Newly qualified Radiographer moving to HK
 

Hey people of the world.

I am a 27 year old, newly qualified Radiographer and I have been offered of a job in the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin, Hong Kong. I was lucky enough to holiday in HK in the past and so I have had a taster of the place. I'm very excited about the move but also terrified. I have many thoughts about the move and it would be fantastic to hear from expats who live and breathe in the place.

first and formost, my main concern is the language. I have read previous posts about people surviving a lack of cantonese linguistics. However, Having spent the last three years moving to different hospital accommodation sites around the UK and living by myself i am concerned that I might again be isolated. I am a very sociable character and i am fed up of living like a nomad. I always embrace new activities and events and I really want to find a sociable life for myslef, hence choosing to wotrk in a big city

so, my first and most ultimate question is will I be isolated in HK. What is the social life like, will I be sat in my room with nobody else that speaks english. This is my fear. I',m going regardless and will make my most efforsts to learn the language and get involved with everything but this is my fear.

I would love to hear briefly your experinece of HK if you moved over there solo yourselves,

Kind Regards,

Jim

Re: Newly qualified Radiographer moving to HK
 

I would have thought your biggest problem with language would be with your patients.

Lots of socialising in HK with booze.
Don't overdo it.

Otherwise shouldn't be a problem.
Depends on you.

We found PoW had many ex pats on the staff.

Re: Newly qualified Radiographer moving to HK
 

You are a single, late twenties male, with presumably a decent income, and you're worried you're going to be lonely in Hong Kong? Mate, you'll have the time of your life! :lol:

I've never lived there but there is a huge expat scene. Right now you might think that's not why you're moving half way across the world, to mix with expats, but trust me it will make the first few months a lot easier and more enjoyable.

Google around for expat forums, get yourself signed up for whatever sport your interested in (dragon boating? cricket? rugby?) and don't turn down any invitations to drinks or barbies.

Once you find your way around, you can be more choosy. I'm speaking from similar experience in Singapore (although stayed well clear of expat clubs).

You don't need Cantonese to survive in Hong Kong, but it would be good to try and learn some so you know when your colleagues are bitching about you ;)

Re: Newly qualified Radiographer moving to HK
 

thanks for your reply reg and seasider.

yep Reg. Most problems will be with patients but it will all be the same aftger a while (Ihope), breathe in, turn over etc.

Seasider, you are a thoroughbred Aus! great attitude hehe. Indeed I am recently single after 6 years, I have nothing to lose woth this opportunity. THanks for the comment it is most encouraging.

Jim

Re: Newly qualified Radiographer moving to HK
 

:eek: I'm a Yorkshirewoman.

Re: Newly qualified Radiographer moving to HK
 

Ach! Apologies Seasider! I will write a better response in the morning when I have not enjoyed so much 'moving to the far east, confused, alcohol'.

Jim

Re: Newly qualified Radiographer moving to HK
 

Ah but you're starting to sound like a Sheila now :D

Re: Newly qualified Radiographer moving to HK
 

you will always be a gwai lo but that doesnt mean you will be lonely
I just wish I was 40 years younger and going out there with you - its 35 years since I was last there

enjoy

Re: Newly qualified Radiographer moving to HK
 

hey again people,

so, my earlier pessimistic thought have changed to excitement and I am making the move! I am currently in the process of searching for accommodation in Sha Tin. My monthy salary will be $22000. Now, the cheapest apartments I can find are around $8000 per month. I have came to realise that this is the norm but I am a frifty fellow and wondered if anyone had any tips of finding cheaper places. Do they exist? any good estate agents, room mate finding services?

Anywhere thats clean I will hang my hat. A window would be a bonus ;)

thanks in advance.

PS, Domino, I imagine things have changed in HK over 35 years. what were you doing back then? was that not the start of when they stated sticking neon billboards up everywhere :)

Re: Newly qualified Radiographer moving to HK
 

Driving grey painted war canoes around the islands of the Far East :)
(although one was a 54,000 ton flat topped canoe)

Yes stacks of billboards around, my first visit was about 1965 as a very green teenager, plenty of bars in Wanchai to spend money in, the days of getting a suit made in a day, very much a different place to what it was on last visit and that is very much different to now.

my very first flight was to Singapore, just past my 17th birthday, on a civvy contracted trooping flight that took 3 days IIRC, got stuck in Turkey for almost a day. Nowadays I have problems with being cooped up for 2hrs or so for a flight to\from Spain

Good luck to you, enjoy, the place has a chequered history but it makes interesting reading, also try Tai Pan by James Clavell, although fiction covers the start of Hong Kong and the Opium Wars, the whole series of books starting with Shogun are an excellent read IMHO
to say I am jealous is an understatement, would like to take my great lady out to see the sights but we are getting too old and destitute for that sort of thing :(
kind regards

Re: Newly qualified Radiographer moving to HK
 

Hey there

Congrats on the job! I am a Danish radiographer who just finished my Master at Hong Kong Polyu and I am currently studying Cantonese and let me tell you; it is pretty darn difficult!!! No worries though, I think you will quickly learn what you need to know at the hospital :). I have done one of my practical rotations in the Middle East without speaking one word of Arabic but I quickly figured out how to say the basics

Social life in Hong kong is great. Lots of ex-pats and tons of things to do. Join some clubs or go to Lan kwai Fong on Friday nights and you will be fine ;)

What is your work schedule like? I will be applying for jobs soon but have no idea what to expect. The salary seems a bit low though if they are not offering any accomedation. Rooms are generally pretty expensive but you may be able to find cheaper rooms if you live "far" out from the city and it is still easy to get to work by bus or MTR. I have lived in Hong Kong for about 6 years now and I actually had quite a bit of a hazzle getting my authorization to work here in HK but I finally got it (TODAY!!!).
Good luck and I hope you get a fantastic experience.

