College, part 2?

As an expat in Hong Kong, I can't help feel that I am transported to the adult, foreign version of College. Much of the lifestyle and mentally are crazy similar. Everyone comes to Hong Kong knowing that they will be staying for a definitive amount of time (usually a couple of years). Some people end up staying for a long time (think of all the graduate students and Ph.D.'s who never leaves college), but everyone came in at least thinking it was just a short-time gig.

All the young expats are concentrated in a close quarter called Mid-levels. Bars and alcoholic places are usually a couple of minutes walk away. People are stumbling around drunk at all hours of the day. Everyone lives so much on top of each other that I have 3 friends who are literally 1/2 a block from my apartment. We all either live on Mosque street or Mosque Junction (the street above Mosque Street). After work, I would go around visiting people's apartments in my PJ's - either drinking or just hanging out on random weekdays. It is as if we lived in dorms again. Since the bars are so close by, everyone just randomly go drinking on Monday nights, Wednesday nights, and simply stumble home. No need to plan ahead or worry about transportation. Especially since everything is so close by, it's even hard to turn down a late (after 10PM) weekday requests because it's less than a 5/10 minute walk.

People also all had the college mentality. Since everyone comes to Hong Kong knowing few or no one at all, everyone is incredibly open to meeting new friends. That was the one aspect that I missed in New York. Outside of work, I made no new friends in the city because everyone already had their set group of friends/circles. Outsides of work, people barely have enough time catching up with their old friends, let alone meet new ones. Here in Hong Kong, I have definitely made many new, meaningful friendships outside of work. That is something I have missed.

When I was working in New York, I felt I only met people in my field. My friend circle has became very homogeneous. In college, there were people with various nationality, backgrounds, interests, and majors. Here in Hong Kong, because of the diverse people you are with, everyone you meet is not a banker. Instead, they are pursuing new interests and ideas. Some have vastly different values and lifestyles than mine. It is incredibly meaningful to have that exposure again after 2 years of cookie-cutter lifestyle in New York.