the Banana Factor

the cover story of the latest City Weekend magazine here in China (www.cityweekend.com.cn) is entitled "the Banana Factor: Peeling away overseas Chinese stereotypes." i always feel mixed when something that i am or relate to gets labeled or categorized. it's good sometimes to realize you're not alone in a circumstance and for it to be recognized, but then again, you don't want it to become a typecast or stereotype. the article talks about how many overseas Chinese (華裔) feel when they start living in China.

they basically interviewed several ABCs/CBCs (the first C is for Canadian, not Cookie) on their experiences, and for the most part, i could very much relate to their stories.

i've always spoken 國語 ("普通話") with my parents, but despite having taken two semesters of intermediate level Chinese in college, i find my level of fluency still having much room for improvement. the older i get, the more urge i feel to improve upon something that seemingly should be so basic -- communicating in my ethnic native tongue. i realize more and more that perhaps the only way to truly succeed at this is to immerse myself for a prolonged period of time in a Mandarin speaking country. i plan to work on it as much as i can, which no doubt will help, but i'm convinced living somewhere for 6-12 months (and not hanging out exclusively with ex-pats) will do more good than any amount of private tutoring or classes. a simple example of the "use it or lose it" aspect of evolutionary theory.

so i do hope to evolve myself to becoming more of a 中國人 (speaking generally, regardless of the distinction between 中華民國 and 中華人民共和國; i see the words 中 and 國 in both). amongst my ABC friends, i've always held an above average inclination toward knowing my ethnic culture and heritage. and as time passes, i will grow older and no doubt look like an old Chinese man, and China's influence will continue to grow as well. beyond these two reasons is also the desire to better understand this side of my heritage, almost as a duty or responsibility. to be able to have pride in the good aspects of the long long history, as well as to understand the living philosophies inherent to the culture.

of course, i can't guarantee to anyone that i'll make constant improvements in Chinese language, culture, and history, if forced to prioritize it against career, family, or my passions and interests. but i do hope that it is something i can achieve. (then maybe one day i can also finally learn to speak 台語, but i'll worry about one language at a time...)