On Spirit

Time to dust a few cobwebs off this blog, and ring in the new year.

I'd like to take a moment to formally apologize for my extended silence. I'm told I've had a few people disappointed in my lack of recent posts, and though I might doubt the full veracity of that statement, I'd still like to offer a quick "sorry" to those who have missed my correspondence.

The fact is that, what with the holidays and celebrations for the Lunar New Year, I've simply not had too much to write about.  Don't get me wrong, I've found these celebrations incredibly delightful. I've seen the annual parade, in all its glory. I've stood among a nigh-literal sea of people, and watched what is perhaps the most awe-inspiring fireworks show in my life. I've cast my wish into the Wishing Tree (good news, by the way; I was successful in my toss, so world peace should be just around the corner!), visited the flower market, and I've made quite a lot of close friends along the way.

All these experiences are exciting. But my purposes in this blog are not, if I'm fulfilling my objectives, to simply relay the story of a wide-eyed Westerner as he goes through the checklist of things to see in Hong Kong. This blog is about what I've learned. This blog is about being a student, but not in the traditional academic sense (trust me, I'm that too, I just don't think the average reader of my blog would find themselves compelled by restating my professor's lectures on the four P's as applied to a global market, or how to properly implement a Customer Relationship Management strategy), rather in a cultural role.

My objective is to be a student of the world, and to deliver the lessons of another culture to those I leave back home.

It's 10:50 PM on Thursday. I'm sitting at my computer listening to what sounds like war cries outside my window.

This is a nightly ritual. The different university halls take it in turn to "pep rally" in the main courtyard outside of the dorms. Clapping, yelling, chanting the name of the halls. It's slightly infuriating, and makes it very difficult to sleep, but listening to it has brought me to a realization. This is how the people of Hong Kong managed to organize, mobilize, and enact a protest.

They have spirit. Their students have pride in their identity, in their culture, in standing up for themselves.

Students in the US face a growing problem. We're burdened with increasing student loan debt, forced into unpaid labor through internships, suffering from a growing wealth inequality, and increasingly having our right to privacy taken away from us. Quietly, without our consent, we saw a Patriot Act strip us of so many freedoms that our nation was founded on upholding. We've seen our tuition increase without, as far as I can tell, significant benefit to the students. All I truly see are increasingly bloated administrations, budgets getting fat as teachers and students scrape by with limited resources.

And the question I have to ask myself is: why aren't my peers angrier about it? There's such a grim acceptance to how my fellow students take these concerns. The extent of our "revolutions" are a few bitter social media posts, light kvetching, and a general attitude of "yeah, but it's just the way it is." Even I confess that I often feel that way. I feel like I cannot elect real change in society. We're a generation that's grown up hearing how easy we have it.

My father, working a summer job, could have easily paid for a year of college. I worked part time since the beginning of summer, picking up a second job during the semester, and attended full time classes. I made efforts to pick up extra shifts where I could, never missing classes, asking my employers to utilize my skills and put me in a position where I could make more money, and be a greater benefit to the company. These pleas went unanswered. All told, if I had devoted 100% of the income I had to paying off my student loan debt, assuming that I had somehow acquired a car with infinite gasoline, I would have barely paid for a tenth of my current student loan debt. I wouldn't have been able to pay for roughly half my tuition costs for that semester alone.

Students in America, from what I've seen, lack the spirit to protest this mounting problem. Most of my generation will emerge from college in varying levels of excessive, crippling debt. A significant portion of us will not be able to find a job to cover this debt. Those that do can expect that some form of automation or technology will be able to make their position redundant within some amount of years.

I urge my peers to consider our current course in life. Should we accept these changes quietly? Are we doing ourselves any service by electing a position of apathy? What kind of message will we relay to our generations to come?

While I'm urging you, I might urge you to consider clicking the flattr button on my blog, if you want to flip a quarter my way. But more importantly, if you really like what I'm writing here, let me know. Tell your friends.

With love, from Hong Kong.

Accepting the Role of Cowardice

I apologize for the infrequent nature of my updates. I make no excuses for my actions, but hope you will accept that they are born of sloth, and a lack of noteworthy material. Classes continue well, and I'm enjoying every moment of my time here.

Tonight there was a protest.

I knew about it right away. A student posted about the event in our exchange student facebook group. I had ample time to get to the area in question, and support a just cause.

Let me elaborate on my statement, so there's no confusion. The Umbrella Revolution is a pro-democracy, non-violent organisation seeking justice in their political system. Every single free nation should be backing them. They protest injustice, and I support their message without question.

I had the opportunity to support a just cause, and I chose cowardice.

My decision is born of promises made to my friends and family back home, and to the consulate of the United States, who requests I do not participate in any such gatherings. The risks could be that I become imprisoned, get sent home to the United States (I need to take a moment to thank my parents for supplying the not-insignificant costs it took to get here), and causing an international incident.

I still should have been there. Our country should be here. Our country should be funding this revolution, risking open war with China, because these are a people protesting the very thing our country stands for.

But that would, of course, disrupt trade. And trade keeps the country going.

It's a very sad day when financial interests come before values. But then again, I just faced the same sad day. I just set my values aside to sit in my room, play video games, go shopping, and have bread and cheese for dinner. My only revolution was smuggling a beer into the dorm. I simply can't afford to lose this semester.

It's very hard to accept that I am, at heart, a coward. But it's a fact.

Dearest reader, if you've come here to read the diary of a revolutionary, a firebrand, a person of character, you've come to the right place. But that part of me is temporarily indisposed, replaced with an academic, a student, someone who bears the financial burden that my homeland places on a young man of promise.

A small word of self-shilling, to combat the self-pity you're reading. You may notice a button that says "Fuel the Diary!" on the page. I'm trying out Flattr. The idea is that you have a monthly internet budget, and you can "flattr" things with the ease of a Facebook like button. At the end of the month, your budget is distributed, one-time, to each thing you flattr'd. Your budget can be as high or as low as you want to distribute for small internet things. Even if you choose to give me fifty cents, I'll be thrilled, because that's halfway to buying a Tim Tam here.

Till next time, my friends.