Re: Newly qualified Radiographer moving to HK
 

PS look at the webpage asiaexpat.com - lots of good advise there as well!

Re: Newly qualified Radiographer moving to HK
 

Hello Acdenmark!

Congratulations on the masters! It certainly seems you will have an advantage over myself in terms of cultural Radiography! :) I completed a three year course with vocational training in England. I have a Bsc which might explain the salary you were not expectiing? I have been offered a relocation allowance which will be great. Is it the radiographers registration board you had hassle with? I'm currently waiting (over a month) for my application to be approved. I applied for Diagnostic part II.

I will be in The Prince of Wales, Sha Tin. I have taken up their offer of hospital accommodation (not free) untill I find some friendly people to live with. I thought this would be the best idea. Like you say everything seems commutable.

In terms of working hours, my contract states that I will have to be available to work 24 hour shifts when needed. they are phasing this out in England. Although I guess it has it's advantages as it will leave me a couple of more days a week to explore.

I did visit on holiday a few years ago a coped with getting by with English. In terms of learning language, I did start to learn and I agree its VERY hard :). I cant differentiate between the six tones. Any tips? I found a few good internet sources and I heard staying away from formal teaching lessons was to be avoided? I have even been watching cantonese films and doap operahs with subtitles :).

Thanks for the advice on where to get a beer ;) i'll check out asiaexpat. also there is geoexpat which I have heard is usefull.

Cheers!

Re: Newly qualified Radiographer moving to HK
 

Hi Again,

I have seen posting on a webpage called jobsdb.com and for part 2 diagnostic radiographers the salary offered was around 28.000 for 5 day working week (lots of places here have 6 day working week). I had a bit of a hassle with the radiographers board because of my Danish Bachelor degree although it is all written in English. I would sent in all my paperwork and then get a letter back that I had to specify some of it - and have it certified by my school back in Denmark which of course took ages and then I would sent it again and be asked for something else - this continued for a while back in 2006 when I first got here. I finally decided that I might as well just do the Master here (it is really good by the way!) so I withdrew my application again.I resubmitted it in January this year (right after I graduated) and same thing happened although I graduated from a Hong kong university (you would think that was a straight ticket to an authorization right!) but NOPE, more paperwork to fill out. It is pretty straight forward but I had to split up my hours to specify how many hour I had i anatomy and how many i physiology becáuse those two were taught as one subject. I do think yours will be a lot easier since you have British papers. However, the Radiographers board only meet every 3 months approximately so if your authorization was not granded around Aug 4th (last meeting) then it might still be a while!!
Probably a good idea to go with the accomondation they offer at the hospital to start with and then look around some areas once you are here to see where you want to live. Shatin is a big area with lots of apartments and highrises and a VERY big shoppingmall with movies etc. However if you like nature and sailing you may want to look around Sai Kung (30 min by minibus) or if you want really busy HK Mongkok might be your thing since you are single. HK island (wanchai, central,etc party area) will be a bit too far to comute every day. But look up the MTR stations (KCR-RAIL) and any stop on this line is pretty close to shatin. :) I will ask around to see how the single guys/girls live and let u know.

The hospital is pretty nice and busy!! My son was admitted and CT-scan there one year ago and one of my fellow students did the scan. There are some nice staff in the department and at least one of them has really good English. They have a good reputation and they are a teaching hospital.

As for cantonese - the university near Shatin offers classes in Cantonese 15 hours per week (around 20.000 hk$ for one semester) morning from9.30 - 12.30 - this is an option if u can afford to come out early on a student visa otherwise they do have evening classes as well once or twice a week at a cheaper price! Tones are really difficult to grasp and you need to just drill them to get your mouth to do it (we seriously lack muscles to do it initially). You can buy a book with cds and it may be a good option. I gave up learning on my own - too bloody difficult.

I am actually only part 2 as well. I graduated in 2005 in Denmark and worked 6 months before I moved here. I then did a quick contract in Greenland in 2006 for 3 months and I have not worked since - only studied.

If you like hiking there are actually tons of amazing trails all over hong kong and believe it or not HK has some pretty great beaches (look up tai long wan , Hap Mun Bay and Trio Beach).

anyway, hope you get your paper-work sorted out soon :)

Christina

Re: Newly qualified Radiographer moving to HK
 

Serious?? How do you keep awake for 24 hours? Anyway, best of luck with the job.