Fu-Yen Chen

With a multicultural student community, CityU students can gain global experiences right here at CityU.

Marketing student Fu-Yen Chen met Juho, an exchange student from Tilburg University, through a Marketing class they took this semester.

”Juho and I first met in a Marketing class, where we became group mates. We also had other common friends, and thus, we ended up being in the same friend group. This photo was taken at the self-access language centre, when we discussed the customer persona of our group project. Since we are already friends, we also talked about life in HK, our hometowns, and language & culture differences, etc.“

”Since I speak Chinese and have had more experiences in HK, I gave him some recommendations about where to go/eat and some tips on living in HK. He, on the other hand, answered my questions about postgraduate programmes in Europe, as we will apply for similar programmes. We sometimes teach each other our mother tongues, Mandarin and Finnish.“

”I suggest the students who want to make foreign friends to reach out actively. If you’re local, most international students need your help or recommendations to settle down in Hong Kong. Additionally, staying open-minded and respectful of other cultures is important. With mutual respect, the cultural exchange can be fun and meaningful, enabling international friends to sharpen their intercultural communication skills and deepen their understanding, helping them to adapt to a fast-changing globalised world.“

”It might be difficult to build friendships with students with diverse backgrounds, and it’s hard to maintain a long-distance friendship as well; however, putting efforts into making friends from all over the world is accomplishing, and I believe it’s a must-do as a university student!“