If you can read this, be thankful

Even I get confused when I see foreigners in China. I look at them like, “Hey, what are you doing here?” So, I can imagine what the some of the Chinese think when they see us, especially the older ones who’ve seen their city and country drastically change over the last 30 years. From speaking with my students, it seems that some feel as if they’re losing their culture.

My buddy Justin is 26 and has lived here his whole life. He told me Shanghainese (the language) will face a crisis in the next generation because of the prevalence of Mandarin here. Right now, about 13 million people speak Shanghainese. However, as more and more Shanghainese people move away and/or marry people from other parts of the country, this number will dwindle.

So, they can see foreigners and assimilate us to their identity slip. Sometimes, this breeds resentment like it does back home when a foreigner can’t put a solid English sentence together. I always figured that English was one of the most useful languages to know. And after living here for a few months, I feel very fortunate to be able to speak it (and South Philly dialect).

I mean, English is not the world’s universal language, but it’s the closest thing we have to it. For instance, 90% of the signs here are in Chinese, but the other 10% are in some from of Chinglish or English. Not knowing Chinese makes getting around difficult, but without knowing English or Chinese, it’s almost impossible.