This year my Chinese has improved quickly. One consequence of this that I did not predict was serving as a translator between my male foreign friends and their Chinese...interests. This varies from translating test messages like, "What's up?", "I don't understand what you say.", and "I'm at work now.", to setting up dates and telling them that a translator will be coming as well.
This is an awkward situation for me. Every day I hear about the foreign men and their Chinese conquests. I watch these business deals that are masked as relationships and don't know what to do or think. If I put on my feminist glasses it is outraging. But I cannot afford to be outraged because that would be all consuming and would make life here impossible. (Like being afraid of riding in taxis and crossing the road and germy kitchens - if I fear them, I cannot live my day to day life here.) It is a fact of life here that women are for sale.
These women make lots of money; much more than me. It is a very lucrative career. Can I despise them for wanting a better life and taking advantage of (foreign) men to obtain their goal? I don't know. I waver between pity, disgust, and anger at the men who go to the clubs looking for these women and treat them like objects.
As abhorent as it is, both of them are getting what they desire - the girls get money and the men get "companionship". Both are using one another in ways that I was taught were completely wrong, but they do this within a moral void. China seems like a huge moral void to me at times. Even more so than in Las Vegas: what happens in China stays in China, and it is improper to judge people on their actions here. Away from their home country and people who keep them morally in line, foreigners can do whatever they want. Watching all of this places severe doubt in my mind of the innate morality of human beings.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Listening
I must admit that internet access has greatly improved since I came to China last year. Many websites are now available that were either not available at all before or only on random and rare days: Wikipedia, Blogspot, BBC, NPR, CNN...
The government definitely still has their hand in monitoring and limiting access though. Check out this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7577014.stm
iTunes still isn't working, and it's now the 25th.
Being here in China during the Olympic games was pretty much the same as being back in States except for some friendly competition and the amusement of comparing Chinese-run lists of the medal count and American-run lists. Oh, patriotism.
I find that Chinese patriotism frightens the West. Westerners find it difficult to separate Chinese patriotism from its ties with nationalism and the wars, secessions, imperialistic moves, and the like historically associated with nationalism. In reaction to their fear, I feel that the western media pounced on every opportunity to criticize China during the Olympic Games from age indiscretions, to Tibet protesters, to regulated media. I am in no way defending all actions of the Chinese government during the Games, but from here I witnessed the extensive effort the Chinese went through to ensure that the Games left a positive impact on the rest of the world, and it frustrates me that the media seemingly came to China looking for problems. When criticizing China it is essential to remember that it is a developing nation with a long way to go; and they know that, and are taking huge steps to reach their goal. I have seen the progress with my own eyes and in my own day to day life. In order to win the bid for the Olympic Games in the first place, China had to go through extensive reform efforts. China is a developing nation cruising along at lightening speed not only to to catch up to the West, but with a desire to surpass the West. It is no wonder Chinese patriotism frightens Westerners.
I hope that Westerners, especially Americans, take this fear of China and turn it into something positive. Americans had become complacant with their place as number one in the world, and are now scrambling to pull themselves together as the EU and China grow increasingly powerful. I hope Americans will take this opportunity to revamp the education system, open our minds, and step it up a couple of notches.
I bought a T-shirt at the supermarket the other day. It says (in English) "Listen to China's Voice!" and in Chinese, "Go China!" I don't think it is a matter of listening - the world is listening with rapt attention - it is a matter of how the world interprets what they hear and how they react.
The government definitely still has their hand in monitoring and limiting access though. Check out this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7577014.stm
iTunes still isn't working, and it's now the 25th.
Being here in China during the Olympic games was pretty much the same as being back in States except for some friendly competition and the amusement of comparing Chinese-run lists of the medal count and American-run lists. Oh, patriotism.
I find that Chinese patriotism frightens the West. Westerners find it difficult to separate Chinese patriotism from its ties with nationalism and the wars, secessions, imperialistic moves, and the like historically associated with nationalism. In reaction to their fear, I feel that the western media pounced on every opportunity to criticize China during the Olympic Games from age indiscretions, to Tibet protesters, to regulated media. I am in no way defending all actions of the Chinese government during the Games, but from here I witnessed the extensive effort the Chinese went through to ensure that the Games left a positive impact on the rest of the world, and it frustrates me that the media seemingly came to China looking for problems. When criticizing China it is essential to remember that it is a developing nation with a long way to go; and they know that, and are taking huge steps to reach their goal. I have seen the progress with my own eyes and in my own day to day life. In order to win the bid for the Olympic Games in the first place, China had to go through extensive reform efforts. China is a developing nation cruising along at lightening speed not only to to catch up to the West, but with a desire to surpass the West. It is no wonder Chinese patriotism frightens Westerners.
