放眼世界﹕A journey from Denmark to HK

【明報專訊】My exchange year in Hong Kong, which began more than eight months ago, is about to end. I am from Denmark, famous in Hong Kong for "Danish cookies" (which I've never seen in Denmark). I am from Copenhagen. Though it is the capital and biggest city of my country, it somehow pales in comparison with Hong Kong, known for its hectic and sleepless streets.

The obvious difference in school life between the two cities is that, in Denmark, we do not wear school uniforms and there are no rules governing what we wear for school. Hong Kong students have more structured daily lives. In Denmark, classes usually end at 2 pm or 3 pm, and we usually hang out with our friends after school. In Hong Kong, classes end later and it's common to have a few tutorial lessons a week. It rarely occurs to a Dane that students should have such lessons.

I would say the most exciting experience I've had in Hong Kong is the interclass singing contest at our school. My schoolmates and I were very enthusiastic about it and we had a lot of fun. I really enjoyed that event because it was such an amazingly happy task to work with all my classmates though, unfortunately, we did not win.

Text: Elouise Winkler Moreno Twose (right), an AFS exchange student in Hong Kong from Denmark