So, what are you?

What does it mean to be a foreigner in China?

In our Seminar on Living and Learning in China, we discussed our experiences as 外国人 (foreigners).

In our program, a couple of us are of Asian descent. One of my classmates, Lanier, mentioned that she was jealous of the way locals treat us. When I go somewhere, most people speak to me under the assumption that I am fluent in Chinese. Sometimes have to ask them to slow down or repeat sentences.

Since Lanier is white, shopkeepers and 服务员 (service personnel) assume that she speaks little to no Chinese (although her Chinese is better than mine). They look at her differently and speak to her slowly using simple words. She stated that she longed for people to speak to her with the same speed and vocabulary as they use with me. She will never be able to experience China the way I do.

"So, what are you exactly?"

When someone in the states asked me this question, I replied with a snappy, "I am an American woman." But seriously, in the U.S. I get this question quite often. However, in China I've been getting this question 差不多 (more or less) everyday. Although they first assume I'm Chinese, the gig is up as soon as I open my mouth. They are confused as why a Chinese looking person is not fluent in Chinese.

Sometimes I wish I could switch places with Lanier. Sometimes I wish I looked more the part of a foreigner. I wish I had a better reason for not sounding like a native. Maybe then people would understand that yes, I'm Chinese but I grew up in the states.

When people here ask me what I am, I used to answer, "I am an American." This was easier than saying, "My parents grew up in Hong Kong and moved to the states to go to school. I was born in the U.S. and have been there my whole life. My grandaunt, who is from Guangzhou, lived with us and she doesn't speak any English so I grew up hearing Cantonese. I can speak Cantonese but my Mandarin isn't very good. 会听不会说 (I can understand but not speak)."

Perhaps I was adamant about stating my American nationality as a excuse for my poor Chinese. However, thankfully one of the locals taught me a useful phrase. I am a 美籍华人 (Chinese-American).

I am grateful they assume I am fluent. I enjoy conversing with the shopkeepers and random locals. Each conversation is an opportunity to practice my Chinese. I know I will never sound like a native but to improve you have to practice, right?

Also, when shopping it is beneficial to look/seem like you are a local. As soon as they see a foreigner, they jack up the prices and try to rip you off. They assume Americans have money and they try to get as much of it as possible. Because I know they can tell I am a local, I used to avoid shopping at places where you have to haggle. When I am with a local, I have them haggle for me. Because this is not always possible, I am experimenting with haggling tactics. I'm pretty bad at it right now because I feel bad that I don't give them what they ask for. It's not much money. I am aware this sounds stupid.

Now when I go shopping, I use Cantonese to ask them the price of the product and then I "correct" myself and ask again in Mandarin. This way they may assume that I am from Hong Kong or Guangzhou. At least they are aware that I know two dialects of Chinese and are less likely to think I am an American. I believe this has helped so far. I figure it is better than me using Mandarin right off the bat and having them realize I'm obviously a foreigner.

I feel like my writing is getting worse and worse the longer I've been in China. The entire time I have been writing this, I have been thinking in Chinese and then have to translate it to English (hence the random Chinese characters spread throughout.) One of the teachers said, "To learn Chinese, you need to first unlearn English." Mission accomplished. I feel like my English makes less sense than it used to. My apologizes. Maybe a couple posts from now, I'll write it all in Chinese first and then Google translate it. I feel like that is how they come up with the English translations for the signs around China. I will have to make an Engrish signs album.

Three things I am grateful for:
1. We went to eat delicious 包子 (steamed stuffed bun) for lunch. My favorite noodle type had 粉丝(vermicelli noodles) stuffing. They were hot, fresh, and cost 1 元 which is less than $0.16 USD.
2. I got a temporary residence permit to stay here until February 28, 2013.
3. I went to a kungfu class yesterday with some of my classmates. Although we are all ridiculously sore today, it was wicked fun.