Like everyone else, our journey to HUST began with a long flight to Beijing from the UK, 16 hours of travel full of adventure finally touching down in the amazing city of Wuhan.
We were incredibly excited but slightly nervous as well. We both arrived on different days, met each other on the first day and realised that we study the same major!
My (Aidan) time in Wuhan started with getting lost on campus (my own fault!), however, I ran into some extremely helpful recent HUST graduates, they helped me contact my volunteer who rushed to save the day!
On the other hand, my (Jake) first few days included some incredible hotpot and a visit to the Yellow Crane Tower, just in time to see the light show!
Two very different stories, but both incredibly exciting.
Tired and jet-lagged, we were thrown into the deep end, interesting lecture after interesting lecture made the early mornings easy. Learning about autonomous driving and swarm intelligence have been the highlight lectures for us, although every single one has captivated our minds like nothing we have experienced.
The cultural lessons have been incredibly eye opening. Although all the activities have been engaging, we both have different favourites: Aidan’s being the language sessions and Jake’s being the fan painting, however, calligraphy was a close second for both of us! It has been so enthralling to be educated on Chinese culture, the history of China and the traditional practices, because before we arrived, we had no idea how important the traditions were to the Chinese people!
In our free time we have been exploring Wuhan, with planned trips to Chongqing and Shanghai in the coming weeks. Playing football with HUST students, The Yellow Crane Tower and East Lake have been highlights for us during our time in Wuhan so far, as well as visiting the Wuhan Sports Centre to watch Wuhan Three Towns FC play.
Unfortunately, the score ended in a draw, however, it was a wonderful experience, the fans were incredibly hospitable, and the atmosphere was electric!
We cannot wait for the rest of the trip, as the first half has been so amazing and we have felt so welcome!
