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Something that helped me in Hong Kong (am French) was also to marry very local, and have a child. First, that helps for all that very difficult negociation in C

by xwolfi 6y ago

Something that helped me in Hong Kong (am French) was also to marry very local, and have a child. First, that helps for all that very difficult negociation in Cantonese on rent price, bill setup and all the crap the employees are a bit lazy to translate for you. But it also gives you an unremovable link to the country. Yes I'll be a Gweilo forever in their eyes, and they barely understand when I say I'm more Chinese now than their children who spent less time here, and paid no taxes. I guess it's fine not to fit in perfectly, it's not very important: when you make a choice to immigrate, your reasons for doing so must be both about the new country but also the old one. I have no qualms saying I gave away France, I left it knowing what I was abandonning and why, and now I can only move forward. It's also true that I never fit in in France: I was anti-socialist, from a family that has owned small businesses for generations, believe in capitalism, free market, all these stuff that made me always make enemies in France. Maybe I'm a gweilo, but I think all the same things they do, and I'd defend the country just as well as them.

woutr_be 6y ago
I feel you. Having lived in HK for 8 years now. I hold a permanent HKID, and consider HK my home. I've been trough the protests in 2014, and the ones in 2019, it was mentally draining because it's hard to discuss these subjects with locals. To them, you're just a foreigner that can leave any time he wants. When you disagree on certain political things, you'll often hear; "you're just a foreigner, you don't understand", and there's nothing you can say to that. I've come to terms with it tho, accepting that even though this is my home, I'll never be truly accepted or be able to fit in. But I also think this has made me a better person. Having experienced racism multiple times here, I'm much more aware of my own actions.

by xwolfi 6y ago

woutr_be 6y ago

I feel you. Having lived in HK for 8 years now. I hold a permanent HKID, and consider HK my home. I've been trough the protests in 2014, and the ones in 2019, it was mentally draining because it's hard to discuss these subjects with locals. To them, you're just a foreigner that can leave any time he wants. When you disagree on certain political things, you'll often hear; "you're just a foreigner, you don't understand", and there's nothing you can say to that. I've come to terms with it tho, accepting that even though this is my home, I'll never be truly accepted or be able to fit in. But I also think this has made me a better person. Having experienced racism multiple times here, I'm much more aware of my own actions.