Cultural melting pot in United Arab Emirates

Parko (1st left) makes friends from all around the world during his exchange in UAE.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a seamless melting pot of the world’s culture. Located between Africa, Europe, and Asia, this country is one of the most astonishing, futuristic and spectacular destinations in the world. Parko Chan, a Year 4 student in the Quantitative Finance Programme shared his experience during his exchange in the second term of 2019-20 at the American University of Sharjah (AUS) in UAE.

‘Meeting with people and adventuring in UAE are some of the highlights of my exchange at AUS. Academically, in-class interaction at AUS has always been a source of inspiration. Interactive lectures with thoughtful inputs from my peers offer great learning opportunities. I have joined a few excursion trips to Abu Dhabi and have met new friends from all over the world, enriching my understanding towards foreign cultures and traditions. I visited Fujairah, where I watched bull fighting which is very different from the commonly known Spanish one. I was invited to my friend’s home for Eid celebration on the last day of Ramadan and welcomed with all sorts of traditional Arabic delicacy like biryani and shawarma.’

Parko (1st left) enjoys the traditional Arabic delicacy with his friends.

The Office of Academic Links will soon invite applications for Outgoing Exchange Programme (Summer 2021/ Regular Term-Time 2021-22) and will hold a series of promotional programmes in October/November for students to learn more about the exchange opportunities at 280-plus institutions in over 30 regions worldwide. Please share the following promotional video with your students and encourage them to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to undertake exchange. Stay tuned to our upcoming announcements at the OAL website.