Sitting here in a deserted section of the study lounge, I'm feeling the urge to write about an interaction progressing and unfolding in front of me right now. At the risk of being offensive or politically incorrect (ala Alexandra Wallace from UCLA), I'm just going to say it here that this post is about someone whose culture I'm still trying to grasp and understand. Allow me to explain. I write to achieve an end, it's sort of unspoken, but when I write I'm usually trying to understand something better or to arrive at some sort of epiphany (there's my A. Wallace again).
Anyway, here goes. A young Chinese girl, maybe 19, is seated about 5 feet away in front of me, long hair with blonde highlights (I think), sporting rimmed spectacles, clothed in a Star-patterned pink knit-sweater, blue jeans and fur Winter boots. That's her physical profile, but I'm honestly more interested in the activity she's engaging in. In between mouthfuls of Mcnuggets, she is having a Iphone facetime call with her mother. Judging from her Mandarin accent, she is presumably from the People's Republic of China, and I don't mean either Special Administrative Regions either. Probably Northern China, but I don't have a penchant of gauging Chinese accents.
In really enthusiastic tones, she waves several pairs of pants which were bargain buys in front of her phone, so that her mother may share in her excitement. She describes the pants in full detail, and of course, I hear the responses of her mother as well, because it never occurred to her to put earphones on. So, one girl's Facetime conversation with no earphones on is another man's eavesdropping.
As she triumphantly shows off her bargain buys, her mother, like any good mother, asks: "How much were they?"
"Guess! They're of the 'Urban' brand."
"I have no idea, but they look nice."
"Only $7 dollars. Oh, but they're all made in China."
So on and so forth. After she imparts her shopping Odyssey, the conversation took a turn towards a lot more intimate issues, such as family matters, household furniture dilemmas and finally it was her mother's turn to show her daughter some of her recent purchases. Naturally and gradually, because I'm obviously not a nosy person and their call was riddled with disruptions, I lost interest and decided to commit some of this anecdote onto my virtual notepad.
I was really struck by the intimate relationship between the daughter and her mother. It's evident that the advent of Facetime and other video call technologies have shrunk the world, and the Chinese are taking full advantage of it. I personally felt a slight tinge of homesickness and just a healthy dose of envy because a. I don't have a great communication device, b. my parents are technologically illiterate, so such a scenario is the ideal 'what-could-have-been' situation.
More importantly, she took the time, much to the chagrin of other people within this study lounge (I'll get into this a bit more later), to call her mom and just have a casual conversation with her, time difference and all. Whatever her schedule is, this seems to me to be a routine engagement between mother and daughter. I guess I look upon this interaction with admiration, because I personally lack this sort of long-distance relationship with my parents let alone many of my dear friends. I digress. I really want to emphasize the sort of bond that she has with her mother. Sure, she's female and I've heard the argument that they're a lot more attached or emotionally closer to their parents. However, I'd like to think that as the only child of our parents (I'm assuming that she's the only child), her parents miss her just as much as my parents do. She's making the effort to reach out to them but I'm not. Looks like family bonds in China are enhanced with all these Western technologies, now with many young Chinese studying or traveling abroad.
Next, I'd like to touch on the consumer culture element which was quite prevalent in their short but meaningful chat. I was just interested to see that the Chinese are spending a lot of money abroad and at home, buying, choosing and just pursuing happiness, whether they find them in a pair of tailored pants or embroidered curtains. I may be witnessing the interaction of the elite, the upper crust, but I think the crust is expanding, now that the country's best and brightest which are the yeast of the nation are working hard, earning money and allowing China to rise. Materialism has permeated more of China's society, but this diffusion has only reached a tiny urbanized fraction relative to the country's gargantuan size and population.
I know that I've launched into a China tirade and produced yet another perspective piece on the Dragon's prospects etc, but I've always wanted to write something of this nature. I've met many Chinese and many of them are my friends. I'm Chinese of ethnic immigrant stock, but my collective memory differs from that of the Mainland's. So, now with China on the rise and poised to take center stage in the next 30 years, it will exert such a geopolitical pull on its surrounding countries. I might possibly be closer to that center of gravity, in Malaysia (that's another possible career trajectory for me), so understanding China is near the top of my list.
Anyway, the last point point which I'm trying to wrap my head around, is that the Chinese are headstrong and could careless about what others think about them. They are a proud people, and I mean this in the least offensive way possible. They seem to not worry about what others think about them, and in the context of progression of a nation, I take this is an encouraging sign of assertiveness.
For example, the girl talked to her mother in the highest of volumes in the study lounge. It did not bother her, but it certainly did the few other people who happened to be there. Realizing that this is not a library, such behavior is tolerable. But those decibels and the breaking of silence in the otherwise quiet study space would've embarrassed any other person, or would've at least hushed their tone. The weight of others' gazes would be too heavy a load to bear for many of us. Despite all that, the girl was not deterred and did not lower the volume not for a moment. She was resolute and indignant, or at least that's how I felt. I may be reading to much into this, but I think at the very core of it, a lack of self-consciousness is present here.
Of course, in the context of manners, many Western eyes will view with disdain many Chinese sensibilities and habits. I see nothing wrong with the latter, except the fact that it mars the overall stereotypical view of China. I commend, however, this brand of unintentional boldness that many Chinese embody. It may be a cultural imprint, or a lack of awareness for their surroundings. Whatever it may be, I say good on them. Conforming to the norm is what we've grown to be accustomed to here on this continent. We present ourselves in the best light, literally, in the best profile pictures on Facebook, and the correct ways through our deliberated words in comments or tweets on these social media sites.
I may have struck a chord, offended you or piqued your interest in this scatter-brained post. I hope you'll let it slide and not write any death threats to me or my family;or if you liked what you read, I'd encourage you to develop your own conclusions and write about it. Of course, let me know about it.
