If you don't drink and you eat at home, Hong Kong is an affordable place to live. Shopping for food is cheap if you stick to the local markets, but if you're squeamish about watching vendors chop off the legs of live frogs or cut open live fish, use the two major supermarket chains, Parknshop and Wellcome, both very affordable. Public transport is easy to use, cheap and clean, and basic utilities such as water, gas and electricity are also reasonable. Chinese students are relatively passive when compared to their European or South American counterparts. The secondary school system is exam-oriented and the students are not usually encouraged to be creative or think independently.
Students can seem bored, listless, and demotivated, a constant source of frustration for teachers.
Hong Kong is very high-tech oriented and teachers should have more than basic computer skills since a lot of communication takes place via the internet and email. The pollution in Hong Kong is not getting any better and despite pressure from environmental groups the government does not appear to be tackling the problem of poor air quality. Michael Gibb works at City University of Hong Kong.