赴港求學(xué)苦與樂

出國留學(xué)，相信這是許多童鞋的夢想，但對于絕大多數(shù)人來說，這個夢想有點遙遠(yuǎn)。于是，不少人就把希望寄托在香港的大學(xué)上了，可是就算你考上了，香港的大學(xué)生活也非一般地難啊。

本文的音頻有好幾處不規(guī)范的英語，請讀者注意對比文章聽。同時，你也可以借此機會看看你是不是也會犯同樣的Chinglish錯誤。

1)Dunkin Donuts, Large Iced Teas, MacBook Pros, and Greek parties…These have been the staples of my American college life.

But every time I dial country code 86, I am reminded that I am connected to something vastly different. My extended family lives in China. Although my cousin and I have the same 2)hazelnut eyes and call the same man ah-gong, or “grandpa,” we have been swapping contrasting stories throughout our college years.

唐恩都樂、大號冰茶、蘋果筆記本電腦，還有學(xué)生聯(lián)誼會……這些早已成為我美國大學(xué)生活中不可缺少的內(nèi)容。

可是每次我撥打國家代碼86時，就會記起我與某個與自己生活差異甚大的東西血脈相連。我所在的大家庭生活在中國。雖說我與我表妹一樣有著淡褐色的眼睛，管同一個人叫“阿公”，但在念大學(xué)期間，我倆一直都在交換的卻是各自非常不一樣的經(jīng)歷。

When I was 17, I mourned over a spring break lost to study for the 3)SATs. But meanwhile, my cousin Christy had dedicated her entire senior year to preparing for the Gao Kao, or Chinese National Higher Education Entrance Exam. The Gao Kao is so comprehensive and difficult that instead of teaching new material [in] senior year, high schools across China hold only review sessions.

So it was quite a feat when my cousin Christy was able to rise to the top among nine million other test takers. She secured a spot at the 4)coveted Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Christy explains that to people from[the] mainland, the reputation of Hong Kong universities is just a step shy of the Ivy League.

Christy: Its like the highest university between mainland China and international level. When you graduate from a university of [in] Hong Kong, you will get like [a] higher pay when you come back to mainland to work…and higher reputation. People will think that you are higher[better] educated.

The price tag for this reputation? US$10,000 a year.

Christy: My tuition is 10 times [more] expensive than the ones in [on the] mainland. Two times [more] expensive than local students. Universities can make money from it.

Not as much as universities here can. My school, Tufts University, just slapped me with a US$43,000 tuition bill for the coming school year. Hello student loans, and goodbye financial freedom.

17歲那年，我因為要用春假備考學(xué)術(shù)能力評估測試而悶悶不樂。與此同時，我表妹克里斯蒂則要花整整一個學(xué)年的時間為中國的高考作準(zhǔn)備。高考的綜合性與難度都非常高，以至于全中國的中學(xué)生在畢業(yè)前的一年都不再學(xué)習(xí)新的知識，而是用全部時間進(jìn)行復(fù)習(xí)。

最終，我表妹克里斯蒂從九百萬高考生中脫穎而出，確實非常了不起。她被香港中文大學(xué)錄取了，這可是多少人熱切盼望的呀。

克里斯蒂解釋說，對于中國大陸的人來說，香港的大學(xué)的聲譽離美國的常春藤學(xué)校只有一步之遙。

克里斯蒂：那就像是處于中國大陸與國際水平大學(xué)之間的最優(yōu)秀學(xué)校。如果你從香港的大學(xué)畢業(yè)，再回大陸工作，那你就會有更好的名聲，得到更高的工資，因為人們覺得你受到了更好的教育。

那得到這種名聲的代價是什么呢？一年一萬美元的學(xué)費。

克里斯蒂：與大陸的學(xué)生相比，我的學(xué)費是他們的十倍，也是香港本地學(xué)生的兩倍。學(xué)?？梢詮闹匈嶅X。

不過賺得還不如美國的大學(xué)多。我就讀的塔夫斯大學(xué)剛剛才給了我一張金額為四萬三千美元的下學(xué)年學(xué)費單。我要和學(xué)生貸款打交道，向隨意花錢說再見了。

Each year, hundreds of thousands of mainland students push and shove for a spot on the elite school bus—but is a Hong Kong education really a ride to a golden future?

Christy doubts that this path is everyones calling.

