A reliable, tried and true way to get to know yourself as well as your culture is to move to another country. The more different the country is, the deeper the experience. The deeper the experience, the deeper the insight. But no matter where you go, no matter how far you go, your country’s stereotype will always be waiting there to greet you. As a citizen of a large and powerful country, wherever I traveled I’ve always tried to un-conquer the world one person at a time. In Costa Rica many people told me I was unlike any gringo they had ever known and to me that was the greatest compliment. I had managed to get them to see me as a person rather than the cliché of the country I came from. I had done this by not seeing them as a cliché of the country that they came from. In this way I was able to form real bonds with real people that continue to this day. One afternoon, an eleven-year-old Chinese student of mine informed me, in all seriousness, that all Americans had blue eyes. Now most eleven year olds don’t have a particularly realistic worldview, but I thought surely no one really believed this, right? Well, after the results of an informal daylong poll, it seems they did, and looked upon those laowai (foreigners) who had anything other than light eyes as some kind of genetic defectives. “Really?” I said. Then immediately wondered what other misconceptions they harbored. I decided to ask them straight out to list five things they knew about Americans. I handed out paper and told them not to sign their names, that this was voluntary and completely anonymous, and that they could write whatever they wanted to, but that I honestly wanted to know what they thought of my countrymen (and me by inference). To be fair, my students live in a city that rarely sees foreigners and the only contact most of them have had is with laowai teachers. And they like me, so I knew they wouldn’t want me to lose face by writing something truly odious or flagrantly insulting, so factor that in when viewing the results. Still, they were, as always, innocent, refreshing, surprising. The top 5 things ‘My Students Think of Americans’ are: 1. Rich 2. Friendly 3. Fat 4. Open 5. Tall One of my older students actually wrote ‘sexual liberation’ (and no, that didn’t come from me), another wrote ‘unhappy’, another ‘creativity’. Other comments were: they don’t learn Chinese; they like parties; don’t like spitting and they don’t talk on the bus. And, to my astonishment, one insightful student wrote (I cleaned it up to make it understandable): They look down or away when they see another foreigner. Wow! Every laowai who lives here knows it's true, and by the way, what's up with that? I just want to quote you a couple of my favorites, the original spelling and grammar intact: 1. America’s English classes are more than China 2. America’s name is longer than China 3. America’s people are less than China 4. America’s people usually like make a joke 5. America’s history is very short. And another: 1. Many Americans have their own house and lovely gardens. 2. There are many large cities. 3. Americans always have nice vacations. 4. Americans might have many days to take rests. 5. Americans drink cold water. But, by far, my favorite response was: They don’t like cats because it eats mickey and disneyland (insert your own interpretation here _________ ). Picture yourself as an eleven year old; what did you know about China? And what do you really know now?
3 Comments
Mary
10/16/2013 02:01:19 am
Elvis English..Wow that is too funny. I can't believe the answers your students gave... I never would have guessed. It is really a great way to experience what they are thinking. I do remember you getting a warm beer when you first got to China. So they do not drink water cold. I am learnig too. It is so much fun I was laughing so hard it felt good. Most popular "Rich" I like that!!!!
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Mary
10/18/2013 01:52:40 am
Forgot to leave my 5 things about China. 1. Can copy anything. 2. They bow with respect (love that one). 3. Eat alot of vegetables, chicken and shrimp. 4. Walk alot. 5. Very hard workers.
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