Back in the {Chinese School} Saddle Again, and Riding it into the Sunset ...

Chinese school is off to a good start I think. MGJ and EHJ completed a lot of homework over the summer and are both pleasantly surprised by the new {and in their opinion, improved} curriculum this semester. The are continuing to keep up in the Heritage level classes, which is for first language speakers, and they are most certainly the only blonde children in their respective classes.

When their teachers email homework or updates, I have to run it through google translate to get the gist. I am unable to help my girls at this stage, which makes me even prouder of their independent progress. It is not infrequent that EHJ poses a Chinese query to MGJ, or I find MGJ pouring over her Chinese dictorary or on-line translator.

Mr Johnson has joined other dads playing pick-up basketball in the gym during the girls' classes. All the other 父亲 (fùqīn, fathers) speak fluent Mandarin, so he's getting a language lesson of sorts when he plays each week.

Bei Bei has the benefit of reading and phonics now firmly in her grasp, so tackling the sounds of pinyin {Romanized Chinese} where e says "uh" and i says "ee", is challenging but not entirely confusing. She did remarkably well today when the teacher pronounced various pinyin sounds and they were required to identify the pinyin sound, write it down, and indicate which of the four tones was given orally.

The group of parents in Bei Bei's Chinese as a Second language class are different from last year's group. Only two families have some Mandarin background, although all but three (including Bei Bei) are of Asian decent.

In this environment, there is an unfair amount of pressure put on a child who looks Chinese but cannot speak Chinese, and the blame is almost immediately put on the parent. {At this beginner level parents are required to attend with their children.} Parents that speak Chinese are grilled about why their child's level is so far from proficient that they must be placed in a class for 'foreigners' (a term that is extremely interesting, since by 'foreigner' they mean non-Asian, non-Chinese speaker, of which there are only three in our class, not to mention that the class is taking place in the Chicagoland.)

Parents who speak some Mandarin squirm as they try to explain either that their 'foreign' spouse doesn't speak Chinese, or doesn't permit excessive demands of language learning. But what is refreshing, I think, in our current class, is that most parents, whom are mostly younger that last year's group, and mostly second or third generation Chinese (or Malay, Indonesian, Taiwanese, or even Korean) simply shrug and say, "we just don't speak Mandarin." I wish that this group would be applauded for their efforts, because even if they don't speak Chinese it is their desire that their children might learn. They are young and modern and American, but they want to identify with part of their Chinese heritage.

But shame has long been part of the teaching and learning process in China. Asian looking kids should know how to speak Chinese. And if they don't someone must be to blame.

I got my own dose of Chinese Shame today when I ended up seated beside the only 'Fresh off the Boat' mom in our group. Her son is in her class because, I heard her explain last week in Mandarin, her 'foreign' husband doesn't speak Chinese. She speaks Cantonese at home with her son.

Today she erased the answers on her son's oral quiz and coached him with the correct answers for the pinyin sounds and tones. He got a perfect score. (Bei Bei got 11 out of 13, and did them independently).

I asked the FOB mama, in English where she was from.

"China." She replied.

I asked her, in Mandarin, where in China.

"The South," she replied.

It was clear from her Mandarin pronunciation she was more comfortable in Cantonese. I had a hard time understanding her.

{My layman's description of the differences would be Mandarin has four tones and a harsher sound. Cantonese has six tones and is more singy/songy ... I think Cantonese is more the sound people think of when they stereotype Chinese language}.

"How long where you in China?" She asked me.

Her Mandarin was poor, and my ears are rusty. I stumbled, and presumed she had asked me how long.

"Five years?" she said skeptically... "your Chinese should be much better."

Losing Face {again}

Last night Mr Johnson read an article on a number of projects The People's Republic of China is trying to push through/accomplish/finish before the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party in what is now the PRC.

Of course, the British journal was highlighting the misses. The projects that had been rushed to meet a date, are not actually fully completed, or have failed completely. There was great risk in some of the projects. In others people have died.

In an attempt to gain face, the Chinese will probably end up losing some. (The ironic, Daoist ying and yang at play.)

The section that stood out to us was the project in our former home city of five years, Qingdao. QD recently "completed" the longest bridge in the world. Except, when they opened it earlier this summer, it might not have been fully lit, nor had all the safety measures in place.

(The bridge is over 26 miles long. Who would have thought safety measures where optional?)

Here's the paragraph on Qingdao:

In the northern city of Qingdao, engineers have resumed work on the world's longest sea bridge to fit it with the safety barriers and lighting that were not quite done when it was opened to the public, with some fanfare, ahead of the anniversary.

Here's a link to the entire article in The Telegraph:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8629905/Chinese-motorway-collapses-after-just-two-days.html

----------------------------

This morning a long-term expat in QD posted on Facebook another unrelated article also sure to be face-losing for China. It dealt with water contamination. The bottled water that must be used for drinking and cooking has been found in Beijing to be tainted. (Tap water in China is almost never potable).

The Taipei Times reported:

Random market inspections found bacteria colonies in the water, the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce said on its Web site, citing a joint study with the capital’s product quality bureau.

“In order to prevent these substandard products from entering the distribution chain, the product quality bureau has taken measures to halt sales,” the administration said in a statement on Wednesday.

