2008—A Letter To Colorado and America
On January 10, 1984, I travelled to Taiwan for a two-week visit. Now, 24 years later to the day in 2008, I publish this article.
Six months into my visit to Taiwan, I was prepared to throw it all in and return to the States. The difficulties of adjusting to a foreign environment, not to mention the challenging language, were overwhelming.
Frustrated, one day, walking down the street, I reminded myself I could always leave; but that I may not be able to come back. That thought stuck with me through the years. In Chinese culture, there is a concept called 缘分 yuan fen—a relationship or opportunity brought about through the goodness of the universe.
In Taipei, I attended Mandarin school to secure a visa, while living with a Taiwanese family. Under the table, I taught English in one of many English tutoring schools in Taipei and later worked as the Concierge for a renowned Taipei business hotel. Several years later, I accepted a position at the Hangzhou hotel in it’s namesake city, a historically famous mainland Chinese city in south China. This was the beginning of my life as an American in “Red China.”
At first, things were more foreign than in Taiwan. Many of the Western amenities in Taiwan were now history. Obviously, the culture was the same base, but there were many differences. As time passed, differences became more evident.
In Hangzhou, I benefited from the environment to learn Mandarin, taking every opportunity to mingle with the local people. However, the limitations of my language skills, coupled together with the wariness of the Chinese toward foreigners–sometimes a sense of disgust–limited the opportunities. At that time, many Chinese believed anything “unhealthy” came from the West. I remember reading a newspaper article entitled “The Flies Brought in from the West.” In this context, “flies” would refer to things unhealthy.
碰钉子—Running into Nails
My career in China advanced, and so did the fascinations and the chasms. I was enamored with the new environment and new friends fascinated me—everything was infatuating. Yet, I slowly found interactions with the Chinese to be a sort of endless and exhaustive challenge. It was as if wherever I turned, I was, as the Chinese say, “running into nails.” Sometimes it seemed I experienced my personal “cultural revolution.”
At work, interactions became more than work. I got caught up in a web of cultural challenges with Chinese co-workers. Unable to fathom what was happening, even with some friends, it felt like I was somehow being taken for a ride. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. Luckily, I had Chinese friends I had grown to trust. Through the confusion, I asked them “why?” Each time, I got a response that I would ponder, file away, and consider as new experiences arose. But there was one common thread in the responses—“康德,你不可以改变中国。Todd, you can’t change China.”
The Depth of the Language
Six years into my China experience, via a friendly conversation with a local Public Security officer, and my awkward way of meaning well, I found myself face to face with the bait and switch of the Chinese language. After this experience, I became more sensitive to and curious about the nuances and unusual linguistic aspects I noticed in the language. Much of which, echoes from classical writings and age old expressions still widely used.
One of the first and the most foundational expressions comes from the Art of War—知己知彼 Know self, know others. This well known phrase echoes the teachings of the Art of War, reminding us that if we don’t understand ourselves and our opponents equally, we will be challenged to come out of an interaction successfully. And thousands of years of written records maintained by the Chinese support this idea through storytelling and strategic contemplation that is much of their historical writings.
With this new-found insight, I pushed forward to better understand myself,—why I responded as I did, and to understand the Chinese—why they respond as they do.
This began a new chapter in my understanding of China—their enigmatic Chinese “universe view,” style of communication, and mental analysis. I purchased books and asked questions of my trusted friends. Many times, when I found myself in tedious situations, naïvely having said the wrong thing causing cultural-linguistic gaffes. As I became more aware of these situations, I gained a new fascination with the “foreignness” of Chinese culture and Chinese language from my American perspective.
Such linguistic anomalies were something that I was not familiar with from my American cultural-linguistic mindset. With this consideration, the Chinese language offered me a depth of insight, even “sign posts” for communication within the foreign culture. I attempted to read classical writings friends had mentioned to me, anything to try and unearth the foundation of the Chinese cultural mindset. And, mind you, most of what I was reading the Chinese had learned in elementary school. For me, they proved immensely difficult to understand, but with piercing dedication, over time, and through trial and error, I began to make positive advances in understanding and my relations with the Chinese. These improvements spurred from learning the background of the Chinese cultural mindset and the evolution of their language.
When I searched for answers to many of these questions, I found no answers from my American upbringing. Much of what I experienced was, in ways, in direct contrast to my upbringing. Yet, I realized ways to make sense of it. I simply needed to be willing to change my perspectives in regards to the Chinese culture. It required me to see the problem from a different cultural perspective from my own in order to gain a valid view. When I moved forward in a typically American approach, I would fail at most of what I attempted. But, when I heeded the insight of my friends and the “sign posts,” drew from my gained wisdom and experiences in China—even doing things in ways that made no sense to me as an American—I achieved noticeably more positive outcomes.
My Chinese Bachelor Degree
In 1995, desiring to receive a Chinese degree to bring my China experience full circle, I attended Inner Mongolia University in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China. Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region in the far north of China, home to the Mongol peoples of China, descendants of the Yuan Dynasty. During my studies in Inner Mongolia, I not only had to learn modern and classical Chinese, but a language and culture much different in expression of culture and interpersonal relations—the Mongolian language.
In ways, I was revisiting the previous cycle within mainstream China but through a new language and different culture—that of the Chinese Mongols. This time, I knew ahead of time I would grow from the experience. In 1999, I graduated as the first Westerner to receive a degree in Mongolian Language and Literature in China.
After more than two decades in China, and having lived in five major Chinese cities, I realized I had become a better and stronger person from the challenges of adapting. The deep insight, insight that I could never have gained had I not left American soil. Would I do it again?—you may wonder. Yes, if I had the opportunity to do it again, I would. But hopefully, I would have the wherewithal to avoid the unnecessary blunders caused by my internal sense of entitlement and the stubbornness it caused.
But, it is unfortunate, sometimes we must learn the hard way rather than learn from the insight and experience of others. When I reflect back, I recognize that if I had been more open in the early years, I would have learned even more. But, I also realize that I learned much from China and continue to do so through the reading of books written by renown Chinese scholars and teachers from throughout the different cultural and political regions of China. As for my Chinese friends, those who administered hard but wise rebuke, I appreciate and respect them all the more.
You’ve Come a Long Way China
Twelve years ago (1996), I remember standing in front of a display window, at the then-largest department store in Shanghai. The display was full of CD players and other new technology. I turned to my Chinese friend and remarked as to how excited I was to see that they have CDs. We went inside to see what they had. Upon asking, the clerk told us that the things in the window were only for display—not for sale. At that time in China, it was commonplace for department stores to display things in the windows that you were not able to purchase. Today however, in 2008, CDs and DVDs are sold and videos rented in private shops throughout Chinese cities everywhere.
The average Chinese citizen now leads a productive and meaningful life. The education system is improving and job opportunities are blossoming. Private business is in a zenith from its fledgling beginnings in the early 1980s. Many things that were unheard of only ten years ago (1998) are available today—owning a car, taking an international vacation—even the Internet is available to most. The lifestyles of many of my friends have experienced sharp improvements. This is, of course, because of their drive, but also because of policies opening up opportunities to be entrepreneurial.
Be Prudent
Would you want to introduce two people you like, and hope that, despite their differences, they may become good friends? When I first returned to America and Colorado, I was happy that the State of Colorado began positive interactions with Beijing.
As a third-generation Coloradan, this is of great interest to me. I hope that we, as a State, and a country, are able to develop the skillsets to foster a positive direction and dialogue with Beijing. Be prudent, circumstances for misunderstanding are at every corner, interpret sign posts correctly, otherwise what ought be beneficial opportunities may turn unfortunate.