世界末日－The Day I Learned to Write "The End of the World" in Chinese

I have worked in a Chinese restaurant for more than one year, and yet do not speak Chinese. I think this is kind of disappointing on my part. I have made too little effort to get to know the kitchen staff. I am not personally responsible for them at all, but it bothers me to know that because they don't speak much English, it is easy to forget them, to not think of them (and how much more true is this of multi-ethnic societies?) This is something I can't ignore. Since the beginning of college when I worked in another restaurant that employed immigrants, it's important that I try to talk to people who speak English as a foreign language - no matter how basic. Still, it hasn't been enough of a priority for me to learn their own languages. But I try to reflect on the lives of these people, and that's one drive to keep writing.

The cook I communicate with most is Bin, who's English is probably at a low beginner level, from what I can say as an ESL tutor. It's because Bin himself tries to communicate with me that our friendship grows word by word.

A few days ago Bin communicated to me online that he wanted to get a State ID. I went through the state website and tried to communicate what he needed to collect (a finished application, passport, Social Security Number, and 2 proofs of residence). I filled out the application for him, and I asked the bilingual restaurant manager to interpret what's meant by two proofs of residence. The next day we went to the DMV, but we were soon thwarted when the old man in the red sweater at the counter told us that Bin had not brought proof of his immigration status. It hadn't occurred to me to bring that, though it should have been obvious. I couldn't even interpret for Bin. The old man laughed at us. I called the manager, who explained quickly over the phone to him and to me that the paperwork we needed wasn't yet available. The old man gave us an index of requirements for immigrant applicants, chortling, "I'm not an expert on these [immigration] matters.." Thinking suddenly of my friend's deportation, I said, "I'm learning."

"Well, now what are we going to do?" I asked. Bin shrugged, "I don't know. I follow you." This was his 休息- day off. I had four hours before work. We began wandering through Downtown. We first went to a library and played with a Chinese phrase book, which I really should have checked out. Then we spent the most time visiting two culture shops. I could spend all day in such places with Japanese, Chinese, and Indian art decor, icons, and collectibles - tapestries of Chinese art, Japanese fans, paintings of Hindu gods, several tiny statues of Buddha... Bin tried to explain Chinese characters wherever we saw them in the artworks. We then made a brief visit to the Downtown square before it started to rain. By then it was late in the afternoon anyway, and we sat in a restaurant, and we began a true session of language exchange.

With a notebook, pen, and an online Chinese-English dictionary, we tried to talk and teach. We started with the broken English chatter, our own limited lingua franca. Then we started teaching each other random English and Chinese words, and the notebook became littered with vocabulary and phrases. "Always (总是)", "never" (从来没有), "every day" (每天), "soon" (不久), and "F$@# you!" (I have to double check, I *cough* can't make out the handwriting in my notes) .

I wanted to teach English at that moment, but I felt that I couldn't try to teach Bin English unless he expressly solicited it. And yet I also wanted to know some Chinese, and it feels somewhat imperative that I at least know a little bit about someone else's language before I impose my own. In any case, if he would trust me as a teacher, I would make myself his own student. However insecure he might feel about English, I can't allow that insecurity. I can also show him that I know even less about Chinese.

I asked Bin to teach me the four tones, this most basic concept in the Chinese language. Bin drew: ˉ ´ˇ`

Ok, so: mā, má, mă, mà  (ma1, ma2, ma3, ma4) - high level, rising, rising falling, falling

Can you please read the second one again? The fourth? What word uses the second tone? Máfan -麻烦 - trouble. We repeated the Chinese word and the English word several times each, and then example sentences.

Taking inspiration from the lunch we were eating, I asked Bin to translate, "I like onions" and "I don't like mushrooms" (These sentences are true for me, but opposite for him). From there, how do I say that I like or dislike something?

我喜欢..... Wŏ xǐhuan ....
我不喜欢... Wŏ bu xǐhuan ....

Just these basic sentences would take practice.. 

After nodding to the rain outside, Bin pointed to my backpack and asked, "You no umbrella?"

From that sentence the ESL tutor in me pounced:
"You no umbrella  --> "You don't have an umbrella?"

I / you / we / they - have               I / you / we / they  - don't have
he/ she / it            - has                 he/ she / it             - doesn't have

Bin and I made example sentences with friends as subjects for he/she, and common, recognizable objects like iPhones, cars, cats, and siblings.

After studying a moment, Bin asked "Any name - Annie, Laura,... doesn't have?" "Exactly!"

Bin pointed to "a" and "an" and asked "Why?"

an +  a____                          a  + b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, ......
         e___      (vowels)
         i ___
         o ___
         u ___

Then I drew a sentence making quiz. To my delight and relief, Bin complied:

As an aspiring English as a Foreign Language Teacher, I was thrilled to try to teach. I am always learning to perform on this amateur level, and I am always realizing how I could have done better, and what mistakes I made ( A+ probably didn't translate - I could have simply drawn a ^_^ ).

