出国留学，相信这是许多童鞋的梦想，但对于绝大多数人来说，这个梦想有点遥远。于是，不少人就把希望寄托在香港的大学上了，可是就算你考上了，香港的大学生活也非一般地难啊。

本文的音频有好几处不规范的英语，请读者注意对比文章听。同时，你也可以借此机会看看你是不是也会犯同样的Chinglish错误。

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.

唐恩都乐、大号冰茶、苹果笔记本电脑，还有学生联谊会……这些早已成为我美国大学生活中不可缺少的内容。

可是每次我拨打国家代码86时，就会记起我与某个与自己生活差异甚大的东西血脉相连。我所在的大家庭生活在中国。虽说我与我表妹一样有着淡褐色的眼睛，管同一个人叫“阿公”，但在念大学期间，我俩一直都在交换的却是各自非常不一样的经历。

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岁那年，我因为要用春假备考学术能力评估测试而闷闷不乐。与此同时，我表妹克里斯蒂则要花整整一个学年的时间为中国的高考作准备。高考的综合性与难度都非常高，以至于全中国的中学生在毕业前的一年都不再学习新的知识，而是用全部时间进行复习。

最终，我表妹克里斯蒂从九百万高考生中脱颖而出，确实非常了不起。她被香港中文大学录取了，这可是多少人热切盼望的呀。

克里斯蒂解释说，对于中国大陆的人来说，香港的大学的声誉离美国的常春藤学校只有一步之遥。

克里斯蒂：那就像是处于中国大陆与国际水平大学之间的最优秀学校。如果你从香港的大学毕业，再回大陆工作，那你就会有更好的名声，得到更高的工资，因为人们觉得你受到了更好的教育。

那得到这种名声的代价是什么呢？一年一万美元的学费。

克里斯蒂：与大陆的学生相比，我的学费是他们的十倍，也是香港本地学生的两倍。学校可以从中赚钱。

不过赚得还不如美国的大学多。我就读的塔夫斯大学刚刚才给了我一张金额为四万三千美元的下学年学费单。我要和学生贷款打交道，向随意花钱说再见了。

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，成千上万的中国大陆学生都争先恐后地想挤上这趟精英大学的专车。可是，香港的大学教育真的是通向锦绣前程的直通车吗？

克里斯蒂对是否每个人都适合走这一条路表示怀疑。

克里斯蒂：越来越多的人来这里为了……寻求一个更好的未来。他们事先并没有想过自己的性格是否适合这里的生活。如果他们有语言障碍，那就会更难。他们一定要非常独立，善于接受新东西，那样他们才能交上当地的朋友。如果他们只想呆在自己的圈子里，一心埋头学习，那他们会觉得很孤独，很无助。

她的这番话让我感同身受。我在成长的过程中不断搬迁，奔走于两个大陆之间，我从来都是学校餐厅里那个新来者。在上大学一年级的时候，我从北京来到波士顿，再次经历了文化冲击。

但克里斯蒂说，作为生活在香港的大陆人，情况还要复杂。香港经历了156年的英国管治，与中国文化相比，他们的文化在某些方面更多地受到了西方的影响。

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：在香港这个小地方，大部分关于中国大陆的消息通常是负面的，而且他们也不太喜欢来自大陆的游客，因为游客可能并不了解香港的文化。

克里斯蒂来自广东，说的是粤语，因此，她在过渡阶段没有语言障碍，但她仍然可以感觉到香港人与中国大陆人之间紧张的关系在校园里蔓延。

克里斯蒂：香港学生认为大陆的学生抢走了他们的部分资源，如学生宿舍、奖学金和得到优等成绩的机会等。由于我没有语言障碍，人们常常会把我当成是本地学生，他们会在我的面前指责大陆学生。他们觉得我应该能理解，但他们忘了，我也是大陆人。

我们的学生生活有了更多的自由，因为我们可以随时离开教室……比如说，我们没有必要在晚上12点前回到宿舍。

作为一个大四的学生，宵禁早就已经不在我的考虑范围之内了。不过呢，这里过了午夜，除了一家比萨饼店外，也没有什么是开门营业的。

但对于从中国大陆来的克里斯蒂来说，她得到的自由远远超过了可以随时随地吃一块比萨饼那么简单。