I have also noticed that the school system is structured quite similarly. For instance, while I am used to dividing up years by grades, students here call them years, like year one for first grade. Of course, the city's British legacy continues with how many students take English along with Chinese quite early on.
The most interesting difference, I think, is that students go to a mix of different schools. Most people I know in New York went to public schools, and a few students went to private schools. Students in Hong Kong are fairly evenly divided between the two here. Regardless of where they attend school, the students in Hong Kong walk, laugh, finish homework and anticipate upcoming tests, just like you likely do on your way to school. So even though they're on the other side of the world, students here aren't so different than you.
