7
SEEING THE EXTRAORDINAR IN THE ORDINAR
UMP
大學廣場
NOV 2014
Greetings from Kyrgyzstan
Fact:
Kyrgyzstan
(
吉爾吉斯斯坦
)
is a landlocked and mountainous
Central Asian country bordering
China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan
and Tajikistan. Kyrgyz
and Russian are its official
languages, while about 75% of
the Kyrgyz people are Muslims.
The country achieved
independence from the Soviet
Union in 1991.
To: CUHK
From: Kyrgyzstan
With Love
Kairat from Bishkek, the capital of
Kyrgyzstan
, speaks
Kyrgyz, Russian, Turkish and English, but zero knowledge
of Chinese is no barrier to his yearning to discover Hong
Kong! Having arrived in the city for three months, Kairat
finds everything here new and fun, and is excited to take up
upcoming challenges.
Kairat has been longing for exposure to the Southeast Asian
regions, and his interest in Hong Kong became stronger
after talking to the student representatives from Hong Kong
in a mathematical competition during high school. “Hong
Kong is a cosmopolitan, and the universities here are world-
renowned,” he said, explaining why he decided to study
engineering thousands of miles away from home.
Like many visitors, Kairat is amazed by the dense population
and skyscrapers here. His first encounter with the buildings
on campus was also unforgettable, since in Bishkek
buildings are not found on a hillside, although it is also on
a mountainous location. Climate is another issue he is yet
to get used to – often he finds the air stuffy due to high
humidity. When asked about the most challenging part of his
life at CUHK, Kairat did not hesitate in his reply – “language”.
He said, “While I can understand most of the lectures for
English is the medium of instruction, I am totally lost at local
students’ casual conversations.” However, the language
problem has not stopped Kairat from experiencing Hong
Kong since he likes trying out new things. He is going to
take Cantonese classes, and hopes he will be able to talk to
his classmates
in Cantonese.
The only thing
that he has to
stay alert is in
picking food while
dining out, since he
does not eat pork as a
Muslim, but so far the local
cuisine has not been a problem to him – he even prefers it,
hoping to get a taste of Hong Kong.
Kairat is impressed by the self-discipline and hospitality
of Hongkongers, which encourage him to promote Hong
Kong to his friends back home. “As far as I observe, people
here do not jump the queue,” he reiterated. He also enjoys
telling his new friends, who always show a great interest
in Kyrgyzstan, about his background. He hopes he can
introduce Kyrgyzstan, a country with which Hong Kong
people may not be familiar, to those who are interested.
If you happen to see Kairat in the Learning Garden, his
favourite study point, do not hesitate to ask him anything
about his home country and the languages he speaks! As he
recalls, pronouncing his name might well be a fun challenge
to his new friends here!
Kairat Eshbolotov (Faculty of Engineering / Year 1)
