By YALI LILLY LEE
Hong Kong Baptist University
It was August, 2016. When Karine Yoakim Pasquier arrived in Hong Kong at midnight, it was raining heavily. Embraced by tall buildings and banks, Karine walked outside with her husband Nicolas Yoakim, seeing elderly people were dancing in the street. “It was like love at first sight,” said Karine, from Switzerland. Nicolas got an internship here at a watchmaking company and Karine wanted to come along. After two-years working in Switzerland, Karine found a job in Hong Kong that she finally came here with her husband. Karine used to work in a school library in Switzerland while Nicolas was pursuing an MBA in Milan. “Every weekend we came to see each other,” said Karine. “It’s about four hours by train, which is OK but we have not been together for two years.” Karine and Nicolas live in an apartment in Wanchai. Light comes from a brightly seaside, two sofas are relaxed in the living room, a cup of black tea is steaming on the table, in front of them sitting Karine, wearing a pair of headphones. “It’s quite a struggle,” said Karine. “You must be sure to have enough money to survive.” Hong Kong has long been a place for expats to live and work. Whilst in the past it was mainly those who worked in the banking and financial sector that came here, in 2016 this has extended to pretty much any field you care to think of. Like many expats in Hong Kong, Karine tries to play her roles in the city. According to ExpatBriefing, expats working in Hong Kong should better bring something new, conferring a special benefit on fellow employees, such as teaching new skills and sharing experience from other areas. In addition, one may have to prove that the job for which he/she is applying cannot be done by a Hong Kong citizen. A mature watches industry in Hong Kong provided Karine a door to open. According to The Hong Kong Trade Development Council, in terms of value, Hong Kong was the world's largest importer of complete watches and second largest exporter of complete watches and complete clocks in 2017. Teaching professionals like local watchmakers, Karine got her first job here as a French teacher in an institution. “Many words I don’t use in daily life, so I have to learn first about what they need and adapt the classes,” said Karine. These days because of the coronavirus, Karine mostly works online at home: organizing topics, preparing exercises, mixing theoretical and practical part, arranging activities.
“I have only one face-to-face class when I wear mask,” said Karine. “I never wear a mask before. In Europe, people would think you are close to them; Here it’s respectful to do that because if you don’t wear a mask in the elevator, everyone looks stress.” Though, what challenges Karine most is the language. It was a late afternoon, Karine came to Passion by Gerard Dubois, her favorite Swiss bakery shop in Wan Chai. Karine went upstairs to a table, “There is a tree here and there is a dragon,” said Karine, pointing a Cantonese character on the menu. “What do they mean? It’s not like Latin alphabet that you can pronounce words.” “I have to learn how to say everything in confidence,” said Karine. “But it’s relaxing because I don’t have time to think about other stuff. In Switzerland, I used to over think.” Anne S. had been waiting in the bakery shop for a while, with the book bought together with Karine. The first time they met was during Karine’s first trip to Hong Kong. Anne moved to Hong Kong in 2014, she is an English and Cantonese teacher. “Karine is a very bubbly person,” said Anne, “she is adventurous and always speaks her mind. I ask her practical advice on career. I could share anything with her without being judged, even if it’s silly.”
Being in Hong Kong for one and half year, Karine now works on three more jobs. By accident, Karine knew Kodsi who was in charge of French Improv Club in Central, where actors arrive on stage unplanned or unscripted. Be given 20 seconds, they need to invent a story and play it. Karine started improv performance when she was 16, now she teaches in the club. “Improv acting is a big part of my life,” said Karine. “I even met Nicolas in improv class.” Other than that, Karine provides online information science courses for a Swiss school Ecole Moser, and writes kids novels and plays in French, which are on the way of publication. “I teach kids and learn from them,” said Karine. “Kids don't struggle with imagination, while adults always care how other people think about them. Anyway, I love both.” Playing four roles in the city, Karine’s every week is quite different, she needs to be very well organized. Looking outside of the window, Karine bursts into laughter, “But I really love the city, it’s like love at first sight.” Recently, Karine read a book Gweilo from Martin Booth. It wrote about how an English boy grew up in Hong Kong in 1950s. “It’s super interesting to imagine how these British people take few months to come from U.K to Hong Kong,” said Karine, “by boat.”
Click the video to see Karine Yoakim Pasquier: Come to the City by Boat.