Samuel Chan 談英國 recently hit me with a question - What was the most enjoyable part of boarding school?
In short, half-term (LOL!)
Don't get me wrong, I didn’t hate school. I absolutely loved my time at Rye St Antony School in east Oxford. There really should be no fallacies and doubts about what independent and boarding schooling can do for Hong Kong children. You really do meet great friends for life and participate in sporting and extra-curricular activities which, for me, would have been a pipe dream had I not studied in the UK. Fanciful hopes can become unforgettable memories in the blink of an eye at boarding school. Just look at what my involvement in the school's Duke Of Edinburgh Awards and art competitions did for me!
Ah, yes - half-term. I could do little but take advantage of this short break away from school to enhance my awareness of all things British. Cultural development at its most extreme. I would transport myself to other worlds: out in the sticks of rural Oxford (I love that phrase ‘out in the sticks’ - and so do the British), sitting by the River Thames along South Bank watching buskers sing or just going off to watch live bands whenever I could. Out of all these delights, the ‘Thames factor’ did it for me - views of Big Ben and Parliament, city traffic racing by and lyrics from the Kinks singing in my mind (‘as long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset I am in paradise’). It only takes a sunset of a million colours over London to make everything - living, studying and cramming for exams - all seem worthwhile.
In and around Camden Town, murals adorning the old brick buildings which housed funky coffee shops, art galleries and stores as well as the now-legendary Camden KOKO, where every musician would dream to play at. Every visit had its own charm with unpredictable events, chance meetings and the odd planned rendezvous all in waiting. Camden has it all and it was the perfect setting to gain inspiration for my songwriting- scribbling down phrases and live conversations on scrap paper; that feeling of exploding ideas at 3am in the morning happened right here, in broad daylight!
Of course, my budget was low and I still remember using my ‘Young Person’s Railcard’ and getting bargain fare prices at the oddest of hours to get down to London. Yes, my accommodation was always a tatty bed and breakfast but you soon forget these things when you study in the UK. You are just grateful to be there, to be ‘living it’. Overcooked bacon and greasy sausages don’t matter one jot! London is wonderful, not for its shopping or cuisine, but just for casually grabbing a Tesco meal deal and then fleeing off to the Tate Modern or Brick Lane to watch a live band. Heaven!
I really must stop, I can honestly write a book on my time in the UK! Come watch me play at the Cordis Hotel, Mongkok this Saturday(20Feb 12:00pm) or have a chat with Samuel if you wish to study abroad.
