Reflections on Beijing
My study abroad experience has been far from perfect, consisting of many ups, downs, and in-betweens. Often times when I read friends’ blogs, they seem to convey a sense of absolute satisfaction and elation with their experience - they recount wonderful adventures exploring and meeting new friends, trying new foods, visiting beautiful spots and famous sites, discovering who they are, etc. While I’ve experienced all of these abroad, my time in Beijing hasn’t really been a fairytale study abroad adventure - it’s actually been more of an explorative opportunity for me to learn a lot more about myself as a person and as a Chinese and Korean American.
Perhaps unlike others’ experiences in more Western-friendly and comfortable places, my time in China hasn’t been a dizzying, ecstatic blend of adventuring/partying. For me, it’s served much more as an exploration of my identity, an attempt to more deeply understand US-China relations and the business environment in China, and a true interest in trying to understand the local Chinese perspective more and apply it to my own life. I haven’t been able to reach strongly definitive answers, but all of my experiences in China are rich ones that I’ll keep with me forever.
The ups of these four months in Beijing include: living and navigating in a completely foreign city on my own and going from culture-shell-shocked to living comfortably, exploring the numerous unique cultural landmarks, places, and quirky characteristics that a bustling, rising city like Beijing (and Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Shanghai) has to offer, fun nights out exploring new eateries/clubs/bars in Beijing, gaining international work experience and a broad understanding of the issues affecting American businesses in China and the US-China trade relationship, immersing myself in the different academic and social environment of a top Chinese university and observing Chinese college students’ study and living habits, getting cheap massages - no wait, cheap EVERYTHING, forging valuable friendships with local Chinese students, exchange students and coworkers from around the globe, but perhaps most importantly, getting to visit my Chinese relatives in Changsha and Yueyang (in Hunan Province) for the first time and more deeply exploring and discovering what it means to be Asian American while in China.
There have also been not-so-positive shades of my time here in China, which include moments of severe culture shock, identity crisis as a multi- generation Asian American, a bout of food poisoning (to be expected), less than ideal weather (hello Beijing pollution), a two-week cough/cold, frustrating agent/landlord/apartment issues, countless instances of feeling lost in translation, dealing with classmates that flake and just don’t want to do work, missing home, LA, my family, friends and my boyfriend, just wanting to hear English for a change, and having to deal with the constant uncertainty of whether there is a clean bathroom anywhere nearby (trust me, this can be quite traumatizing).
I’m not sure I’ve ever felt complete “balance” during my time here in Beijing, but actually, my time in China really came full circle when I finally met my family in Changsha. I was welcomed with open arms, stuffed to the brim with food, and showered with love that can only come from family members that accept you with complete understanding, no matter your Chinese speaking level ability or familiarity with the place that you’re in. I think this is what I was missing - people that wouldn’t judge me for my lack of fluency in Mandarin, and a sense of feeling taken care of. After those five days spent with them, I finally began to feel at peace with my experience in China. While there are moments where I’ve felt completely relaxed and at peace walking around Beijing, and others where I’ve wanted to curl into a ball and hide, I realize now that my time in China would not be the same without all of these aspects - both positive or negative - that add color to my experience here.
What my time here has ultimately taught me is that hey - it’s okay to not be fluent in Chinese and to not completely understand what the Chinese are thinking. How could I, having spent my entire life in the US? No matter how much you read or learn about China, nothing compares to living in the country itself and experiencing everyday life here. What’s important is that I continue to make a constant effort to get better at speaking Chinese and understand more about China to bridge the gap, and as long as I keep learning and keeping my mind wide open even when I return from China, that’s all that truly matters.
I was so happy that CCTV broadcasted the Li Na versus Sharapova semifinal match last night (on my dinky apartment television), but I guess it’s to be expected since she’s a star athlete in China. She played really well to beat Sharapova - such a heavy hitter! - but Sharapova didn’t seem to be at her best either. Anyway, it was a really fun match to watch and next she’ll be up against Schiavone (last year’s French Open champion) in the final! I hope she wins. :)
Girl’s night out in Beijing! From left - me, Tonia, Jade, Melissa, Katie, and Carmen.
I’ve had a great time in China, but I am really looking forward to THIS in less than two weeks. :) I didn’t take this photo, but it’s almost the exact view from my 6th floor apartment at University Gateway. See you soon, LA!
