“So do you guys have malls in China?” or “Why is your English so good if you live in China?” These are the type of questions I get when I tell people that I have lived in China for the past two years.
It all started that one day, when my dad strolled into my room. “Hey Caroline, how do you feel about moving to China?” he questioned me, leaning against the doorframe of my room, with his arms crossed. Distractedly, I looked up from my laptop screen. I was sitting cross-legged on my bed. I peered towards the doorway where my dad stood. “Um… sure Dad, that would be cool,” I said, not taking him seriously. Little did I know that that moment would change my life forever.
Whenever I meet new people, I tell them I’m from San Jose, the place I have lived for 13 years of my life. Then eventually comes the time where I decide to spring the news about how I have lived in China for the past two years, and I watch my friends piece together the puzzle in their brain. “…Wait, China? I thought you were American!” they almost always end up saying. The way they say the word “China” is as if they are choking out the words “Pluto”. To clarify for them, I say, “I AM American, I just happened to have moved to China.” Then I wait for their expected reaction. “Oh… then why is your English so good? And oh! Does China have movie theaters or what?” they seem to always question. I can tell they have already made assumptions about me from just that one sentence. Probably thoughts like “Oh my God, she must be one of those people that can’t speak English, and dress weird” or “Wow, she must have no life, because she’s been in China all this time” run through their head. So I feel the need to explain, the need to use the “Yeah I live in China, BUT…!” statement, to make myself seem like I’m someone that I’m not.
Sure, moving to China was an experience I was not prepared for. And yes, my life is different there, but it’s not as different as everyone thinks of it as. In China, I live in an environment where I still speak English with my friends and teachers. I play volleyball after school. I still prep for the SATs, I still have tons of homework, just like any other American teenager. In China, I still watch TV shows like Gossip Girl. I keep up with the latest music and movies. I still use my English name. In fact, the first time I ever got called by my Chinese name was two years ago. The first time I even learned to write my Chinese name was also two years ago.
The point is, even though China has the world’s biggest population of more than one million individuals, it is not as poor or “third world” as you might think of it as. In every country, there are rich and poor people, it all really just depends. Just because China isn’t the United States doesn’t mean it’s worse, or that anyone from China work in restaurants once they come here. Even if someone that has once lived in China moves to America, it doesn’t mean they don’t know anything about America and are assumed to be weird. I used to make the same assumptions about people in the same situation I am in, but now I understand their point of view. I used to be embarrassed, or I try as hard as I can avoid the topic of where I go to school, but now I know it’s okay for me to tell people I live in China. I am happy to explain my situation and prove people’s judgments wrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment