being mid-western
tonight i went out to eat with the fam. we went to a steakhouse. on the short drive over, i got to thinking about america and american identity. i watched an hour or two of tv one a channel called turner south or something. all southern stuff. a travel show about southern cities. a show called "junkin" about going to junk sales and buying really tacky/funny things. you know. stuff like that. it got me to thinking about how i know of no channel just for all things mid-western. no shows about great vacation spots in the mid-west:) "the south" has a really strong identity. i guess the mid-west does too, but it's much more understated. i also thought about the term "mid-west". it occurred to me that it's a term very tied to american history. i mean, iowa/minnesota/the dakotas/illinois... we're not exactly that far west. you'd think mid-west would mean oregon and northern california. but the center of america is the mid-west because when settlers "went west," this was about the middle of that expanse.
i also thought about the question of "what is american food?" my students always asked me that and i always had a hard time answering. "sandwiches?" i'd say. "hamburgers? food from other countries?" now that i'm home, i kinda think big chunks of meat are a bit part of american food (steak, pork chops, etc). but it's funny how many of the restaurants we passed tonight would specify "classic american food" or something like that. that's pretty weird, isn't it? i mean, how many countries have to let you know they're serving cusine from your own country when you're there? but when the line-up of eateries goes american, chinese, mexican, american, italian, brazilian or whatever, then... i dunno. america's weird.
i guess we're very international, but the "international" food we serve is so americanized. during supper, i remembered the few times in china when chinese people tried to order me "western food" during a meal. it was never anything all that familiar to me. a weird fruit salad one time. anyway, if one of my chinese friends came to america and i decided to take her out for chinese food to make her feel more at home, it wouldn't work:) chinese food here is so americanized that it's virtually wholly american itself. can i use virtually and wholly together like that? i'm going to say yes.
i have this desire for my stay here to be like my stay in china. i want to fall in with people who'll take me to their country homes so i can soak in the local culture. but that wouldn't so much work here. for one, anyone i'll hang out with will be, you know... grown-up:) not go back to his or her parents' house on holiday. also, i wonder how different a home really would be here.
it occurs to me how little experience i have with non-midwesterners. i mean--american non-midwesterners. basically you people on lj. i hung out with plenty of people not from iowa in college, but still mid-western. on lj, i can talk to new yorkers and californians about books, movies, etc and everything feels universal. but i wonder if there are many substantial regional differences between what you grew up with and what i did.
oh. there were only two midwesterners among us teachers in china. ok, them and you.
also, i've begun planning actively for next year. i'm thinking of locations i might like to live (someplace like shijiazhuang that's not shijiazhuang). also, i need to decide if i want to go through the same company (and pay the finder's fee) or if i want to apply directly to a school.
um. and in case you didn't notice, i'm not at a party right now:) the girl didn't call me back last night, and i haven't tried calling her to figure things out. i'll go to show sometime. that's more my element.
i also thought about the question of "what is american food?" my students always asked me that and i always had a hard time answering. "sandwiches?" i'd say. "hamburgers? food from other countries?" now that i'm home, i kinda think big chunks of meat are a bit part of american food (steak, pork chops, etc). but it's funny how many of the restaurants we passed tonight would specify "classic american food" or something like that. that's pretty weird, isn't it? i mean, how many countries have to let you know they're serving cusine from your own country when you're there? but when the line-up of eateries goes american, chinese, mexican, american, italian, brazilian or whatever, then... i dunno. america's weird.
i guess we're very international, but the "international" food we serve is so americanized. during supper, i remembered the few times in china when chinese people tried to order me "western food" during a meal. it was never anything all that familiar to me. a weird fruit salad one time. anyway, if one of my chinese friends came to america and i decided to take her out for chinese food to make her feel more at home, it wouldn't work:) chinese food here is so americanized that it's virtually wholly american itself. can i use virtually and wholly together like that? i'm going to say yes.
i have this desire for my stay here to be like my stay in china. i want to fall in with people who'll take me to their country homes so i can soak in the local culture. but that wouldn't so much work here. for one, anyone i'll hang out with will be, you know... grown-up:) not go back to his or her parents' house on holiday. also, i wonder how different a home really would be here.
it occurs to me how little experience i have with non-midwesterners. i mean--american non-midwesterners. basically you people on lj. i hung out with plenty of people not from iowa in college, but still mid-western. on lj, i can talk to new yorkers and californians about books, movies, etc and everything feels universal. but i wonder if there are many substantial regional differences between what you grew up with and what i did.
oh. there were only two midwesterners among us teachers in china. ok, them and you.
also, i've begun planning actively for next year. i'm thinking of locations i might like to live (someplace like shijiazhuang that's not shijiazhuang). also, i need to decide if i want to go through the same company (and pay the finder's fee) or if i want to apply directly to a school.
um. and in case you didn't notice, i'm not at a party right now:) the girl didn't call me back last night, and i haven't tried calling her to figure things out. i'll go to show sometime. that's more my element.