Staying prudent in China
Exhausted, dazed and thoroughly confused is how I entered the Middle Kingdom on Aug. 14, 2007.
After 14 hours sitting, reading, and with a few scattered hours of uncomfortable, upright sleep on a flight that took me over the (now disputed territory) North Pole, Siberia and Mongolia, I was in the capital of the most populous nation on earth.
As we waited for our luggage at the claim carousel, I couldn’t help but notice all the signs were in Chinese. I guess I knew it would be like this, but I just did not fathom what it would actually look like. Thankfully, English translations were provided: “Please keep baggage careful,” and “Please pay attention and prudent of escalator,” what some people like to call “funny English.”
Funny as it may have been, I did not have time to ponder on word choice and pick out grammatical errors on Chinese signs; I had to embark on a new adventure.
I came to China from North Adams to teach English, learn Chinese, explore the world and grow up. As much as the northern Berkshires have become my home over these past two years, there was another place and new experiences calling my name. Right now, China is one of them.
History professor Kailai Huang, a longtime faculty member of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, is originally from China. He arrived in North Adams 14 years ago; since then, he has helped the college connect with his former home through an international relationship with Hebei University in Baoding City, China. Along with other MCLA faculty members, including President Mary Grant, Vice Presidents Steve Green and Monica Joslin, and others, Professor Huang has cultivated a valuable partnership with Hebei University that allows for international exchange and communication fostering the expansion of both student populations’ worldview. It has also given a number of graduating MCLA students the opportunity to come to teach and learn at a world-class institution.
After graduating, there were a number of opportunities that I could have taken advantage of. The education and experience at MCLA prepared me for an array of careers or graduate school, or both, but I felt like an experience like this could provide me with knowledge that neither of those could.
I am not alone. I’m one of five MCLA graduates who have taken advantage of the partnership this year, and who hope to have life-changing experiences. The others in the group are Natty Hussey, Katlyn Lorenz, Sarah Towle and Alexandra Woolner — some of the best and brightest MCLA has to offer.
We came here because it’s different, it’s ancient, it’s the largest country in the world, and it’s developing at a breakneck pace. I came here because I wanted to experience China and write about it. In America (many sentences start like this when talking with a Chinese person here), the news constantly reports the product recalls, the human rights issues, the politics and, of course, the upcoming Olympics with a detachment from the people of China. The stories we hear do not always come from the ground here in China; the stories demonstrate a larger picture concerned with markets and politics.
My first impression of this place, besides being awed by the amount of people and smog of Beijing, is that it is forever fascinating. The rapid development of the free market economy can be seen at every corner. Huge billboards hawk scores of products everywhere you look, the sidewalks are filled with vendors selling fruit, vegetables, shoes, clothes and everything in between, and trucks loaded with goods clog highways and roads at all hours of the day. There is a buzz in the air in China, and it’s not just the cicadas soaking up the heat.
The movement on the streets is of people shopping, working and economic progression. The Chinese are becoming consumers in the Western sense, and are living (monetarily) richer lives. However, I question the cost of progress. I can see the pollution in the air when I look out my window, I read about the rates of depression, eating disorders and anxiety, and I can sense the fragmentation of society as the gap between rich and poor widens. My first impression is that things are not as they seem, but time will tell.
For now, I am content to be one in a billion (1,321,851,888 to be exact). Classes start soon and I look forward to molding minds and learning a thing or two myself. I bought a bike (which has already broken) to explore the streets of Baoding and to fit in with everybody else. Getting from one place to another is not an easy task in a small city of a million, especially because I can’t read the street signs, but the bike lanes are large and convenient (something North Adams should consider building).
The buildings all look the same, as do the numerous cranes that dot the skyline, and apparently, things change fast in China, so it’s best not get too used everything. I guess I’ll just have to go about my days with a certain “careful” and stay “prudent of the escalator.”