Preparation

Selection of Destination


I originally intended to study in Europe, and was considering Athens specifically. This fall I looked at the U of M's study abroad options again, and this time I noticed the program at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The more I looked at this program and the location the more I wanted to go there.

I could continue to take technical courses such as microbiology or thermodynamics, it was cheaper than the programs in Europe, and the location of the campus was awesome. The campus is right on the sea, overlooking mountainous islands in the distance.

On Campus Preparation 

After deciding I talked to the campus coordinator about what I had to do. I applied to the University, and started to submit my necessary paperwork for that the Study Abroad Center requires. I talked to many advisors about what classes I should take, and other details. My largest problem was that the Biomedical Engineering program is very difficult to study abroad in, but eventually I figured it out.

A few weeks later, I received an email telling me that I was accepted to HKUST, although I assumed I would get in, it was still exciting. After that I had to turn in a lot of paperwork. Insurance, Hong Kong Visa, Housing, and some more forms for the Study Abroad Center. I mailed all of that paperwork to HKUST and then all I had to do is wait.

Plans for Secondary Travels


Another student from the U of M that was going to HKUST contacted me about going on an excursion to Beijing. The plan was to take the train from Hong Kong to Beijing and spend some time there then take the train back.

The only real hurdle in this plan was getting a tourist visa for mainland China. While Hong Kong has been a part of China as a Special Administrative District, a separate visa is required to enter Hong Kong versus mainland China. The process to get this visa is not simple. Your passport must be delivered to the Chinese consulate, and the closest Chinese consulate is in Chicago. Also through a dumb rule, the passport has to be delivered in person. It does not matter who that person is,  as long as it is not the mail person. Companies in Chicago have taken advantage of this by charging a small fee of $43 to walk down the street and get a sticker placed in my passport. After considering some options, I decided to pay this fee and trust my passport to this company. This was a risk though because if something went wrong I would not have my passport for traveling to Hong Kong. I called the office of mychinavisa.com and the assured me my passport would return in time.

I sent my passport out with the necessary paperwork and a check, and about a week later I got it back. During this time I had gotten my Hong Kong Student Visa so when I got my passport back I put that sticker in as well. It is cool to look at the pages of my passport with the Hong Kong and China Visas and know that because of that I can go back and forth whenever I please.

Another problem with the Chinese Visa, is I had heard that although you apply for example a multiple entry 12 month visa, sometimes the consulate could decide that they want to only give you a 1 entry 3 month visa. It was especially good to get my visa returned and see the Entries: M.

Flight

Some time during all of this my mom and I bought my plane tickets. I wanted to avoid as many snowy airports as possible, so eventually we found a flight for around $1200 round trip that would go from Minneapolis, to Seattle, to the Narita-Tokyo Airport and finally to Hong Kong. I leave MSP at 9 am and arrive at HKG at 11 pm the next day. With a 14 time difference. So in total about 22 hours of travel.