in the room. I tried to communicate with them but I did not understand what they were speaking. However with a gesture, I assumed that they wanted me to wait for awhile.
While I was waiting for my room to be ready, a man about 18 years old was walking towards me. He had short black hair and black eyes in the medium height. I assumed that the way he dressed make him look like a local in Hong Kong. He did not smile at me as he was gazing me and he voiced in Chinese.
“I don’t understand,” I told him.
“Oh you are international student,” he said “where are you from?”
“I am from Burma,” I replied but he seemed that he had no idea where Burma was. Then he began to introduce himself.
“My name is Kawai. I am a hall tutor in this floor. If you need some help please let me know.”
“Thank you Kawai. My name is xxx. Nice to meet you,” I responded.
My room was ready as I saw a signal from the couple so I took my belongings and entered the room. The room was cozy and well furnished for three people so the furniture are divided into three such as beds, kneels, and study tables sticking with a letter named A B C. Mine is the letter C so every things sticking with the letter C belonged to me. The bunk beds were decorated for two. Another bed was designed at a high position so the lower part could place a study table and kneel for a person. The room was really small to compare where I used to live in Thailand and Burma. I used to stay alone twice as bigger than as this room when I attended the meeting in Indonesia. Nevertheless, I realized that I was in Hong Kong and it was different to other places. People were struggling to get a place to live even worse than my room.
After I took a shower, I was thirsty. I could not see any water in a refrigerator so I went down to the lobby to buy a bottle of water. I inserted HK$ 5 coin into a retailer machine but it did not drop any bottle of water for me and it jammed. I called security for help but he can do nothing and requested me to drop a slip about the incident to a responsible person.
On the next morning, I gathered in the student residential hall’s canteen and had breakfast with other two Burmese students who were going to study at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) the same as me. We were asked to meet a staff in the University International Office but we did not know how to get there. Luckily, a roommate of a Burmese student offered to guide us to go to the International Office so the problem was solved. On the way, we passed by a Chinese Medicine Building and Jockey Club building. The buildings were about 18 floors and had multiple rooms inside. In front of the Chinese Medicine building, there was a backyard which was grown some blossomed and greenish grasses. Next to the backyard, there was a small hill which hided the buildings from the southeast area. As we were talking and walking, we reached the international office. The office was not so far from the student residential hall. It was about 10 minutes walk. We entered into a lift and the student who guided us pressed a number 8. As we were walking toward the office, a young woman in mid 20s with fair complexion came out and greeted to us. She had read our name and tried to pronounce in Chinese accent.
“How is your flight?” she warmed us with lightly conversation.
“It was great”
Their team came out from their office to say hello to us. Their warmly welcome make us enjoyable in Hong Kong. I felt as I met old friends or family members when I met them. Our journey in studying began in Hong Kong. We are making new friends and adopting new lifestyle.
No comments:
Post a Comment