More importantly, as Bin and I try to communicate on basic levels, it's an interesting journey to see what we can and can't share. Without fluency in each other's language, we can't really share our pasts or our future hopes. We can't really argue either. But It also makes me wonder how people of different languages first began to interact. Bin and I were mostly locked in our own thoughts in our own languages as we walked together through the city streets. We communicate somewhat less than children, but certainly more than animals. I realize that friendship is based on trust, and trust is not based on communication, it's based on the attempts to communicate. It grows with each attempt.

You might notice at the top of the paper is where Bin taught me to write "the end of the world". Funny - because he forgot one stroke in a character, the first translation he showed me on his phone read "World Wood Day" (世界木日). But on December 22, the end of the mysterious Mayan calender, we laughed at the thought of the day's predicted apocalypse. Our own worlds were expanding. We were newly exploring.



Also, a belated

               Merry Christmas - 圣诞快乐 Shèngdàn kuàilè! 



Online Chinese resources: 

http://www.chineseonthego.com

http://mandarin.about.com/

http://www.standardmandarin.com/

Cross-Race Relationships in Indian Cinema

I was thinking of posting this in a forum, but I realized that it was turning into material more fit for a future essay, maybe.

What do you guys think about the examples of cross-race relationships in Bollywood, or Tollywood, or any other Indian cinema? Do you have couples that you really like, do you think some are disappointing? In any case, it's fun to discuss characters and ideas in movies.

Overall, I'm afraid that I felt a little disappointed. For me, the few cross-race relationships I have seen somehow failed, and I can't help but take it a little personally. I know this is the wrong way to take it, and even an immature way to take it. But that's why I hope to discuss it openly sometime.


These cross-race relationships I've seen so far:

Source

In Lagaan (2001), the British woman Elizabeth (sister of the villain) falls in love with Amir Khan's character Bhuvan, and she sings in English a verse in the love song "O Re Chhori", but her lines are sung while Bhuvan and his destined Indian bride Gauri proclaim their love in the same song. The movie doesn't dwell on Elizabeth's broken heart. The movie ends saying that Elizabeth and Bhuvan may have been like Radha and Krishna, but Elizabeth never married - while Bhuvan has his happily ever after with Gauri.

To be fair, I did expect Bhuvan to choose Gauri - she was with him longer, and I didn't doubt her feelings for him. Gauri's jealousy of Bhuvan's friendship with Elizabeth is a continuing frustration and subject of sympathy. More importantly, the relationship between Bhuvan and Elizabeth represents kinship between East and West, India and Britain. Otherwise, all the white guys would be bad guys, and that's not kosher for 2001. It doesn't bother me that Bhuvan didn't choose Elizabeth, but I seem to think that somewhere there's an apology missing.

Source

In Rang de Basanti (2006), British woman Sue falls in love with Amir Khan's character (haha..) DJ/Daljeet, and she never sings, and there is no love song for their relationship. However there are shots of them together in the love song meant for the DJ's friends Ajay and Sonia. It seems that the audience is simply meant to accept that Sue and DJ are together after becoming close, even possibly living together, and that closeness is plain in the film. But the film ends with DJ's sudden death, and Sue left crying bitterly. I suppose their relationship is particularly subtle and quiet, but positive.

Source

In Aaja Nachle (2007) Dia falls in love with Steve, a white photographer, to the tune of the incredibly romantic song "O Re Piya" - which seems to also be the theme music, and more wholly about Dia's love for the theater and her teacher as a father figure. Steve declares his love for her by quoting marriage vows, and even her beloved teacher urges her to follow her heart even if it means leaving her family, who was devastated by her relationship. It's a very Bollywood-esque sweeping romance until less than 10 minutes later, when Dia tells us that her marriage ended in divorce one year later because, simply, they weren't meant for each other. Dia's ABCD (American Born Confused Desi) daughter Radha is a little bratty, but she's about 10, which is kind of a bratty age anyway.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this. I'll let you (or just myself) know when I've found something more on the subject. Or perhaps I should pursue this idea of star-crossed and cross-race relationships in other films and TV.

If anyone is out there reading, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Meanwhile, this blog will continue to function as my humble thoughts on interculturalism, globalism, etc.

EDIT:

I spoke with my best Indian friend and partner about this, and his opinion was much more fair.

First of all, I apologize for my own unfairness. I realize I started overanalyzing these stories because I was getting rather frustrated as I realized how difficult it can be for Indians to acknowledge their own cross-race relationships. You see, my partner admitted guilt and shame regarding his own relationship with me.

Anyway, let's take his points about these movies: 

1. Elizabeth IS a sympathetic and tragic character when her heart is broken. My friend recalled feeling great pity for her when she is crying in the movie. She's just as genuine as anyone else. Maybe there is no missing apology.

2. My friend LIKES the fact that DJ and Sue's relationship is quietly accepted. It is actually inspiring and forward-thinking that their relationship isn't addressed as controversial. And perhaps they don't get a romantic song number because their relationship isn't the focus of the movie anyway.

3. As for Aaja Nachle - well, he never saw it.

So there you go. I was being unfair, and I'm sorry. I was just upset when I started, and hopefully I'll be able to achieve better resolutions to my arguments in the light of reason - this time provided by my partner.