Beyond the Itinerary: Two Students’ Unexpected Moments in the UK
Left: Louis Yu Tsz-kin and his teammates help a wounded tourist at Liverpool Cruise Port. Right: Janice Wong Peck-hay is treated by the emergency care service at a local hospital in Chester, accompanied by Dr Kristy Yip of the Department of Special Education and Counselling (SSPS) during her stay.
A study tour is shaped as much by the unplanned as the planned, and it is often the unexpected incidents that leave the deepest mark. SSPS students Janice Wong Peck-hay and Louis Yu Tsz-kin found this out first-hand during an 11-day UK study tour in May.
Eighteen students enrolled in the course “Overseas Field-based Learning: Exploring Cultural Heritage and Global Citizenship” joined the tour. They attended lectures, group discussions, and interactive activities as part of a five-day workshop hosted by the University of Chester, visited historical and cultural sites across Manchester, Chester, and Liverpool, and carried out field-based activities. The tour was led by course coordinator Dr Kristy Yip So-king of the Department of Social Sciences and Policy Studies (SSPS).
Janice thanks Dr Yip for looking after her during her visit to a local hospital in Chester.
Janice notes that the atmosphere in the A&E department of the local hospital in Chester is calmer than in Hong Kong.
On the second day of the tour, while attending lectures at the University of Chester, Janice suddenly developed a fever and began experiencing breathing difficulties. As her condition worsened and she grew increasingly confused and anxious, Dr Yip promptly took her to the university’s health centre for an initial assessment, then accompanied her to a local hospital for emergency treatment.
“By the time we arrived at the hospital, my symptoms had worsened—dizziness, vomiting, and shivering,” Janice recounted. The medical staff carried out a chest X-ray and blood tests and gave her medication to stabilise her condition. After several hours of treatment, she began to recover and was discharged before dark.
Janice, second from left, is delighted to find her classmates waiting for her at the hotel with strawberries.
“I felt fortunate that the attending doctor could speak some Cantonese, which helped ease my anxiety,” Janice said. Throughout her hospital stay, her classmates kept in constant contact, sending messages of support. When she returned to the hotel, they had bought strawberries and were waiting to share them with her.
Dr Yip remained by Janice’s side throughout, providing reassurance and keeping her family informed. “I must thank Dr Yip and my classmates, whose care made me feel truly supported during the whole experience,” said Janice, who is studying for the Bachelor of Education (Honours) (Business, Accounting and Financial Studies) (BEd (BAFS)) programme. She was also surprised to discover that, even as a tourist, she was entitled to free medical care at the hospital in Chester.
Louis, middle in black T-shirt, a certified first aider, assesses the extent of the woman’s injuries while a teammate holds an umbrella over her.
Louis treats the wound of a woman who fell at the Liverpool Cruise Port. The incident prompted him and his teammates to reflect on what global citizenship means in practice.
On the eighth day of the tour, around midday, Louis Yu Tsz-kin and his team were preparing to begin fieldwork in Liverpool when they came across a woman who had just disembarked at the Liverpool Cruise Port and fallen, injuring her nose. “As global citizens, we thought it was our duty to help her rather than stand by because we happened to be tourists,” said Louis, who is also enrolled in the BEd(BAFS) programme.
After a few seconds to take stock of the situation, Louis, a certified first-aider, stepped in. “We worked as a team: some of my team members held an umbrella over the injured woman and comforted her, some spoke to passersby to piece together what had happened, and some tried to reach and inform Dr Yip. I used my first-aid supplies to stop the bleeding, clean and disinfect the wounds, and cover them with bandages,” he recalled.
Louis Yu Tsz-kin, front, pictured with his team members at the Port: Tang Lee-ling, the lady on the left, and Lo Yan-yi with a cap; Cheng Kam-fung, the gentleman on the left, and Tam Lung-lun wearing sunglasses.
Even on foreign soil, even with language and cultural differences between us, we didn’t hesitate to help a stranger in need
After a short while, the woman returned to the ship with her husband once she was stable. For Louis, the episode captured something concrete about global citizenship and what the course calls cosmopolitan empathy: the idea that shared humanity carries moral weight across borders and nationalities. “These are not simply grand slogans, but a call for concrete action. Even on foreign soil, even with language and cultural differences between us, we didn’t hesitate to help a stranger in need,” Louis said.
For both students, these unscripted moments proved more memorable than any scheduled activity. The five-day workshop, the heritage visits, and the fieldwork all offered plenty to learn from; but it was what happened in between that stayed with them.
