My name is Christine He. The Surname He is from my husband; my birth name is Kehr. I was born in Germany and lived there for most of my life before moving to Hong Kong in 2009. I came here to follow my boyfriend who I then married in 2011 and with whom I have two kids now who were both born in HK. Our first son was born in 2014 and our second son in 2016.
My husband was born in Mainland China, in Xiangtan (Hunan), but moved to Germany when he was 4 years old to live again with his parents after having lived for over 2 years with his grandparents while his parents went to Germany first to start studying for their PhDs there. They were both very grateful that they got the chance to go to Germany after the Cultural Revolution during which they had to work on a farm and in an electronic company.
After their studies they worked in different German cities until they finally came to the town of Neustadt where my husband went to the same high school as I did. He was the only Chinese kid in our school and even if German is his native language like Mandarin he also encountered bullying when he was younger.
My family had moved to that same town when I was just 1 year old. Before that we lived in Bavaria, where I was born and where my father’s side of the family is from.
My dad’s parents met during the 2nd World War when soldiers were stationed in private homes and he lived with a family who had one daughter. In 1944, in the middle of the war, he married the daughter. My grandpa had to go to the front in Russia but was sent back because of his knowledge in high frequency technology. This saved his life because instead of having to fight he was recruited to work in a secret laboratory (camouflaged as a medieval castle) which aimed to develop a wonder weapon against the enemy.
After the war my father was born and two years later his sister. Today those two don’t talk to each other anymore because they argued too much about who and how to take care of their aging mother. She just died in January this year at the age of almost 98.
My mom grew up in another part of Germany. When she was only 9 years old, her mother died.
A few years later her father got married again but she and her two siblings never got along very well with their stepmother.
Years later she met my father’s sister on a holiday job and ended up marrying her brother.
My mom used to be a teacher for kids with special needs and my dad worked in a chemistry company. When we kids were finally all in school, my mom started to study again in evening school and eventually became a healer for alternative medicine. It’s a bit similar to a traditional Chinese doctor just based in another culture.
My parents had three kids together. I am the youngest one. My brother always loved computer games and then became a computer game designer in his own company. My sister studied architecture but now works in city administration and also has two kids with a similar age to mine.
I myself always love dance and after studying it, finally became a freelance dancer and choreographer in the contemporary art field which I am still very passionate about.
Because my husband got his first job here in Hong Kong, we came here together. He had studied finance and always had wanted to work in Asia after having been to university in the US and UK. Since Hong Kong is the finance capital of Asia with lots of big companies based here, he decided to go to Hong Kong and worked in Private Equity and now in a Hedge Fond covering the China market. Being native in Mandarin as well as English is an advantage for him that he can use now. Even if he never attended a school in China, it was very important for his parents to teach him how to read and write in Chinese as well.
Now my two kids grow up in a very different environment than I did when I was a child living in a rural area of Germany. My two boys grow up in a much more cosmopolitan way with three languages and the Hong Kong and German passport as well as the Home Return Permit to Mainland China. My husband and I both only have a German passport and a Hong Kong Identity Card.
My husband’s parents also moved to Hong Kong from Shanghai, where they stayed a few years after having lived in Germany for 20 years. Both of them also have the German passport only and are doing the China business for German companies.
I consider Hong Kong my home now and believe it is a good place for kids that have a background as mine to grow up in, because Hong Kong is a very multicultural city and I want my kids to grow up being open to different cultures and people.
When we decided to have kids, we wanted to find a quieter place still close to Central where my husband works. So we moved to the little island Ma Wan. The kids have a lot of place there to play outside and the community spirit is very good; like a big village. We are also happy that the kids can have a chance here to go to an international school where they can learn in a bilingual environment and have classmates with similar backgrounds.
I personally am also very grateful to live in Hong Kong because here we found the most amazing helper from the Philippines who is a real part of our family now. And only because of her I can still dance despite having two kids.
So even if we like Germany for the space and less stressful life than we could have there, we are still not sure if we really would like to move back there someday and for the time being are very happy in Hong Kong.
我是Christine He，我丈夫姓He，我家姓Kehr。我在德國出生、長大，2009年跟當時的男朋友來香港，2011年我們結婚，現在有兩個兒子，他們都在香港出生。
我丈夫在湖南出生，四歲的時候搬到德國，當時他父母已經在德國讀博士了，他們都很慶幸自己可以逃過後文化大革命時代。完成學業後，他們分別在德國不同的城市工作，最後一家搬來我家Neustadt。我跟丈夫是在高中認識的，他是學校唯一的中國學生，即使他的德語講得跟普通話一樣好，小時候還是會被欺負。
我在Bavaria出生，一歲的時候才隨家人搬到爸爸的家鄉Neustadt。
我爺爺奶奶在二戰中認識，戰後生了我爸爸和姑姑，但他們兩兄妹因為照顧老邁的奶奶而爭吵，現在已經不大說話了，奶奶也在今年一月離開我們，終年九十七歲。
我媽媽在德國的另一端長大，九歲的時候她媽媽就去世了。很多年之後，她認識了我姑姑，結果嫁了給我爸爸。
我媽媽以前是特殊教育老師，爸爸則在化學公司工作。孩子長大後，媽媽去讀夜校，現在是另類療法治療師。
我有一個哥哥、一個姐姐，哥哥愛玩電腦遊戲，現在是自己公司的電腦遊戲設計師；姐姐讀建築，從事城市行政。
我呢，一直熱愛舞蹈，現在是自由身當代舞舞者和編舞。我丈夫的第一份工作就在香港，他讀財經，語文能力是他的優勢。
現在我兩個兒子的成長環境已經截然不同，他們既有香港及德國護照，也有回鄉證。
現在香港是我家，這裏很適合我的小孩生活，大家都很容易接受他們特別的背景。
我們現在住在小島馬灣，小孩有很大的活動空間，也可以上國際學校。
我很慶幸我能住在香港，家裏的菲律賓姐姐跟我們像一家人一樣，還好有她，我才可以繼續跳舞。
德國比較大，生活也比較輕鬆，但我們卻不大願意搬回去，因為我們在香港真的很幸福。