TWGHs Sun Hoi Directors’ College is pleased to share our pride of our student William Poon Chiu Leuk, who was recommended and supported by the Principal, Mr. Chow, to study in Hungary as an exchange student for a year from 9/2018 to 7/2019. Thank to William’s host family, his teachers and his schoolmates, he adapts fast and well in Hungary. He can even speak some Hungarian in the interview. Sun Hoi wishes that William has a very fruitful, enjoyable and challenging year before coming back to Hong Kong in 2019.
1/10 is the International Music Day. William’s music teacher, KRK Szilády Áron Gimnazium és Kollégium, organized a music day on 3/10. On that day, William used the Chinese flute to perform the traditional Chinese folk music "Jasmine Flower" and used the piano to play the "Turkish March” by Mozart. After the performance, everyone gave him a big applaud and acclamation. That was amazing and wonderful for him. He was worried about how they felt when they were listening to this beautiful Chinese music, but their reactions showed that they really loved it, which made him proud of himself and his identity as a Chinese. After that, he was interviewed by the HalasTV (a TV programme in his town). He hoped he would have more chances to show the Chinese culture and play the beautiful music for all his friends.
To view William’s interview, please click here: Youtube Link
At the beginning of his interview, William used some Hungarian words to introduce himself. Below is the translation for those phrases:
Hello! (Sziasztok)
My name is William. (William vagyok)
I am 17 years old. (tizenhét éves vagyok)
I am from Hong Kong. (Hongkongbol jottem)
Nice to meet you all. (örvendek)
Below is a summary of his sharing in the interview:
Hello! My name is William. I am currently an exchange student in Hungary.
When I first came to this foreign country, I felt excited but also a bit complicated. After staying for a month, I am gradually getting used to the culture here.
I am staying in a small town in Hungary, which is an exotic experience for me. It is easy to make new friends here due to the size of the town. When compared to big cities like Budapest, this town has a stronger connection between people since the links are closer.
There are only 3 Asian (Chinese) families living here, so it is easy for me to ask them for help when needed.
Schools in Hungary are quite similar to the schools in Hong Kong when it comes to the subjects and syllabi. The major differences are the campus, languages and students’ races. I am currently studying at the best school in the town. Since it is a school with religious background, we have to attend praying sessions every Monday.
My host family are very nice to me. They treat me well, so I find myself lucky that I can be assigned to this family.
I have joined choirs here. Both are led by my music teacher. She cares a lot about me although she cannot speak English. We usually converse by using a combination of Hungarian and English. We have established good relationship and I am thankful that she has provided me with various types of aids for practicing.
She also let me take part in a school performance and introduced Chinese music and the associated Chinese culture to all the students. After the performance, I was proud to have the opportunity to be interviewed by a local TV station.
I have been here for six weeks and I have only learnt some rudimentary Hungarian words, mainly for greeting and communicating. I hope I can be a better user of the language soon. Hungarian is a relatively more complex language due to its grammar and pronunciation. It is still worthwhile to learn it because not every local in the town knows English. I can already use Hungarian to do some shopping!
Finally, I would like to make use of this opportunity to introduce AFS Intercultural Exchange to you all. It is an excellent chance for you to know the world better as you immerse into a foreign place and meet different people. I am sure it can help you become more mature and independent.