Thoughts about my China trip
(With apologies to those who see this twice)
A few people asked me if we had "culture shock" while we were in Beijing. Which I find kinda strange. In many ways Beijing is a modern city. I think the biggest shock to me was how far "global urban culture" had spread. It was the same brands, same big glasses, same games on mobiles in the tube. In some ways it didn't feel like we were half way round the world and in a completely different culture. But then all the other background bits were just lovely. I'm used to being the only person I know whose interested in the things that I'm interested in. Until we started planning our trip I was the only person I knew who'd read the Chinese literature that I'd read (Bill started reading some before and during the trip) or been interested in the history. So here it's like this secret interest that no one else cares about. Sometimes I'll find some people who've seen some of the kungfu movies but that's about it. The sad part is in London I have no Chinese friends or even friends who studied Chinese history or culture. When we got there suddenly there were MILLIONS of people who knew and liked the same things I did. It was so wonderful. I think the closest thing I can think of is being a geek. When you are in high school and people don't know the things you like but then you go to a con and find other like minded people. This was kinda like that but only times a million.
My favorite novel which no one here has ever heard of, let alone read, was there in a thousand different varieties, from children's books to scholarly dictionaries of the classical language. We went to the garden where the tv version was filmed and it was brilliant. Walking through the garden I head an old lady in her 50s or so tell the person who had called that she was in the Grand View Garden and was looking for Baoyu. I l was SO happy. First that I could understand what she said, second that this old lady was making a joke about looking for a 14 year old boy.
Even in post-communist China everything was beautiful, there were so many more hints of the traditional civilisation than I was expecting. Everywhere there was brilliant and gorgeous artwork and calligraphy and architecture, parks and gardens. Instead of just a handful of museum objects there were hundreds. Finding books on things I wanted to know more about was so easy and they were so cheap. And as many as I could find that I was able to read there were still so many more that I couldn't read yet so it just made me want to read and study more.
I wish I'd been more confident in my speaking. Bill was very proud of me and I was able to get us all the things we needed. But so many times I had practiced in my head the Chinese to say when we got there. But then when we arrived somewhere they'd speak English at us and so instead of saying what I'd thought to say in Chinese I switched to English. I just thought it was more polite to address them back in the same language. When several times it would have been easier to switch to Chinese. When I did try and speak full sentences people really liked it and were patient to explain things for me which was really great. It was fun talking in the shops and restaurants having conversations in Chinese.Being there just a couple weeks and I could already feel a difference in what I was understanding at the end of the trip. It made me really want to get a language partner now I'm back so I can get more confidence speaking and listening. I think in the past I never thought I'd actually be able to visit so those parts of the language it was almost too painful to emphasise because it felt like they would never be used. But now I know it is possible I feel like I need to try harder so next time it will be easier and I will be able to at least say all the things I can read.
A few people asked me if we had "culture shock" while we were in Beijing. Which I find kinda strange. In many ways Beijing is a modern city. I think the biggest shock to me was how far "global urban culture" had spread. It was the same brands, same big glasses, same games on mobiles in the tube. In some ways it didn't feel like we were half way round the world and in a completely different culture. But then all the other background bits were just lovely. I'm used to being the only person I know whose interested in the things that I'm interested in. Until we started planning our trip I was the only person I knew who'd read the Chinese literature that I'd read (Bill started reading some before and during the trip) or been interested in the history. So here it's like this secret interest that no one else cares about. Sometimes I'll find some people who've seen some of the kungfu movies but that's about it. The sad part is in London I have no Chinese friends or even friends who studied Chinese history or culture. When we got there suddenly there were MILLIONS of people who knew and liked the same things I did. It was so wonderful. I think the closest thing I can think of is being a geek. When you are in high school and people don't know the things you like but then you go to a con and find other like minded people. This was kinda like that but only times a million.
My favorite novel which no one here has ever heard of, let alone read, was there in a thousand different varieties, from children's books to scholarly dictionaries of the classical language. We went to the garden where the tv version was filmed and it was brilliant. Walking through the garden I head an old lady in her 50s or so tell the person who had called that she was in the Grand View Garden and was looking for Baoyu. I l was SO happy. First that I could understand what she said, second that this old lady was making a joke about looking for a 14 year old boy.
Even in post-communist China everything was beautiful, there were so many more hints of the traditional civilisation than I was expecting. Everywhere there was brilliant and gorgeous artwork and calligraphy and architecture, parks and gardens. Instead of just a handful of museum objects there were hundreds. Finding books on things I wanted to know more about was so easy and they were so cheap. And as many as I could find that I was able to read there were still so many more that I couldn't read yet so it just made me want to read and study more.
I wish I'd been more confident in my speaking. Bill was very proud of me and I was able to get us all the things we needed. But so many times I had practiced in my head the Chinese to say when we got there. But then when we arrived somewhere they'd speak English at us and so instead of saying what I'd thought to say in Chinese I switched to English. I just thought it was more polite to address them back in the same language. When several times it would have been easier to switch to Chinese. When I did try and speak full sentences people really liked it and were patient to explain things for me which was really great. It was fun talking in the shops and restaurants having conversations in Chinese.Being there just a couple weeks and I could already feel a difference in what I was understanding at the end of the trip. It made me really want to get a language partner now I'm back so I can get more confidence speaking and listening. I think in the past I never thought I'd actually be able to visit so those parts of the language it was almost too painful to emphasise because it felt like they would never be used. But now I know it is possible I feel like I need to try harder so next time it will be easier and I will be able to at least say all the things I can read.