I leave Hong Kong with mixed emotions.
My study abroad experience was very positive, rewarding and important. I even decided to extend my original semester abroad into a full year in order to stay longer in my new home. But there is this problem.
Hong Kong University is a place divided. There is a division between those who visit and those who stay. And it is a barrier that I found, even after a year, is not easily crossed.
It is something that permeates every portion of my life in Hong Kong, but at the same time, it is largely invisible.
This debate, however, simmered up from the surface with the installation in my residence hall of the "Democracy Board."
In the ground floor of our residence, the Student Association placed two large pieces of construction paper with a question written at the top. This was the "Democracy Board." "What do you think of the removal of the Chief Executive?" one said. That one stayed nearly empty. One person scribbled "Bring in the Communists!" in large blue marker.
The other board asked, "What do you think about the three new halls of residence?" This got the students talking. "Too many non-local students means that there will not be development of the hall culture," one person wrote.
Another was more blunt. "Exchange students are bad for hall life!"
The students were not just inflamed about the non-local students - the proposed all-male dorm did not have too many supporters - but the issue was the most popular.
Later that week I attended part of a forum on the proposed dorms. The dean of students was English, and the forum had to be conducted in his native tongue. Most university functions are in Cantonese. There student after student got up and angrily denounced the new dorm in the same manner.
The dean seemed taken aback by the response. More than a hundred students gathered for the forum, far more than the number of seats available. "We are trying to balance the needs of the local students, but at the same time enhance our position as an international university," he said.
There was little satisfaction in the crowd. The new dorms are still scheduled to be built, and they will have an international student population between one-third and one-half of the total population.
Local students wanted to be with other local students. International students, the general opinion was, would be damaging to the way of life of the local students. Even though international students may be welcome on campus, they are so different from the locals that the locals would rather put them in another place. This way the locals can live they way they like, and the international students can do the same.
If a bunch of Germans want to party until 6 a.m. on a Saturday and host poker tournaments in a common room, that would be allowed. If the locals want to set up a karaoke machine and cook red bean soup while singing along to Andy Lau or Kelly Chen, that would also be okay.
They have a point. Take my roommate, for example. I sleep at night; he sleeps during the day. I use the weekend for leisure and extra sleep; he goes home and works three jobs. I like to write; he is terrified of writing an essay.
We can talk, and frequently do, about these differences, but it doesn't make them disappear. We are both sides of the divide, cohabiting an 11-by-six-foot cell.
We are very different, but at the same time I wish that we could be close friends. I came abroad to experience new cultures and meet people. It frustrates me that the international students are removed from the local students. Blame lies on both sides for failure to put a real effort into getting past initial awkwardness (something I am guilty of) and also our different preferences. We remain just casual friends.
Moving into different spheres was the natural, but unfortunate, outcome. Frequently it has been this column that has forced me out of my element, into parts of Hong Kong society that I would otherwise never explore.
From Filipino Holiday Dances to the turbulent last four months in Hong Kong politics, this space forced me to push further. Having an empty space to fill has allowed me to push through the barrier and experience life on the other side. I only wish I had been able to apply it more to my everyday life.
Hong Kong is a place where I am a visitor. Ultimately I have had to accept this status: there will always be something that makes me different from those who are born and raised here. I still had a wonderful time - met many interesting people and saw new places - but it was on these terms.
My final "bye-bye" will be sad, but at least I know that I will be going home.
Frequently it has been this column that has forced me out of my element, into parts of Hong Kong society that I would otherwise never explore.
Jon Schubin is a junior majoring in political science. He can be reached at jonathan.schubin @tufts.edu.