Chinglish is Beautiful
My roommate Tonia and I watched “No Strings Attached” today, and I just have to share the beautiful, perfect-example-of-Chinglish synopsis written on the back of the poorly-copied Chinese DVD box:
“If your father is enough to see read the words of Buddha, then found his body exposed to the recipient is your hot ex-girlfriend, it is estimated you will only to tears of the Oath. And Adam (Ashton Kutcher), is this unfortunate child. Anyhow, this kid can be considered handsome, tall, handsome flower, I do not know why but the old feelings of care developed. Every time love lost hurt heart, his head is not a thought of the Hupengyouyou other cocky, but always childhood female friend Emma (Natalie Portman). This time is no exception, he drank a drunk, and her rambling home in Emma complained, to be on alls the night. According to normal, middle of the night crying and then sleep a long sleep together, Adam will be OK nice home, but this time is curious coincidence, or do not know the firstBrain fever, he and Emma did not know how to roll on the sheets on the…”
Great job. I think even Google translate would have spit out something better than this. :)
The End of Interning in China
Yesterday was my last day interning at AmCham-China - I’m going to miss working there. The people were so nice, work was interesting but non-stressful, and I got to learn a lot about the business environment in China and US-China relations in the process (while also honing my writing and editing skills). Here’s a photo of me by the entrance of our office, for sentimentality’s sake. :)
Nick and Jon in the “intern bullpen” in the office - Nick was really fun to sit next to.
After work, all of the AmCham interns - minus Sam and Britten - celebrated the end of our internship at Tairyo Teppanyaki, a great Japanese teppanayaki restauraunt near Sanlitun. We gorged on chicken, steak, shrimp, fish, oysters, steak-wrapped mushrooms, and grilled bananas w/ ice cream for dessert. Yum!
It’ll be weird not going into work next week, but I don’t think I’m going to miss my 1 1/2 hour commute to work in the morning all that much. :) I have two final presentations and an exam next week, then I’ll be flying to Changsha, Hunan to visit family on June 4th.
An Interesting Taxi Ride
Tonight, I had one of my most interesting exchanges with a Beijing taxi driver - and I think it’s also a testament to how much my Chinese has improved (!!). I was taking the taxi back to my apartment from my friend’s dorm room near PKU. After giving the driver directions to my place, he asked me where I was from - I replied that I was Chinese-American (my go-to answer now). He then said that my Chinese was very good, and lately he had been driving around a lot of foreigners/foreign students who barely spoke any Chinese at all, which made him uncomfortable. He seemed very glad to open up to me, which I found flattering but also oddly ironic since I’m the one that often feels uncomfortable or unconfident conversing with native-Chinese speakers.
Anyway, I went on to ask the taxi driver why he felt uncomfortable speaking to foreigners. He said that they were often arrogant and/or loud, and that they give off a vibe that they’re better than everyone. He also mentioned that Chinese people often have to learn English, but why don’t foreigners learn better Chinese? Often, the foreigners he drove around spoke no Chinese at all, which made his job inconvenient. I asked him whether he could speak any English, and he said why should he, when foreigners don’t try to learn better Chinese? It was an interesting viewpoint, but it was particularly telling hearing it straight from a local Beijinger’s mouth.
Obviously, not all foreigners speak bad Chinese, but I could understand how people could give off a bad impression and I felt sad that this taxi driver was gaining a negative perspective of Westerners. He then went on to say that he felt that Westerners did not take themselves seriously here in China, and were only here to “find a girlfriend or party” (this is, in some cases but not all, true). I explained to him that while this may apply in some cases, many people were here to study Chinese and were genuinely interested in understanding China better (like me!).
He then switched the subject and asked me if laws are very strict in the US (I said they were), and then he started talking about the recent IMF chief scandal and how he couldn’t believe that Dominique Strauss-Kahn had really committed sexual assault. He then went on to add that people like Barack Obama don’t get involved in scandals like this (funny, right?), so why did this happen in Europe? It was funny hearing it laid out so plainly by a Chinese person. Due to my level of Chinese, I couldn’t exactly voice my full opinion on the subject, but I said that I wasn’t entirely sure if he had committed the crime and that it would be interesting to see who the new IMF chief would be.
And to think that three months ago, I barely was able to talk with a taxi driver. I say that’s progress!
Today on behalf of Guanghua at PKU, we got to take a company tour of Lenovo’s Beijing R&D campus. My favorite product that we saw was the Lenovo IdeaPad - basically, it’s like an Apple iPad, except you can snap it into a case that connects with a keyboard, thereby turning it into a notebook computer. Pretty snazzy, right?
Inside Lenovo’s Innovation Lab, which basically showcases all of their new products
Outside view - very pretty company campus, in my opinion.
Group photo - the other students (aside from us regular Guanghua exchange students) were from Indiana University and Singapore National University on a two-week doing business in China program.
AmCham-China interns with president Christian Murck! My last day at work is next Friday (wow…time sure flies). I’m going to miss everyone. Working with and hanging out with the other interns has been a lot of fun over the past few months, and my semester in China would not have been the same without them.
Our undergraduate Service Marketing class at PKU’s Guanghua School of Management, Spring 2011 - my best class this semester (Professor Tu is in the front wearing black, and I’m right next to him wearing red).
