From Heidelberg to Hong Kong: friendship, discovery and careers
11 September 2026
Through mutual study in Germany and Hong Kong, Icy Yau and Matthias Kaufmann learnt to understand each other’s culture, while shaping futures in diplomacy and classical music.
He was late on the day they met, and she was left sitting on her suitcase at a train station in Heidelberg, a picturesque city in Germany steeped in history with its charming old town and castle. Despite this slightly inauspicious start, Matthias Kaufmann (above, right) and Icy Yau Oi-suet (above, left) have forged a long-term friendship that has lasted the twin tests of distance and time.
That connection was made possible by a student exchange programme that CUHK had developed with the University of Heidelberg. Icy travelled from Hong Kong, spending the first half of 2008 in Germany, followed by Matthias, who left Heidelberg for Hong Kong later that year and into 2009. Their careers have since taken flight, Matthias, inspired by his international exchange experiences, entered diplomacy, while Icy followed her musical calling to work for an orchestra. In the last two years, they have reconnected in person as Matthias’ latest post has brought him back to Hong Kong once more.
The first step
Yet the first step on their shared journey came back to that train station. Icy knew little about Germany when she applied to study abroad, so the international office asked Matthias to show her around town, and help her settle in, given that he would be heading to her hometown later in the year. Matthias recalls the first stop was to get some cake.
Icy explained that her interest in classical music is what had drawn her to Germany, encouraged by her sister’s positive experience in Copenhagen to seek an exchange in Europe.
“I didn’t do much research,” Icy admits. “I thought it should be good to know more about the home country of the most important composers. Heidelberg was quite random. I heard it is a beautiful small place, so I picked it.”
“I can testify to it being pretty,” Matthias chimes in. “It really is a lovely spot.” He himself, born in the small city of Erlangen in Bavaria, was also looking to broaden his outlook. He had already been on exchange in Beijing, and credits his experience in the Chinese capital and subsequent time in Hong Kong as formative.
“The plan was to study international politics, and maybe become a diplomat one day, which worked out,” he explains. “These exchanges really played a part in me exploring my career path.”
From exchange to diplomacy
After his exchange at CUHK, Matthias completed his undergraduate studies in Heidelberg, then pursued a master’s degree in Paris. During that subsequent degree, he studied abroad in Boston.
“That was probably on the more extreme side of things,” Matthias concedes of his repeat exchange undertakings. “But I can only recommend it. Being exposed to different cultures, a new environment – all of that strengthens character. And it really helped me build a résumé.”
And he certainly did just that, as he secured a position in the German foreign service not long after. His career has taken him to some of the world’s biggest cities. He was posted back to Beijing, spent time in the Berlin headquarters, and returned to Paris before taking up his current position, where he is seconded to the European Union Office in Hong Kong. Matthias was excited to share that he will also soon depart for a promotion that will see him become deputy head of the European Union Office in Libya.
Finding a true passion for music
Icy has also built on her exchange experience in developing her career. She is now working for the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, helping to plan the programme for the symphony orchestra as well as to engage guest artists.
“My work links back to my experience in Germany many years ago,” she notes. Many of the guest artists hail from France and Germany. “I feel connected with them somehow, having experienced living there. It was really short, only six months, but that exposure really meant a lot to me.”
Besides signing up for a musicology course taught in English at Heidelberg University, Icy also took flute and piano lessons at a nearby academy of music. “I really loved learning from the professors there,” she reminisced. “That really changed how I view music. The piano professor is a very passionate artist, and he always tried to push me through boundaries.”
His passion helped her not only improve technically on the instrument but also understand how music fits into European culture as a whole. On weekends, she would typically travel somewhere else on the continent, which deepened her understanding of the broader European society.
“What you read and see on TV is different from what you experience in person, and when you get to know the people, too,” Icy explains.
Developing a sense of place
Icy returns to Europe at least once a year for the annual conference of the International Artist Managers’ Association, which moves around but is invariably on the continent.
“I’m happy to be back and revisit some of the places I went during my exchange,” Icy says. This year’s event took her to Tallinn in Estonia, but past conferences took place in London, Bruges, Vienna and Zürich. The peers she meets are often from Europe, and she credits her prior experience with helping her forge new connections.
Whenever Icy is back in Europe, she tries to enjoy the more measured pace of life and even the little pleasantries of European life.
“I realise strongly that Hong Kong people are really busy,” she says. In Heidelberg, “my flatmate sometimes saw me on the street, and I was always walking too fast, and didn’t see them.” She also appreciated that professors and students would on Fridays wish each other a schönes Wochenende, a good weekend. “We never think about enjoying the weekends in Hong Kong. I thought it was quite warm to get that greeting every week.”
European individualism vs. Asian collectivism
Matthias was struck by how individualistic European university study can be, with plenty of solo study alongside few scheduled lectures or seminars. “Being an adult in Germany, there’s emphasis on being independent. But you feel a little bit abandoned at times,” he admits. “Here in Hong Kong it felt much more structured, which is not better or worse, it was just a different way of doing things.”
In Hong Kong, he found more collective activities, whether in the dorms, or student organisations, with shouted slogans and dorm dance routines. “That was funny and a new experience for me also,” he says. “I really enjoyed living in a dorm.”
Matthias and Icy have crossed paths not only in Heidelberg but also through joining the choir at CUHK. “We would meet regularly for the choir rehearsals, and he came to my recital,” Icy recalls.
“We have stayed in touch on Facebook,” Matthias says as he takes up the tale of their interwoven experience. “When I knew that I’d be posted to Hong Kong, I reached out to Icy and we rekindled our friendship very closely, and I became connected to the Hong Kong classical music scene. So it’s good to complete the circle.”
Matthias credits “excellent professors” at CUHK with helping him gain insights into modern China, while he also studied Putonghua. He hiked in the Sha Tin hills and travelled around the Chinese Mainland, visiting places such as Hangzhou, Shanghai and Xi’an.
Both Matthias and Icy encourage students to seize exchange and study abroad opportunities. Their chief regret is that the exchange experience flew by too fast.
“I think I should have chosen one whole year and not just a semester,” Icy says. “It was way too short.”
“One year goes by so quickly on exchange,” Matthias adds. “It will pay off both personally and professionally, I’m convinced.”
Years after that first meeting in Heidelberg, Icy and Matthias’ story shows how exchange can become much more than a semester abroad. It can open a door to new places, new perspectives and lasting friendships and connections that continue to shape lives long after students have returned home.
By Alex Frew McMillan and Shally Fan
