Recalling the Times in HITSZ

   At the very moment we just walked out from Baoan Airport, we were shocked by the heat and humidness of Shenzhen. Even though we already knew that Southern China was well-known for its high temperature and humidity, still we didn’t expect it to be that hot.

   “Hey, would it be possible for us to get adapted to this heat?” “Maybe we should go back to Korea” “We definitely need some ice cream here” These are the conversations we had in the bus heading to HITSZ. We had the feeling that this one month may be kind of hard and long for us. Well, the following days proved that we were actually wrong. One month wasn’t long enough, when looking back at our days at HITSZ.

     

   Unlike the steaming weather outside, the cool air conditioning system in the dormitory relieved our anxiety. We felt unfamiliar with the dormitory at first, but soon it became our home in Shenzhen. Outside the dormitory, we spent most of our time taking classes. Woke up around 8am, grabbed some Youtiao(油条) and Doujiang(豆浆) from the school canteen at 8:50, ran towards the classroom until 9:00am class started, listened to lectures with classmates from the Netherlands, mainland China, Hongkong, and Macau until the afternoon.

   Meeting and interacting with students from different regions was certainly a cool thing. Even though there was language barrier sometimes, we naturally got along together as time passed by. We went to the karaoke and hotpot(火锅) together! Outside the classes, we also participated in programs visiting tourist attractions and start-up companies of Shenzhen and Guangzhou. The scenery in those places remains as a small, but heart-warming segment of our memory. I still remember the folksy and creative oil painting street of Dafen, the night view in Guangzhou we watched on the ferry, the dancing robots in the company we visited. These segments altogether made an image of the city Shenzhen in our hearts.

       

       

       

       

     

  It was sad to think that it was the last time to see all the classmates, teachers and volunteers at the farewell party. It was weird that one month past by soon. Back in Korea, it finally turned out as a reality that HITSZ and China no longer exists in my daily life.

       

       

  No dormitory, no classes, no classmates from all around the world, no Chinese language when walking on the streets, no Wechat and Alipay and so on. Sometimes I think sitting on my chair silently, what would be happening in HITSZ, Shenzhen, and the places our classmates are at right now? Wish I could go back to Shenzhen and HITSZ some time.

Wooyoung Jang

from Korea University, South Korea