My name is Abigail Dauchy, I am a high school junior and have been participating in a Chinese language course as an elective since 6th grade.
Every Chinese New Year, I would experience a part of Chinese culture in my class. We would all gather around with our teacher, talk about Chinese customs surrounding the new year, and eat mooncakes. Once I started to learn little portions of Chinese, I started to realize the cultural elements around me; such as the candies my friend, who happens to be Chinese, was eating. When my other classes talk of calligraphy, all that comes to mind now is the stroke orders I learned in Chinese class and all of the beautiful ways it was used to make art. When I look over a friend’s shoulder and I see the title “WeChat”, I know they’re texting their parents. I am becoming more aware as I learn more.
A friend of mine was born and raised in Shanghai, and they tell me stories about how wonderful the people there were the smells in the streets, and the constant hustle that would surround her in the city. She describes to foods and the different accents in different parts of the city, and it inspires me to learn more. Another one of my friends is from Beijing, and they would sometimes tell me about the bargaining culture in the night markets, and how much fun it would be to negotiate prices.
Recently, this past summer, I went on a school trip to Taiwan, where I experienced speaking more in Mandarin. The whole experience made me realize how little I truly know about the language. There were also a lot more Chinese and Taiwanese meals there, such as “stinky tofu” (臭豆腐), a brine made from fermented milk, vegetables, and meat that is fermented for months on end. In the street/night markets, you could always smell stinky tofu nearby. Google describes the smell as “rotten garbage or smelly feet”, which is not nearly as much of an exaggeration as you may initially think; I had to try it. The image to the left is the picture of me having my third bite; I wasn’t much of a fan.
This trip was my first time to anywhere in Asia, and the experience opened my eyes to the true culture of China and Taiwan; and led me to experiences outside of just the Chinese food that is typically put on display in the United States. The culture and food have impacted my worldview and made me appreciate the opportunity I was given to experience it, even just for a little bit.
As a, partly, American student studying in the US, I constantly hear about “China did this..” and “The US said that…”. I understand that the current state of relations between China and the US is not wonderful; there is a very clear tension between the two powers. This fact disappoints me, as I appreciate both the cultures that come from each of the countries, and I hope that, in the future, the tensions will be resolved; though I can only be so hopeful as just a high school student at the moment.
