There and Back Again: A Travelers Tale: Xiamen and the Year of the Dragon

My View

Hello all! Well, the weekend is just about wrapping up here in Xiamen and it’s actually Chinese New Year’s eve, but I’ll talk more about that later. It’s been interesting coming from Hong Kong to mainland China. Considering we visited both Hong Kong and Macau which are ‘technically’ part of China, I suspected they would not be too much different but I couldn’t be more wrong. For starters, the language is different. In Hong Kong they speak Cantonese compared to the Mandarin used here in Xiamen. People in China are a lot pushier, in the literal pushing sense. On our first day here I stopped by the pharmacy to pick up some vitamins and after figuring out how the system works (Pick your medicine, get a sheet written up, take it to the cashier, pay, take the receipt back to the other lady and get your product) I was in line at the cashier and quickly found out that if I allow more than three inches between me and the person in front, that spot will soon be filled. Hong Kong tended to be good about lines and personal space where as here both are of little concern. In Hong Kong as well almost everyone spoke a varying degree of English and here in the mainland it appears to be solely Mandarin. This is the first time I have gone into a culture with pretty much no way to communicate.

Xiamen University Campus

One of the books we are reading for our Intercultural Communication class here speaks quite well of the language barrier; “From a man I was again degraded to the dependence of a schoolboy… and helpless and awkward as I have ever been. My condition seemed as destitute of hope as it was devoid of pleasure”. “Average, articulate adults, capable in so many other ways, who are suddenly transformed into virtual mutes, who can only nod and smile foolishly when addressed by well-intentioned, monolingual locals, find the experience demeaning. For all their competence, they feel – and in a sense, are – inferior to the three-year-old neighbour child who may still wet his pants but at least knows how to count to ten.” Thankfully, I have learned to count to ten! I was recently in the market and some kids were behind one of the counters and as I tried to talk to them in mandarin, they looked at me, laughed and then talked a mile a minute while I stood there and tried to explain I couldn’t understand a word they were saying. On my travels I have never felt at such a place where I could not even communicate a simple ‘Hello’ properly.

Xiamen University Campus

“Language is the primary means of self-expression; when we don’t have language, the self does not get expressed. When the self can no longer be expressed, does it still exist?” I recently bought a cell phone at China Mobile and we went without any translator. All I could do was point at what I wanted, hand them money and figure out what I bought later. In the supermarket, I find I go completely into silence mode, I can’t ask where something is, I can’t even say excuse me or thank you. At the checkout, I only get as far as Ni Hao before they realize I can’t speak Mandarin and the conversation ends. They ask me if I need a bag as they cost extra and all it takes is a look at my blank expression and empty hands before they charge me for one and I go on my way. There is an extreme lack of connection when you can barely share a single word with each other. It is at points like this I am thankfully that I am doing this with a group with whom I can converse with in a slightly easier language. They say that people who are bi-lingual and bi-cultural tend to have different personalities depending on which language they are speaking and I can definitely see how that happens because how can you be yourself if you can’t express yourself. Even as competency in the language increases, your personality tends to focus around the words you know.

All of this is starting to get better as I slowly learn words and I am now able to barter in the market which is a huge plus to my wallet! We start our proper Mandarin class in a week as the university is shut down for Spring Festival meaning no teacher yet. After a few of those classes I hope I will at least improve to a five year old!

Spring Festival Banquet

One of the most interesting aspects of being in China right now is the fact that it’s Spring Festival. And just actually! As I write this part I just got back from welcoming in the Year of the Dragon. Happy Chinese New Year. So every since we got to mainland China the majority of stores have been closed and the campus has been empty due to everyone going back to their homeland. It’s been a little difficult to get some things done but it all worked out in the end. Sunday at Midnight was New Years (it’s currently 12:26am and I still hear fireworks going off) and that marks the start of the Spring Festival which then lasts for 14 days until the next full moon when they celebrate the Lantern Festival. During these 14 days as well as ten days before and 10 days after, it is nearly impossible to get anything done. It is often compared to the 20^th of December until the 3^rd of January in North America. In order to make the international students feel welcome we were invited to a Chinese New Year Banquet earlier today which involved a 14 course meal. The food was pretty much everything including duck, dragon chicken, turtle, crab, squid, fish, and a few things we weren’t quite sure of. It was a good time. To properly welcome in the year of the dragon we did what most traditional Chinese do, watch the four hour program from Beijing. This show included everything from dancing and singing to break dancing robots and stand-up. It was quite the spectacle. All of China is in the same time zone so you have over 1 billion celebrating midnight at the same time. Although I’m sceptical, we were told about 90% of the population of China tunes in every year. (Update 1:03 and still fireworks)

I think that’s all I have for now but I have figured out how to access blogspot from China so I should be able to post frequently! As well, check out some of the pics included!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great year of the dragon,

~Colin