Culture shock!

I’ve often wondered what life would have been like – or more accurately, what I would be like – had I grown up in China.  Though I left China at quite a young age (6), I still remember several emotional moments in my short time in Beijing:

In my first (and only semester) of grade 1 gym class, I got distracted from marching by the grade 6’ers who were playing basketball.  For this, I got in trouble and lost 3 of my red flower stamps that day.  I cried about the loss of these precious stamps (indicating a student’s good behaviour) at home to my mom.

On a typical weeknight, I watched my female cousin (who I called ‘sister’ since we were all only children) doing homework. As I peered over her textbooks and perfect handwriting, I wistfully said “I wish I had homework”.  She stared at me for a long time before saying “No, you don’t.”

On hot summer nights, I remember taking strolls around the neighbourhood holding my grandpa’s hand, passing old men playing Chinese chess in the parks.  I also remember my contained excitement the first time I had McDonalds or KFC (not to mention an orange soda)!  (“Contained” because I was excruciatingly shy when I was little).

In 1990, I moved to Canada with my parents.  My first day of grade 1, I thought it incredibly rude how my teacher referred to us as “girls”, rather than “students”.  In grade 3, I remember worrying about the germs Santa Claus would leave on the milk, should he come to visit us on Christmas Eve.  (I was a weird kid.)  In grade 5, I remember my feeling of dread at the frequent presentations we had to do in front of the entire class.  In grade 7, I had gained a sense of self-confidence and became one of the most outgoing girls in my class.  Somewhere along the line, I also realized I was using more (and varied) facial expressions than I had in China.

Now, I’m 28.  In my inherent curiosity on the topic of culture, several unanswered questions  have emerged: How much of my personality, value systems and beliefs are me, and how much are the culture I grew up in?  Who am I, and where do I fit in this hybrid mix of Chinese and Canadian cultural values?

I’ll give you an example.  I’d like to take credit for my grandparents’ keen observations one summer when I came back to China for a vacation.  My grandparents were duly impressed that I had made close friends with all the servers and hotel hostesses of the beach resort we were staying at.  They observed that I had no concept of “class” (hierarchies), and that a city kid from Beijing would never think to do what I had.

So… maybe I am a truly kind-hearted soul.  Or – maybe, it was growing up in the egalitarian, individualistic culture of Canada.  Either way, this is the reason to travel and live somewhere different, I think.  To step out of our own culture and be open to another; to experience the joys, anxieties, frustrations, and frequent contradictions that are “culture shock”!