Just before leaving Boston for winter break, Northeastern provided to all of us that went abroad, as Co-op or exchange, an iPhone 5s with unlimited data in every single country of the world. The unlimited data of the iPhone can be used without any cost except for doing phone calls, which is extremely costly: around $1 USD/minute in most of the countries. However, the phone was given by the university so that in case of an emergency we would be able to communicate with them, so they do not make any charges for emergency calls. As the phone has unlimited data, I have been using it as my personal phone and it works perfectly. The signal is very fast everywhere and in the four places I have been so far since I activated it: USA, Hong Kong, Macau and Vietnam, the phone has connected to the local signal as soon as I arrived without any problem.
As I can make Facetime calls to other iPhones and Whatsapp just incorporated the option of doing calls using data, there is no real need to get a local phone. The only reason why I considered that option was because I am applying for Co-ops for the next cycle and I might be receiving some phone calls from potential employers, but I just turned off the airplane mode of my American phone to receive phone calls, as I do not think employers will be willing to make international calls. That being said, Hong Kong cellphone plans have very good prices compared to the US ones. On average, an unlimited phone call plan has a cost of $15 USD.
The university has a great Wi-Fi connection: 57.33 Mbps download speed. However I cannot say the same about the dorms–or at least my dorm, Lee Hysan Hall–as it constantly disconnects and the signal works just fine to browse and watch YouTube videos but not for heavy use. I like to play online chess and the slow dorm internet puts me in a difficult situation as I do not get the enough signal to play without lag.
There are many computers across the entire campus that can be used for school related activities or for personal use; I constantly use them as the screen is way bigger than my laptop. Printing is as easy as Northeastern. There is the option of printing from the university computers and also from personal laptops, which requires downloading a software. One positive aspect of my dorm is that it has printers on the first floor, so there is no need to go to the university every time I want to print something.
The technology of HKU, overall, is very similar to Northeastern’s. A disadvantage from HKU is that the library closes every weekday at 11pm, while Snell Library does not. But an advantage of HKU is that some classes are recorded and then posted online so that those that did not go can see them; I have never seen any Northeastern’s professor doing this. It is interesting that right now there are many protests at HKU because of the appointment of a university board member that, according to many students, is very pro-Beijing and many are protesting because they want HKU to maintain its autonomy from the government (the university is public). Trying to call the media attention, the student union leaders encouraged other HKU students to boycott their classes for a week. So last week we were very few attending, mostly internationals. For those that did not attend because of the boycott or any other reason, they were able to see their classes online.
