By Xinhua
Beijing : While his classmates enjoy their last precious moments on campus, Hong Kong student Kwok Ka has grabbed the opportunity to be part of Beijing's Olympic buzz.
Kwok, who holds journalism degree from the capital's Renmin University, has been working as an intern at the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) for more than six months.
Many of his classmates are preparing to leave, having completed their courses, but the ambitious Kwok says the chance to work with BOCOG is unrivalled.
His daily tasks with BOCOG's editing and publishing division involve registering official documents, such as training handbooks or maps for spectators. Kwok's job also involves communications with other departments about publishing projects.
Kwok hopes to continue with BOCOG next year, assisting guests from around the world.
Born in Hong Kong, the 24-year-old's parents hail from mainland China. They moved to Hong Kong in the early 1980s from the Yunan province.
After a preparatory course, Kwok applied to Renmin University when most of his classmates preferred to study abroad.
"It was not because my parents came from the mainland. The region has become an irresistible market with umpteen opportunities that Hong Kong feels more and more attached to, particularly after the handover in 1997," he says.
"Plus, I like Beijing, even though I have very limited knowledge about the city. I had never been here before. Beijing is totally different from Hong Kong. It's an attractive place that I want to explore."
When Kwok joined Renmin University, there were fewer Hong Kong students on campus than at Peking or Tsinghua universities.
"The latter two are very well-known in Hong Kong. Yet I chose Renmin because of its long-standing tradition of journalism," he says.
At first, Kwok drew the attention from his classmates, who asked what Hong Kong was like and whether the locals lived as portrayed in TV serials. "Gradually they treated me as any other classmate, just like one of them" he says.
Kwok has also sensed the differences between students from the mainland and from Hong Kong.
He noticed an interesting passion among mainland students for taking postgraduate examinations, which was not common with Hong Kong students.
"We are more profession-oriented in college, to make ourselves better prepared for our future career, while our mainland classmates seem to live in a relaxing ivory tower," he says.
During his five years in Beijing, the city's terrible traffic impresses him as much as its rich cultural and historical legacies.
"Before I came to Beijing, I really didn't know what life here was like. I knew there were not as many bicycles as there used to be, since more people could afford private cars."
But he added that he did not think the traffic would affect the Olympic Games. "The city will solve the problem in its own unique way," he says.
Kwok plans to return to Hong Kong after finishing his duties with BOCOG. But his wish is to return some day as a bridge between the two regions.