My experience of the HUST Summer school program started on a 5-hour flight from Singapore to Wuhan Tianhe Airport. The flight was enjoyable as I had travelled with three other friends in the same program and we did math puzzles throughout because we are Asian. Upon landing, I thought that it would be hot as it was summer, but it was surprisingly chilly. The weather forecast showed 22 degrees Celsius. It felt amazing but it rained every day throughout the first week of the program, so I was constantly wet. On the first day of moving in, I remember seeing so many students from different countries in the lobby of the dormitory and it felt heartwarming knowing that we all signed up for this program as we shared a similar interest towards robots.
The first week of this program was spent acclimatizing to new living conditions and the overall student life in HUST. We were each given a student card and you could put money in it. I found it a shock that we had to use the card to pay for things such as hot water in the shower, wi-fi, electricity, washing machines, hair dryer, bus, canteen food etc. etc. This was because back in NTU, I did not have to pay for those amenities. In hindsight, it does seem convenient to be able to pay for almost everything using our student card.
Something immediate that caught my attention was the widespread use of electric scooters as a means of travel in not just the school itself, but in major cities of China. Thankfully, there are loads of scooter sharing services available all around the campus and it wasn’t difficult signing up.
The program consists of an educational lecture in the morning, cultural lecture in the afternoon and a long four hour break in between. In that time, my friends and I rode our scooters around HUST scouring for new foods to try. As HUST boasts over 30 canteens in campus, I jokingly (not) said to my friends that we should try out every canteen every day. But this was short lived as the food got repetitive quick. However, this is not to say that there wasn’t uniquely good food in Wuhan. I’m sorry if these pictures make you hungry.
A group of us went to 户部巷 (Hubuxiang) to try out the 美食 good food that was promised to us by our Chinese teacher, 杨老师 (Ms Yang). We had 小土豆 (small fried potatoes), 三鲜豆皮 (triple delicacy beancurd skin), 臭豆腐 (smelly tofu), 生煎包 （pan fried dumplings）, 茶颜悦色（better tea compared to Chagee) and supposedly the Wuhan burger? We were also lucky to have a kind, caring and helpful student volunteer 郭祎祺 （Yi Qi）to bring us to one of his favorite 麻辣汤 (malatang） spot just outside of HUST.
Apart from eating, there were a few places in Wuhan that were easily accessible via the metro line which again, was conveniently located just outside of the school gate. Not only are metro stations so abundant, HUST is also so big that you can walk out of any one of the many school gates and stumble into a metro station. It took about 30-40 minutes to travel to the various tourist hotspots in Wuhan.
In my honest opinion, 黄鹤楼 (yellow crane tower) was not that enjoyable. There were 人山人海 (loads of people) and it was 33 degrees Celsius. People pushed past each other hurriedly to take photos of the light show after which frantically ran up to the top of the tower to take more photos. I personally enjoyed the light show as it told a beautiful story of the poet that dropped mad bars on a poem of the tower, truly a sight to behold. Another place I visited was昙华林 (tanhualin), a well-preserved ancient street with lots of history. One notable highlight was the acrobat troupe at the Han Show. My favorite acrobatic stunt was seeing five people balancing on a moving bicycle. Unfortunately, I can’t post the video in this document.
It is now almost the end of week 3 of the summer program and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t sad that the school is going to be over soon. I had such a fun and memorable time in HUST. My favorite classes were the cultural lectures such as calligraphy and fan making. I enjoyed making friends with other international students and even the full-time masters and PhD students staying in the dormitory. If you’d ask me if I would recommend this program to prospective international students, I’d give a resounding yes. This exchange has been nothing short of transformative. The memories, friendships, and lessons I've gained will stay with me for a lifetime (and hopefully the friends too :p). I'm deeply grateful for the opportunity and all the people who help made this journey so meaningful. Ciao.
