我的「南漂青年」朋友們
My "northerner" friends in the south
(English edition after the Mandarin one)
最近幾次回到台灣，都有幾位南部的鄉親要我下去找他們。過去因為「人在台北」、「沒時間」等原因而不了了之，但這次大部分時間都待在嘉義，與高雄的距離終於近到無法拿來當藉口了，於是便安排在返台第三天南下，一天之內在屏東、高雄和三組不同人馬相聚（是說可以把所有人馬全部喬到同一天內而且無縫接軌也是個奇蹟呀XD）。值得一提的是，這些友人其實都不是高雄人，他們成長求學階段大多在北部，會來到高雄、屏東是為了工作；換句話說，他們就是不折不扣的「南漂青年」。
雖然說這趟下來主要是為了訪友，但既然來了就不會放過這個大好機會，直接觀光客模式全開，順道拜訪了近年完工的新建築如高雄車站、鐵路地下化、總圖書館、會展中心、哈瑪星鐵道文化園區，還有隔壁的屏東車站、六堆客家文化園區等。相較於過去我居住南部的時候，現在的高雄改變了不少，凡是台北有的公共建築、連鎖店、特色地景，高雄幾乎也都找得到，而且高雄的可能還比台北的更加新穎精緻（畢竟是比較近期才蓋的）——尤其把台北總圖和甫完工高雄總圖拿來一比，高下立判。
既然這個城市應有盡有，在這裡生活應該也不難吧？高雄是真的又＿又＿嗎？XD 我和南漂朋友們很自然的就聊到他們的生活。南漂朋友們告訴我，有些差異是他們來之前從未想到過的，這些差異絕對不是像「政府長期重北輕南」、「這裡比較多人騎機車、講台語」或者「吃得到丹丹漢堡」那麼簡單，反而是一些更深層的文化差異。例如，高雄的學生，特別是第一志願的，課業壓力比起北部可能有過之而無不及，火車站前那些補習班也就特別擅於操作學生這種焦慮心理，從升高一暑假就讓學生一路補上去；此外，未婚或選擇不婚的適婚年齡男女（特別是女性），在高雄的生存空間遠遠小於台北。這些差異都讓從事面對人群工作的他們必須調整策略。（以上純屬友人轉述，若有取樣誤差煩請正統的高雄人不要鞭太兇，謝謝 :) ）
無論是北漂、南漂，或者像我這樣漂過太平洋到了美國之後又先西漂再東漂，在異鄉生活從來就不容易。或許這些挑戰在選舉期間可以被拿來當悲情牌帶動民氣，選舉完之後卻是每個人日常生活中每天得面對的課題，也不是任何一個政治人物能夠輕易改變的。
On the third day of my going-home trip, I visited the second largest city Kaohsiung, about 350km south of the capital Taipei, and its neighboring city Pingtung. While Taiwan is a tiny island, this north-south difference has been a lasting topic on this land, particularly among young adults, who often have to migrate from the south to the more developed north for work. The friends I visited this time, however, are those who moved to the south for their jobs.
Outwardly, Kaohsiung is as developed as Taipei, or even more developed -- many public facilities, shopping plazas and parks were built much more recently than their counterparts in Taipei. I visited Kaohisung Station, public library, exhibition center, railway heritage park, etc and was impressed by the architectural design. While the city seems as contemporary, vibrant as Taipei, my friends told me that there are still some cultural differences they have to deal with. They told me examples about the education system and local's view on singleness. Every city has its own unique culture, and there are challenges that one may not be aware of until moving here and fully settling down.
Whether moving north like most Taiwanese, moving south like my friends, or moving over the Pacific to the USA and between east and west coast like me, living in a new city is never easy, no matter how innovative, contemporary and vibrant the city is.