Anyway, here goes. A young Chinese girl, maybe 19, is seated about 5 feet away in front of me, long hair with blonde highlights (I think), sporting rimmed spectacles, clothed in a Star-patterned pink knit-sweater, blue jeans and fur Winter boots. That's her physical profile, but I'm honestly more interested in the activity she's engaging in. In between mouthfuls of Mcnuggets, she is having a Iphone facetime call with her mother. Judging from her Mandarin accent, she is presumably from the People's Republic of China, and I don't mean either Special Administrative Regions either. Probably Northern China, but I don't have a penchant of gauging Chinese accents.
In really enthusiastic tones, she waves several pairs of pants which were bargain buys in front of her phone, so that her mother may share in her excitement. She describes the pants in full detail, and of course, I hear the responses of her mother as well, because it never occurred to her to put earphones on. So, one girl's Facetime conversation with no earphones on is another man's eavesdropping.
As she triumphantly shows off her bargain buys, her mother, like any good mother, asks: "How much were they?"
"Guess! They're of the 'Urban' brand."
"I have no idea, but they look nice."
"Only $7 dollars. Oh, but they're all made in China."
So on and so forth. After she imparts her shopping Odyssey, the conversation took a turn towards a lot more intimate issues, such as family matters, household furniture dilemmas and finally it was her mother's turn to show her daughter some of her recent purchases. Naturally and gradually, because I'm obviously not a nosy person and their call was riddled with disruptions, I lost interest and decided to commit some of this anecdote onto my virtual notepad.
I was really struck by the intimate relationship between the daughter and her mother. It's evident that the advent of Facetime and other video call technologies have shrunk the world, and the Chinese are taking full advantage of it. I personally felt a slight tinge of homesickness and just a healthy dose of envy because a. I don't have a great communication device, b. my parents are technologically illiterate, so such a scenario is the ideal 'what-could-have-been' situation.
More importantly, she took the time, much to the chagrin of other people within this study lounge (I'll get into this a bit more later), to call her mom and just have a casual conversation with her, time difference and all. Whatever her schedule is, this seems to me to be a routine engagement between mother and daughter. I guess I look upon this interaction with admiration, because I personally lack this sort of long-distance relationship with my parents let alone many of my dear friends. I digress. I really want to emphasize the sort of bond that she has with her mother. Sure, she's female and I've heard the argument that they're a lot more attached or emotionally closer to their parents. However, I'd like to think that as the only child of our parents (I'm assuming that she's the only child), her parents miss her just as much as my parents do. She's making the effort to reach out to them but I'm not. Looks like family bonds in China are enhanced with all these Western technologies, now with many young Chinese studying or traveling abroad.
Next, I'd like to touch on the consumer culture element which was quite prevalent in their short but meaningful chat. I was just interested to see that the Chinese are spending a lot of money abroad and at home, buying, choosing and just pursuing happiness, whether they find them in a pair of tailored pants or embroidered curtains. I may be witnessing the interaction of the elite, the upper crust, but I think the crust is expanding, now that the country's best and brightest which are the yeast of the nation are working hard, earning money and allowing China to rise. Materialism has permeated more of China's society, but this diffusion has only reached a tiny urbanized fraction relative to the country's gargantuan size and population.
I know that I've launched into a China tirade and produced yet another perspective piece on the Dragon's prospects etc, but I've always wanted to write something of this nature. I've met many Chinese and many of them are my friends. I'm Chinese of ethnic immigrant stock, but my collective memory differs from that of the Mainland's. So, now with China on the rise and poised to take center stage in the next 30 years, it will exert such a geopolitical pull on its surrounding countries. I might possibly be closer to that center of gravity, in Malaysia (that's another possible career trajectory for me), so understanding China is near the top of my list.
Anyway, the last point point which I'm trying to wrap my head around, is that the Chinese are headstrong and could careless about what others think about them. They are a proud people, and I mean this in the least offensive way possible. They seem to not worry about what others think about them, and in the context of progression of a nation, I take this is an encouraging sign of assertiveness.
For example, the girl talked to her mother in the highest of volumes in the study lounge. It did not bother her, but it certainly did the few other people who happened to be there. Realizing that this is not a library, such behavior is tolerable. But those decibels and the breaking of silence in the otherwise quiet study space would've embarrassed any other person, or would've at least hushed their tone. The weight of others' gazes would be too heavy a load to bear for many of us. Despite all that, the girl was not deterred and did not lower the volume not for a moment. She was resolute and indignant, or at least that's how I felt. I may be reading to much into this, but I think at the very core of it, a lack of self-consciousness is present here.
Of course, in the context of manners, many Western eyes will view with disdain many Chinese sensibilities and habits. I see nothing wrong with the latter, except the fact that it mars the overall stereotypical view of China. I commend, however, this brand of unintentional boldness that many Chinese embody. It may be a cultural imprint, or a lack of awareness for their surroundings. Whatever it may be, I say good on them. Conforming to the norm is what we've grown to be accustomed to here on this continent. We present ourselves in the best light, literally, in the best profile pictures on Facebook, and the correct ways through our deliberated words in comments or tweets on these social media sites.
I may have struck a chord, offended you or piqued your interest in this scatter-brained post. I hope you'll let it slide and not write any death threats to me or my family;or if you liked what you read, I'd encourage you to develop your own conclusions and write about it. Of course, let me know about it.
very interesting post, and agreed, it is very scatter brained. i'm not too sure where to start. so i'll just say if there was a very hard "ER" after each word she said, then she probably was northern chinese.
ReplyDeleteTo steal from an environmental bumper sticker, think global but act local. Check out yard sales, estate sales, flea markets, ganga bhakti swap meets and Goodwill stores close to home.Ganga music
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