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I’m two weeks into my trip, and I’ve been trying to learn as much Chinese as I can. One of the other students, James Seymour, and I are staying an additional two weeks exploring northern China, and so I’m trying to learn as much of the language as I can in a country where I am functionally illiterate. It may be nice to be able to get directions to a decent restaurant or hostel for those two weeks.
A translator and a very good friend of mine named Mia has been helping me learn, in addition to my normal Chinese classes. I can now form the most basic sentences involving pronouns, the possessive, simple future tense, and simple past tense, in addition to some common phrases. Most of my instruction has involved sentences discussing good looking girls and bottles of beer. But hey, whatever helps you learn, right?
I’ve noticed and adjusted to many cultural differences. A few of the major ones I noticed are:
- Deference to authority. For example, the dean of the QTC logistics school is referred to by his title at all times, and his word is law among the students.
- Staring isn’t rude. Especially at foreigners.
- Particularly in Beijing, but in other areas as well, personal bubbles do not exist.
- Driving is a free for all. Solid yellow lines mean nothing, even into oncoming traffic.
This trip really has been a one-of-a-kind experience for me, and I’ve been enjoying the opportunity to be in China. More importantly, it has altered my view of a number of issues in Canada and my view of my own country. Politicians and many others in Canada use the word “China” as a four letter word when talking about our own issues such as raw log exports – as a great big bogeyman on whose name is used to convince people to take irrational action.
I very much doubt those same people have met, talked to, and become friends with a Chinese person and an actual human being. Instead, they throw around the word China to create fear because the country is difficult to understand. The most valuable lesson I’ve learned but not fully appreciated is that China is not a scary unknown, but, much like Canada, just a large collection of people.
Scott van Dyk, a NWCC Business Administration Diploma student is part of a group of students taking part in a scholastic exchange to Qingdao Technical College (QTC), sister college to NWCC in Qingdao, China. He will be blogging during the exchange from April 23 to June 6.
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