Leung Cheok Si
MPI student from the Bachelor of Social Sciences in Sino-Lusophone Trade Relations, School of Public Administration, exchanged to the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Portugal
This year was a special and meaningful year to me, as I've long been imagining what it will be like to study abroad.
It wasn't easy in the beginning. When we first arrived in Portugal in September, I could barely understand what the people were saying barely. But now, after 10 months of training, I am able to understand most of what they are talking about if I pay full attention. Besides from academic skills, I've also grown as a person, to become more independent and open minded.
I've travelled to many different countries this year, and these experiences have widened my mind. It's a rare opportunity to experience so many different cultures of different countries in a single year, and I feel lucky to have this opportunity. More importantly, though many bad things happened here in Europe this year, we are lucky that we were not involved. I really hope that this world can be more united and have peace.
Portugal is really a nice country, the weather, the people, the atmosphere, the cities - especially Porto. All of them are surely unforgettable to me. If I might have a chance to come again, I would definitely be happy to do so.