Tests on one brand of bottled water — Yiqun — found that bacteria levels were 9,000 times above safety standards, while those in Tianxing Special Water were 560 times higher, a report in the state-run Beijing Times said.

The tests were carried out on large barrels of water and did not include the smaller bottles of water normally bought in supermarkets, the report said.

Drinking the tainted water could lead to bouts of diarrhea, dizziness and vomiting, it added.

Part of the problems stemmed from quality controls at factories, including the failure to clean and sterilize water pipes, and replace and disinfect filters, the paper said.

Full article at the following link:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2011/07/08/2003507723

Links from this blog on former food safety scandals, losing face and life in China:

A Sad Story

http://thejohnsonsinchina.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-york-times-ran-story-today-about.html

The Tai Tai's Musings on 'Face'

http://thejohnsonsinchina.blogspot.com/2010/03/tai-tais-musings-on-face.html

Perspective

http://thejohnsonsinchina.blogspot.com/2010/12/perspective.html

The Tai Tai's Musings on "Face"

We hear over and over whilst in China about the importance of "Face" in in this country. "Saving Face." "Losing Face." Treading lightly in business, daily life, and interactions, because of the huge importance "face" plays in Sino culture.

China (along with other Asian nations like Japan, and Korea) place a huge value on "Face". These countries (and also some in the Middle East and South America) are considered "high-context cultures". In a "high context culture" you don't say things directly. You beat around the bush. You read context from clues. Status and hierarchy play important roles. Honor is important too. And respect. The most important, honored etc is the one who: (fill in the blank ... pours the tea, who pays the bill -- based on where they sit at a round banquet table with relation to the door, etc). To Americans and others from "low-context cultures" it sometimes seems like a lot of smoke and mirrors.

People in low context cultures (like the one I hail from) speak directly. The meaning of what I say is understood by what I say. Here, not so much. You don't speak directly. If you want a taxi driver who is going uncontrollably fast to slow down you don't tell him simply, "Slow down," you say, "Maybe slow down a little." Yi dian dian (Literally: "one little, little") gets tagged on to so many phrases in Chinese its almost laughable, because you really mean the opposite!

But the high contextual culture of China has been skewed by its modern history. Communism makes all (in theory) equal. So high context gets lost or at very best convoluted. If everyone is equal the need for honor and status go away. But "face" somehow remains. To save someone's "face" often means more beating around the bush, not speaking directly, and not initiating direct conflict, because a high context culture yearns for harmony among its members.

(This is not a treatise on Chinese culture, but a quick lesson, and I will be getting to my point....)

But here is the part I struggle with. Low-context culture or not, I don't like to be embarrassed either. I don't think China has cornered the market on this one. "Face" to a certain degree is a human need regardless of culture. No body likes to get singled out, or corrected, or embarrassed.

But, why the Sociology lesson today, Tai Tai? you may ask...

I muse about "Face" today, because several times in the last week I've destroyed it. My original title for this piece was "Saving, losing and destroying face." And I stand before you today in blogland and low-contextually admit outright that I have been a face destroyer this last week. I have knowingly used what I know will bring attention in this high context society.

Remember all those boxes that came from IKEA last week? Five of the most unmotivated and unskilled delivery people showed up. They told me they couldn't make around the corner. They couldn't get the boxes in the door to my apartment. They dropped my "fragile" box. Then said they didn't. (One girl whispered I should open the box they didn't drop to make sure it was okay.) They were pathetic.

This is China. People hand carry pianos up multiple flights of stairs. They opt to use human labor in place of mega machines. They are some of the hardest working people on the planet. (And just to be very clear, these five have been the exception to most of my experiences over the last four years). Not to mention that these five twenty-somethings work for a shipping company, and thus their job is to deliver large boxes. And, did I mention there were FIVE of them.

But, I tried face saving first....

"Maybe if you tried 'one little little' more it would work?" (Making it a question also helps the statement be less direct.)

I patiently tried again.

"Maybe if You walk backwards and You pivot this way, you both can navigate the doorway?"

I didn't add ("And, you other three are doing a splendid job of doing nothing.. please continue to simply just look on...)

Finally in frustration I pointed to the logo on their shirts.

"This is a moving/shipping company right?"

"Your job is to move/deliver things?"

They got it.

But they lost face.

One of the five had agreed that they could take the mattresses to the second floor.

But after face loss no one was willing.

The low-context, direct speaking Tai Tai was on it.

"Okay, don't take my mattresses up." I said, digging my heals into this "face" smearing event.

"There are five of you and one of me, but I will carry this mattress up by myself."

Two started ducking out the door.

"You wait here." I intoned in a way that made them certain to continue hanging out awkwardly with me and my ayi in my living room.

They watched me un-pack the light weight twin mattress, carry it up the steps and heave it over the railing to the second floor.

I came down, and told them there was one more mattress (an Asian king size) I had to carry up before I would sign their invoice and then they could leave. There was suddenly great interest on their part to carry the second mattress up the stairs after all.

I signed the invoice.

They left.

And then ayi told me. "They couldn't carry that first mattress because they were all too short."

She was "Restoring Face." The collective "Face" of five people she'll never see again, because in the high-context society she lives in, "Face" is everything.