As a Chinese-American living in the United States, I am always aware of how “Chinese” I am, whether it’s in my hobbies and interests, my friends, or my habits and daily routine. However, now that I’ve been in China for almost two weeks, the opposite is true. Here, I constantly notice how “American” I am instead, and how despite the fact that my exterior appearance is similar, I am very different from most Zhuhai residents. The most obvious example of this is, of course, my lacking grasp of Chinese. Although I can understand and speak basic conversational Chinese, a far larger number of terms continue to elude me, and I’m ashamed to say that I have mixed up even the simplest of terms before.
In one case, while at a bubble tea shop, Elizabeth and I spent a solid five minutes pondering over what in the world xian (2) niu nai, or salty milk, was and why anyone would ever want to drink it. Finally, we decided to ask the cashier, because we simply could not figure it out. The cashier looked at us with complete bewilderment in her eyes, and then explained that it was xian (1) niu nai, or fresh milk—which, of course, made much more sense. In another example, we had all decided to eat at a dim sum restaurant, and Elizabeth, Evan, and I had decided to tackle the problem of ordering. The only issue with this was that while we knew the names of some Chinese dishes, we were essentially all illiterate. We eventually resorted to flagging down a waiter and telling him, “wo men bu neng du zhe ge cai dan (we can’t read the menu).” He was completely confused, and asked us what we meant three times. In hindsight, this makes perfect sense: if someone had come up to me in America and told me they couldn’t read the menu in perfect English, I would think they were crazy.
Every day, I continue to have more adventures with the Chinese language, but I am slowly learning more and more! Today, some of my host sister’s friends even taught me what they called zhong shi ying wen, or Chinese-style English, which is essentially English slang in a Chinese style. For example, using this type of slang, “Give you a color to look look,” is correct to say, because it is a direct translation of a Chinese sentence structure where the verb is repeated. Another slang word they apparently often use is “low,” which they use when something or someone is trailing behind. For example, if you are still wearing last season’s fashion, then you are “low.” (Caveat: I’m really not sure if I completely understood this conversation properly, but regardless, it was very interesting.) I’ve also learned that in China, they use a lot of numbers in texting or online as slang; 666 means to praise someone, because it sounds similar to niu niu niu (a Chinese word that means something like "worth bragging about") and 520 means “I love you,” because it sounds (kind of) close to wo ai ni. I want to ask my host sisters and students about more Chinese slang, because I find it fascinating!
In other news about feeling American in China: I always believed that I wouldn’t have that many problems using the squatting toilets, because I had used them in China before. And it’s true, on the first couple of days I was in China, it really wasn’t that difficult to use. However, disaster struck on our first day of classes at Zhuhai No. 9 Middle School. The teachers had given us keys in order to get into our Duke student lounge (which I am still unable to use to open the door, because I just cannot figure out how Chinese locks work), and because we entered and left the room so often, I decided to just carry the key in my back jean pocket. In the afternoon, however, I went to use the squatting toilet in the school, and when I stood up, I heard a distinct clunk noise. I was extremely confused, because I couldn’t see anything that could’ve made that sound. Then I realized what must have happened: my key dropped into the toilet, straight down the hole, never to be seen again. I learned a valuable lesson that day: never, ever have anything in your back pockets while using a squatting toilet.
Another minor thing that completely shocked me was the way Chinese students here view the idol Cai Xukun. I had actually watched the show he was on, Idol Producer, with my older sister and we both quite liked him. In fact, I have many friends back home who have seen this show as well, and no one had any particularly strong grievances with him. Imagine my shock, then, when I find out that he is a massive, almost universal meme in China. Every student knows his name—not because he’s a particularly loved idol—but because of his lacking skills in basketball. Apparently, his introduction video on Idol Producer showed him dribbling a basketball (badly), then breaking into dance, which then went hugely viral. While we were in Guangzhou and some of the Duke guys were playing basketball, I distinctly remember the students lined up along the railing, literally chanting Cai Xukun’s name. It was absolutely hilarious.
I’ll save talking about my host family for next week because this post is becoming incredibly long. So instead, last, but most definitely not least, the students. Undeniably the most important part of our DukeEngage, it is my interactions with the students that I have enjoyed the most, more than the abundant bubble tea, beautiful artwork and architecture, and delicious food. My students are all extremely sweet, constantly calling me jie jie and sending me WeChat messages. Every class I teach has vastly differently levels of English knowledge, and it can occasionally be difficult communicating with them, especially because I want to speak almost entirely in English with them. However, for the most part they are extremely hardworking, never giving up even when I push them out of their comfort zones. Games such as charades and telephone have proven to be quite successful when it comes to making them feel more comfortable. I don’t know if it’s my imagination or not, but the middle schoolers I have interacted with here seem unusually well-behaved, eager, and sweet. Of course, this may also be that they are simply too shy right now to open up, but I look forward to seeing how my interactions with them will change and evolve as I become closer and closer to them.
In the end, my experiences in America and China have shown me this: I truly am Chinese-American, an undeniable mix of both cultures. As I stay in China longer, I cannot wait to see what new and unfamiliar aspects of Chinese culture I will discover.
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