Some thoughts on Hong Kong, Canada
Personally speaking, I have never encountered any problem of speaking Chinese in school. It could be because I only enrolled in universities where people are more open-minded and mature, or Vancouver is more acceptive of another language, or we live in the year of 2013 now and the events in the play took place in 1996. Regardless, when I rehearsed the play with my group members as Sam, I tried to step into his shoes and let his emotions take over. Then I suddenly remembered our Dean’s words at the start of this semester. He said something about people eating different kinds of food in the building. Instead of saying “oh that’s gross man. I would never eat that”, one may say “hmm, that looks interesting. Can I take a bite?” Language is not exactly the same as food, but the principle does apply here. Of course, my personal belief is no one should ever feel being left out, so if someone else who can’t understand Chinese is present during a conversation between me and another person who can speak Chinese, I think it’s better to speak English so everyone can be included in the conversation. However, if an acquaintance walks by when my friends and I are speaking Chinese, he or she would be welcomed to ask “Hey what are u guys talking about?” and who knows, that person may even add some other interesting spice to the conversation and we may even teach him or her a few Chinese words. Be acceptive, be curious, be ready to better oneself with every tiny bit of knowledge – I think that’s the greatest part of this place. Don’t limit yourself, because you can always learn as long as you are willing to.