I hope that Westerners, especially Americans, take this fear of China and turn it into something positive. Americans had become complacant with their place as number one in the world, and are now scrambling to pull themselves together as the EU and China grow increasingly powerful. I hope Americans will take this opportunity to revamp the education system, open our minds, and step it up a couple of notches.
I bought a T-shirt at the supermarket the other day. It says (in English) "Listen to China's Voice!" and in Chinese, "Go China!" I don't think it is a matter of listening - the world is listening with rapt attention - it is a matter of how the world interprets what they hear and how they react.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Greetings from Ork!
One side-effect of my Chinese improving is that I feel the need to teach other people. This includes you, my dear reader. This short Chinese lesson is also necessary for you to understand the rest of my story, so don't worry, you will put your new Chinese skills to use very soon.
The first part of the lesson is grammar. In Chinese they like to say things twice, especially verbs but sometimes nouns. For example, instead of saying, "I want to look," they would say, "I want to look-look." Instead of saying, "We are chatting," they would say, "We are chatting-chatting."
Second, I would like to introduce some vocabulary. The word for person is "ren." If it is a man they say, "nan ren" if it is a woman they say, "nu ren." So "nan" is male and "nu" is female. Understand so far? If you want to say a boyfriend and girlfriend or couple you can simply say, "nan nu". I guess it's their equivalent of bf/gf. This concludes our Chinese lesson for today.
Since my Chinese is progressing I am starting to have more complex conversations in Chinese with my friends. On Wednesdays I usually have lunch with two of my students, Spring and Lynn. They are two of the sweetest people I have ever met. Both are very soft spoken and thoughtful. I probably speak the most Chinese with them and my other friend Shirley.
During lunch with Spring and Lynn this week we were talking about dating. Dating in China is very different. Many students don't date until they are in college, and if they date it is serious. They often marry the first boyfriend or girlfriend. However, Lynn said that these days she saw more and more younger boyfriends and girlfriends holding hands. But when Lynn said boyfriends and girlfriends she said, "nan nu-nan nu," and it sounded exactly like Mork from Ork. Exactly. I couldn't help but laugh, and after explaining to Spring and Lynn about the old TV show where a man came from space to live with a woman and said, "Nanu nanu!" to greet people they were laughing as well.
Mork was not from Ork. Mork was from China.
The first part of the lesson is grammar. In Chinese they like to say things twice, especially verbs but sometimes nouns. For example, instead of saying, "I want to look," they would say, "I want to look-look." Instead of saying, "We are chatting," they would say, "We are chatting-chatting."
Second, I would like to introduce some vocabulary. The word for person is "ren." If it is a man they say, "nan ren" if it is a woman they say, "nu ren." So "nan" is male and "nu" is female. Understand so far? If you want to say a boyfriend and girlfriend or couple you can simply say, "nan nu". I guess it's their equivalent of bf/gf. This concludes our Chinese lesson for today.
Since my Chinese is progressing I am starting to have more complex conversations in Chinese with my friends. On Wednesdays I usually have lunch with two of my students, Spring and Lynn. They are two of the sweetest people I have ever met. Both are very soft spoken and thoughtful. I probably speak the most Chinese with them and my other friend Shirley.
During lunch with Spring and Lynn this week we were talking about dating. Dating in China is very different. Many students don't date until they are in college, and if they date it is serious. They often marry the first boyfriend or girlfriend. However, Lynn said that these days she saw more and more younger boyfriends and girlfriends holding hands. But when Lynn said boyfriends and girlfriends she said, "nan nu-nan nu," and it sounded exactly like Mork from Ork. Exactly. I couldn't help but laugh, and after explaining to Spring and Lynn about the old TV show where a man came from space to live with a woman and said, "Nanu nanu!" to greet people they were laughing as well.
Mork was not from Ork. Mork was from China.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
