Patrick Manson Hall At HKU
January 14, 2010 § 3 Comments
Don't leave me here...
My residence hall is not an actual dorm, and it is not one that I had even heard of before getting my housing assignment. Its name is Patrick Manson [we call it PM for short], and is pretty much the farthest residence hall from campus that I know of. Indeed, it would take me more than 30 minutes to walk to campus, so I have to take a bus to and fro. The closest facilities are a 7-11, the hospital, and a canteen [cafeteria] that most people denounce as gross.
Yet, they filled this hall with female exchange students. We don’t even have a front desk, much less the hall life that is touted in HKU brochures. That means no hall activities, no hall sports teams, no hall spirit — only the security guard that comes at night. If we need maintenance or a piano room [things normally available on a hall’s first floor], we have to walk over to the building next door.
The hallways are narrow and dim, as if one is in a warehouse rather than college student residence. The laundry room only has four machines, so it’s amazing to me that it would be able to handle the laundry of 100 girls. The building has no heaters, which makes the place feel damp and chilly even in this relatively mild HK winter. Our “mailboxes” are more like cubbyholes — no security at all. When my new debit card arrives in the mail, anybody would be able to just take it.
What are the advantages of living here?
Well, nobody plays soccer/hockey in the hallways at night [apparently this is a habit of guys in certain other halls]. Because we don’t have a front desk, security is very lax, and we don’t need to sign in our guests or worry too much about possession of alcohol [curfew and prohibition are stated but not exactly enforced], not that the latter applies to me. The only other one I can think of is that the toilet paper is of a remarkable caliber. Even the Scott tissues that I bought were of lower quality.
auradis 
HKU is the first university in Hong Kong, so you cannot expect them to have funds to modify the dorms, especially not many ppl actually need to live at dorms.
the delight of studying abroad…realizing your not living on american standards anymore
what doesnt kill ya makes ya stronger….right?
=)
[…] when I studied abroad in HK before, our dorm had huge laundromat-style dryers. When I taught English in China during the […]