Home Away from Home

With a view to facilitating cultural interactions and helping newcomers to learn more about local culture, the Office of Student Affairs organized the CUHK Host Family Programme, a non-residential programme which pairs up CUHK staff and new non-local undergraduate students so that the latter can better adjust to the new environment in Hong Kong. Reaching countries as far afield as Africa, around 500 students from different parts of the world have been matched up with over 400 host families.

Dr. Jonathan Wong, a senior lecturer at the Yale-China Chinese Language Centre, has been an avid supporter of the programme for four consecutive years. ‘I really appreciated the help I got from a similar programme when I was an exchange student in Japan, and I have occasionally heard stories about how difficult it is for overseas students to have in-depth contact with the lives of local people. Therefore, I hope I can help to make CUHK, or Hong Kong as a whole, a better place for international students.’ Dr. Wong took care of a student from Thailand last year remotely, who was unfortunately bound in her country due to the pandemic, and took her on a virtual campus tour. The student has finally arrived in Hong Kong for the new academic year. Dr. Wong is excited to meet her soon after she completes quarantine.

Another host, Ms. Misaki Nagaoka, a research assistant at the Department of Japanese Studies, served as the host of a Chilean student for two years. ‘I came to Hong Kong four years ago. As I was raised in Japan I can share my culture and experience with the student. We mainly communicated in Spanish, a language I had learned for more than 10 years. Through this programme, I have good opportunities to know about students’ life, to have language and cultural interactions with them, and to learn about Hong Kong. It has been mutually beneficial.’ In the past two years, the meet-up activities within the pair came in all shapes and sizes, ranging from different visits to wall climbing. While social distancing was in force, both of them enthusiastically joined the online workshops organized by the Office of Student Affairs.

The CUHK Host Family Programme welcomes full-time CUHK staff to join. The application is open now till 15 September. You can visit here for the programme’s application and details.