Last week, Stef van Meetelen and Rafke Fleischeuer were urgently requested to return home, but they decided not to comply. "We understand TU/e's advice and we appreciate the concern," they write in an email to Cursor. "But at this point, we don't see the need to leave. The offer to facilitate the trip back home is very generous of course. As things stand, we both can finish our programs here without any problems, and we will not fall behind with our studies."

"We are fine," Stef and Rafke say. "There have been weekly protests since our first week [end of August, ed.] in Hong Kong. Until recently, these protests always took place in the weekends, and therefore the impact on our daily lives was minimal. Travelling by metro has become more difficult however."

The building where the students live is located in the same street as a police station and a government building. "For this reason, we saw several demonstrations, because they often took place in front of these buildings. We also came across a roadblock. We wanted to go to the university by bus because the subway lines were closed as a result of the unrest, but the bus couldn't go further. We got off the bus and took a taxi home. Sometimes you can't make a switch at a metro stop because certain stations suddenly get closed down without warning." Stef and Rafke do not complain though: "It's no problem living here, you just need to adjust your plans somewhat from time to time."

HKUST

The two Industrial Engineering students didn't see much of the protests that have been going on at the universities since Monday, November 10. Their Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) had already been closed by that time.The university provides updates on the accessibility of campus practically on a daily basis. "However, since that Monday, protest have been taking place daily, and the situation has further escalated. We aren't afraid, because both the protestors and the police basically have no intention of harming us. We do realize that something can happen, and that's why we don't go looking for trouble of course. You immediately sense the tension when you do inadvertently get close to the demonstrations," Stef writes.

Rafke and Stef, who met in Hong Kong, no longer follow lectures at the campus. Instead, they follow online classes and take examinations via internet. Contact with teachers also takes place via internet. They will stay in Hong Kong for two more weeks to complete their final assignments and exams. "After that, we will probably travel for a while," Stef writes in the email, "we would like to finish our semester abroad."

No regret

The students didn't once regret their choice for Hong Kong. "Hong Kong is and remains a fantastic city and we feel totally at home here. We both wanted to go to a country outside Europe where the level of education is high and where people speak English. Hong Kong is also attractive to us because it is a very large but compact city, and because it is a combination of a western and an Asian culture."