Cultural Sensitivity
One thing I had hoped would happen when we started living in China was that our children would grow up with a deep appreciation for Chinese culture. My fear now, though, is that they will never have any affection for China and instead think only of the noise, the dirt, the chaos---every part about living here that is hard for an American to take. I am afraid they will think the adjective "Chinese" should be synonymous with "aggravating." If that does happen, we would have only ourselves to blame.
Other than policing our own language and discussion topics around the kids, we have tried to keep the kids exposed to China-at-its-best. We attend a Chinese Catholic parish and maintain friendships with Chinese families (both back in Shenzhen and here in Changping), situations that let them experience some of the great things about Chinese society. Hopefully these will help them develop a more beautiful definition of "Chinese" than some of our experiences here could.
Recently we were watching a program on Asia National Geographic called Somewhere in China. Was this on in the US Nat Geo channel? It followed two brothers who spent time as children living in Harbin when their parents came to teach at a school there. In this mini-series they brothers, now a photographer and film-maker, travel all over China, even to remote corners, and explore the myriad of cultures that exist here.
Occasionally when we have watched it, Myles has screamed out, "Oh, I hate this part! I wish we could skip it!" After a few times of his yelling, and my not connecting his yell to anything specific, I demanded to know what was wrong.
"They keep making those Chinese people say things in English! Don't they realize those Chinese people don't understand what they're saying?" he cried.
He was angry at the American brothers for the times they got the Chinese people they met to repeat something in English. Usually it was something silly, like after a competition, "We're #1!" But Myles he was angry at the Americans for taking advantage of the situation, one in which there was the potential for the Chinese people to look like fools on TV for our own entertainment. One in Myles' view in which the Americans showed little respect for Chinese people.
Maybe he won't always be this way. Maybe he'll collect his own bad experiences that will color his point of view. But right now, I'll enjoy his perspective, and probably learn my own lessons from it.
Other than policing our own language and discussion topics around the kids, we have tried to keep the kids exposed to China-at-its-best. We attend a Chinese Catholic parish and maintain friendships with Chinese families (both back in Shenzhen and here in Changping), situations that let them experience some of the great things about Chinese society. Hopefully these will help them develop a more beautiful definition of "Chinese" than some of our experiences here could.
Recently we were watching a program on Asia National Geographic called Somewhere in China. Was this on in the US Nat Geo channel? It followed two brothers who spent time as children living in Harbin when their parents came to teach at a school there. In this mini-series they brothers, now a photographer and film-maker, travel all over China, even to remote corners, and explore the myriad of cultures that exist here.
Occasionally when we have watched it, Myles has screamed out, "Oh, I hate this part! I wish we could skip it!" After a few times of his yelling, and my not connecting his yell to anything specific, I demanded to know what was wrong.
"They keep making those Chinese people say things in English! Don't they realize those Chinese people don't understand what they're saying?" he cried.
He was angry at the American brothers for the times they got the Chinese people they met to repeat something in English. Usually it was something silly, like after a competition, "We're #1!" But Myles he was angry at the Americans for taking advantage of the situation, one in which there was the potential for the Chinese people to look like fools on TV for our own entertainment. One in Myles' view in which the Americans showed little respect for Chinese people.
Maybe he won't always be this way. Maybe he'll collect his own bad experiences that will color his point of view. But right now, I'll enjoy his perspective, and probably learn my own lessons from it.
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Becky K