Christy: More and more people are coming here for…looking for a better future. They didnt really consider whether their characters are suitable for here. If they have [a] language problem, things can get very difficult. They have to be very independent, very open-minded so that they can make local friends. If they are that kind of people that only wanna stay in their own circle, wanna just study hard, they can feel very lonely and helpless here.

Her narrative is familiar to me. I moved around a lot growing up, drifting between continents—I was always the new kid in the cafeteria. Freshman year of college, I moved from Beijing to Boston, and still got my regular dose of culture shock.

But Christy reveals that being a mainlander in Hong Kong can be a little more complicated. Hong Kong was under British rule for 156 years, and so the culture in Hong Kong is in some ways more western than Chinese.

每年，成千上萬的中國大陸學(xué)生都爭先恐后地想擠上這趟精英大學(xué)的專車?？墒?，香港的大學(xué)教育真的是通向錦繡前程的直通車嗎？

克里斯蒂對是否每個人都適合走這一條路表示懷疑。

克里斯蒂：越來越多的人來這里為了……尋求一個更好的未來。他們事先并沒有想過自己的性格是否適合這里的生活。如果他們有語言障礙，那就會更難。他們一定要非常獨立，善于接受新東西，那樣他們才能交上當(dāng)?shù)氐呐笥?。如果他們只想呆在自己的圈子里，一心埋頭學(xué)習(xí)，那他們會覺得很孤獨，很無助。

她的這番話讓我感同身受。我在成長的過程中不斷搬遷，奔走于兩個大陸之間，我從來都是學(xué)校餐廳里那個新來者。在上大學(xué)一年級的時候，我從北京來到波士頓，再次經(jīng)歷了文化沖擊。

但克里斯蒂說，作為生活在香港的大陸人，情況還要復(fù)雜。香港經(jīng)歷了156年的英國管治，與中國文化相比，他們的文化在某些方面更多地受到了西方的影響。

Christy: In Hong Kong, such a small city, most of the news happening in [on the] mainland that they can get is negative. And they dont really like tourists from[the] mainland, because they may not understand the culture in Hong Kong.

Guangdong, the mainland province Christy is from, speaks Cantonese. So she didnt have the language barrier in her transition. But she still feels the tension between Hong Kong people and mainland people seep its way onto campus.

Christy: And Hong Kong students think that the mainland students are taking some resources from them, like the 5)hostels, the scholarships, and all the As. Because I dont have the language problem, people often see me as local students. And they may judge mainland students in front of me, just face to face. They know that I can understand, but they forget that I am from [the] mainland.

We have a lot more freedom on students life,cuz we can leave the classroom any time…we dont have to, like, go back to the hostel before 12.

Going into my fourth year of college, I cant imagine a 6)curfew anymore. But then again, not much is open around here past midnight besides a local pizza joint.

But coming from [the] mainland, Christy has found liberty to do more than just spontaneously crave for a greasy slice of dough.

克里斯蒂：在香港這個小地方，大部分關(guān)于中國大陸的消息通常是負(fù)面的，而且他們也不太喜歡來自大陸的游客，因為游客可能并不了解香港的文化。

克里斯蒂來自廣東，說的是粵語，因此，她在過渡階段沒有語言障礙，但她仍然可以感覺到香港人與中國大陸人之間緊張的關(guān)系在校園里蔓延。

克里斯蒂：香港學(xué)生認(rèn)為大陸的學(xué)生搶走了他們的部分資源，如學(xué)生宿舍、獎學(xué)金和得到優(yōu)等成績的機會等。由于我沒有語言障礙，人們常常會把我當(dāng)成是本地學(xué)生，他們會在我的面前指責(zé)大陸學(xué)生。他們覺得我應(yīng)該能理解，但他們忘了，我也是大陸人。

我們的學(xué)生生活有了更多的自由，因為我們可以隨時離開教室……比如說，我們沒有必要在晚上12點前回到宿舍。

作為一個大四的學(xué)生，宵禁早就已經(jīng)不在我的考慮范圍之內(nèi)了。不過呢，這里過了午夜，除了一家比薩餅店外，也沒有什么是開門營業(yè)的。

但對于從中國大陸來的克里斯蒂來說，她得到的自由遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過了可以隨時隨地吃一塊比薩餅?zāi)敲春唵巍?/p>