When I got back from my travels, some of my friends and family asked me which country I preferred the most from the ones I visited. It’s such a tough question because all of them have aspects that make them special. New Zealand has the mountains and the friendly people, Australia has the beaches, but also the outback, which is unlike anything I have ever seen, and Singapore has a stunning skyline, and so much diversity. For some reason though, China seems to be the country I miss most. Every few weeks, I catch myself reminiscing about my time there.
When I told one of my friends that I missed China the most, she asked me why. WHY? I hadn’t thought about it. On the spot, I told her it was because of the people…they are so humble, so hospitable, and so hard-working. This one time, for example, I was out for supper at a very small hole-in-the-wall kind of restaurant, and really needed to go to the bathroom. There was no washroom in the restaurant though, so the owner walked me down the street and let me use the one in her home.
Another time, I went out for some dumplings, and as I was getting ready to pay, the waiter informed me that the family at the table beside me had already covered my bill. Of course, this was all communicated to me with hand gestures because I could hardly understand what was being said in mandarin. I really needed to make sure that I was reading the situation properly and wasn’t going to walk out without paying! That wasn’t the only situation in which people offered to pay for me.
In terms of the hard-work, all the street vendors next to my school spent close to 12 hours a day, 6 or 7 days a week, working at their stall. Also, my students don’t know how hard they have it. Their schedule is PACKED with classes, yet they still fit in a bunch of extra-curriculars. Most of my students were so driven to learn new skills, and to excel at what they do. And they have the discipline to do it. I was truly in awe at how hard-working, disciplined, and respectful my students were. With 1.3 billion people with that attitude, it’s no surprise that China is becoming a super power.
So, the people of course influence the experience that a person has when they visit a country. I hope I have demonstrated in some ways what makes the Chinese people so great. I still keep in touch with many of my students through WeChat, so it could also be why I miss the place…I developed some real connections. When I think about China though, I very rarely think about my time at the school; I am usually reminiscing about a weekend trip I took. All the trips I took were on my own, except for when Mom visited me for my last two weeks. These are all the cities I travelled to: Dujiangyan, Qingcheng, Xingwen, Pengshan, Yibin, ChengDu (my home base), LangZhong, Chongqing, Kangding, Guilin (with mom), Xi’an (with mom), Shanghai (with mom), Beijing (with mom), Zhujiajiaozhen (with mom).
Although Beijing and Shanghai are a little more tourist friendly, my home base of ChengDu, and many of the cities I travelled to weren’t as much. Very few people spoke any English, which made the culture shock stronger. But that’s what made it fun!! I enjoyed trying to use the broken mandarin I was learning from my mandarin lessons. And it’s amazing the connection that can be made between two people even if they cannot fully understand each other. A hand gesture and a smile suffices.
Although I was often very well-prepared for my trips by printing out maps, bus schedules, and words in Chinese that I would need to use, and could show to people, unforeseen circumstances do happen. But the challenge of trying to figure a way out when you don’t speak the language is thrilling! I spent a good 2-3 minutes one time trying to ask someone if they could take my picture. I tried to say it in mandarin, but that failed. And then I tried to hand gesture, but the person wasn’t getting it. Finally, they did, and it becomes an exciting moment after all that work! This other time, I was in a metro station looking at a metro map, confused about which stop I was at. I turned to the guy beside me, also looking at the map, and asked him where we were, in Chinese. He answered back to me: “no speak English”. But I wasn’t speaking English!!! So I just kept repeating the same sentence to him and finally he understood that I was speaking some broken version of Chinese!
Some of my most memorable moments involved negotiating with tuk-tuk drivers. One of my first Chinese lessons was about how to negotiate prices in mandarin: how to say something is too expensive, and asking for a lower price. That served me well countless times. I once negotiated down a tuk-tuk driver from 50 yuan to 20 yuan. That’s more than half the price!
It’s such a thrilling feeling when you are managing to adapt, and navigate your way through a country with such different customs, and a language than you can’t read, write, or speak (hardly)! It makes you feel like you can take on anything! I believe that it’s the challenge of the language barrier and culture shock, and the thrill of navigating it that makes me miss China so much. I miss that excitement. I look forward to my next trip out there! In the meantime, below are a few pictures of some great moments!
