Third time’s the charm
When I learned that I would be going to China this winter, I was excited, but not as much as this past summer, when I returned for my second time. It unsettled me to feel somewhat blase about my upcoming third stay. Did it indicate that each successive trip would be increasingly mundane? Did it forebode that my wobbly Mandarin would never reach “Dashan” (http://www.dashan.com/en/index.htm) status? Or was my subdued enthusiam simply the result of the looming “much worse than at the cotton-candy Bologna Center” finals and term papers?
The last 20-pager sent in, it’s a new man that strolls the avenues of Beijing. This trip has been an amazing experience, so much so that I can’t help but feel a bit of pity for Matt “Goose” Marolla, who seems to be stuck back in DC, contemplating one of those pesky core exams as I type.
The third time around, my Chinese is much better than before, allowing me greater access and understanding. By the end of my first stay in 2005, I took pride in keeping up a (baby) conversation for a whole meal. Now, I have the honor of being called by our dormitory’s front desk at 1:30AM to translate. Seems that a crazy “laowai” (foreigner, or literally, “old outsider”) couldn’t live without internet in the wee hours. This is the same guy who broke into tears at our Chinese school, and who….well, who’s just weird. I’ve been asking many Chinese: “Ni juede da bufen waiguoren hen qiguai ma?” (“Do you think most foreigners are a little strange?”) I firmly believe at least 50% of laowai here are more than a little bizarre, but the Chinese invariably politely respond with glowing assessments of us outsiders.
Chinese also have been telling me since 2005 that my Chinese is “very good.” Hogwash. This trip has reminded me that studying Chinese will be a lifelong endeavor. I can get around, make friends, and tell the queue jumper to mind his manners, but I have a long way to go.
I’ve come to two additional, sobering conclusions: That excellent Mandarin is a prerequisite for foreigners in today’s China….but that Mandarin alone is not enough. In other words, if you can’t speak Chinese, you are limited to a tiny pool of jobs, and inevitably constrained within that job. Likewise, if your Mandarin is sweet, but your other skills stink, you ain’t going far. We’ve met some impressive foreigners here, among them SAIS grads such as Gary Sharkey ( http://sharkmart.blogspot.com/index.html). Their Mandarin and their credentials are solid, but they’ve indicated China is not giving out freebies. People here have to hustle, foreigners included. I’ve taken these observations to heart, and with Joe B., agree that we will continue to improve our Mandarin, while remembering our comparative advantages – a SAIS degree, valuable professional networks, our own intellectual abilities, and of course – our fortunate command of the English language.
That’s all for now……Goose, regarding those core exams, “Zhu ni hao yun!” (Good luck.)
Andrew
