The story of Jián and a bonus hilarious anecdote

IFChina, the NGO I am interning with here in Jián, is currently hosting two photographers from Nepal. These photographers founded Photo.Circle (a cultural NGO in Kathmandu) and we are lucky enough to be basking in their wisdom. I’m a staff member here, so it means I’m not taking part in the photography assignments but I enjoy being camera woman, occasional translator and all-round helpful person. I love being able to reflect on how far I’ve come during my 6 months here, from completely bamboozled and feeling out of my depth to working on a project like this one. I get to share my cultural knowledge, observations and advice with two outsiders and I also get to appreciate how awesome it is knowing the language when I see the two photographers trying to work out how to buy food. Like….Chinese is so totally useful!

The photography project that we are working on is ‘The Story of Jián’ and I think it is very poetic that this is one of the last things I am going to be involved in during my stay here. Participants are shooting stories of everyday people of Jián (characters that feel familiar to me now) and places that I’ve been to. In the end, we will have a collection of photos which are a sort of… time capsule of this city. I like that I will always have these photos to look at, because I know that when I come back, whenever that will be, the people and the city would have already changed. Such is the nature of China. It is a place that is constantly developing.

I am helping put together an exhibition of the photos, which is also exciting and totally surreal (like, am I really helping coordinate an exhibition of street photography in the middle of China… I feel like this was a dream of mine that I hadn’t even realised I had.) And everyone will be given a book of all the photos. Really, the greatest souvenir of my time here.

A quick hilarious anecdote (Dedicated to my friend Sophie who wants funny stories for her script writing projects.)

The other day I went with the Nepalese photographers to meet children from a nearby village who are involved in an IFChina photography project. I was acting as translator, when one serious little 9 year old girl asked me why I was the one translating when the photographers clearly looked more Chinese than me. After explaining that they were from a nearby country and spoke a different language, she nodded thoughtfully and added that other languages are not the same as Chinese and that words in other languages don’t really mean anything in Chinese. I agreed with her in all seriousness. Then she asked me why her own Chinese accent was better than mine, even though I was older.

One of the photographers decided to do a short activity with the children. We were in a park and it was a good location for them to run around in, taking photos. They were given four things to find and photograph. Firstly, something pretty. They sprinted off and naturally took photos of interesting rocks and flowers. Secondly, they had to take a photo of something ugly. One girl presented her photo of a fat man proudly, her friend pushed ahead and showed us her photo of the fat man’s fat child. As the third thing was announced, as luck would have it, a wedding party and some kids on rollerblades were approaching us. They had to take a photo of something moving fast. Half of the kids went and harrassed the bride to try to make her walk faster, the other half formed a hunting party to chase after the children on rollerblades. Chaos ensued. Finally, after the poor children on rollerblades were driven far from the area nearly in tears, they were told to take a picture of something they hadn’t seen before. Most of them went and took pictures of (more) interesting rocks and flowers, but one little girl came up and told me to pose so she could take a picture of me “I’ve never seen someone with white skin before” she said. Smart kid.

Cute kiddie wonkles (Photo: Emccall 2014)

Something Moving Fast (Photo: Emccall 2014)

How to get fluent in Chinese (for realz)

Hey kids,

So there has been an aspect of this whole China experience that I’ve by and large ignored. That is, my Chinese language journey. I came here after finishing 3 1/2 years of Chinese study for my University major. I was feeling pretty unsatisfied with the prospect of graduating with this piece of paper touting my language ability, when personally, I was pretty unsure of how far that ability actually extended to. I had never gotten myself together to take the standard Mandarin exam, the HSK, so I didnt have that score to rely upon. And besides, I found that I had trouble writing characters by hand, simply because I was more focussed on conversational ability. The HSK exam largely assesses reading, writing and grammar structures. Thus, I decided that I needed time to focus on these technicalities. Introducing…an intensive Chinese language program conducted in Nanjing university. I found studying in China vastly different to your standard exchange experience. Because we were taking Chinese classes for second language speakers, most of the people I interacted with were exchange students too. Apart from my Korean friends, we all socialised in English to accommodate differing levels in Chinese. The classes were monday to friday,   8am until 12pm. Students were placed into appropriate level classes and could choose to swap as they pleased. Classes were taught by native Chinese, most of whom spoke little more than a scattering of English. The classroom environment was entirely Chinese, regardless of level. Homework consisted of review and prep of lessons. Subjects included reading, writing, speaking, listening and bonus classes such as newspaper reading, history, ancient Chinese and HSK prep which you could choose at your leisure. I personally chose to fill my spare time with brush painting, taichi and getting private lessons on the Erhu (traditional Chinese instrument.) These were all taught in Chinese and I felt greatly benefited because I was genuinely interested in these things. I felt frustrated by my inability to meet locals though, as our accommodation and classes were held in separate buildings.  We were segregated. To get around that, I tried many different schemes. I found a local language partner, made sure to go straight to the few chinese who went to the same parties I did. I met some really great people just by being open to those really random approaches that often happen here in China. But it still wasnt forming the core of my interactions. Frustrated with my lack of immersion, even while in China, as well as feeling generally over studying Chinese (saturation point is quickly reached and there are only so many hundred characters you can stuff into your brain before needing a break and a chance to consolidate.) Deciding that I was more than happy to call it quits on the study, I started looking for other…opportunities… in China. My plan had been to go travelling, Tibet, Nepal etc. But I wasnt ready to leave my Chinese level where it was currently at. I still wouldnt feel happy upon graduating. I’d feel…dishonest somehow, like I didnt deserve my accreditation.

An internship was suggested to me, and I decided it was just the thing.
I applied for a whole heap and got a whole heap of responses. I was most interested in one in Beijing and one in small city Ji’An. Well, I decided to put in my best and go for the most difficult option. To move away from any safety blankey expat communities I might latch onto in Beijing, to go to a small city in a (seemingly) distant province. It was the best decision I could have made.

I struggled with the language and cultural barriers, but as they say, nothing worth obtaining is easy. As I am getting to the last stages of my time here, I realise that it really hasnt been that long at all. But I feel like Ive achieved a lot.

I had a breakthrough moment not long ago. I went to a social enterprise workshop with my collegues and a whole group of young people involved in the small (but growing) NGO sector in China. I was really nervous, thinking that no way would I be able to follow what was going on, it would be a complete waste of time where I would embarrass myself by asking ‘what?’ too many times. Well, it was hard and occasionally I needed a translation of some of the more complicated concepts, but overall I learned some valuable things and feel inspired about my own future in NGO organisations. It felt  amazing to be able to sit in small group discussions about project planning and troubleshooting and to be able to make a meaningful contribution. I forgot that I was speaking Chinese because I was more focussed on what I was actually trying to communicate.That’s not to say that I knew every word that was being said, or that I followed every conversation, or that I spoke with even mildly correct grammar, or that I never had to ask someone to repeat or rephrase what they said…but I still made it to the end and dammit I’m gonna take that as a victory.  When I finally finished the three day intensive, I found everything else so much easier. General chitchat, asking for directions… how could that make me nervous now?

Learning a language is all about roadblocks and overcoming roadblocks. The more you learn, the harder the roadblocks get and the harder they are to overcome.

With this new confidence in speaking and understanding spoken chinese, I feel like I can finally see past another block. I know that I need to sit down, study some more complicated vocabulary (those annoying words that I can talk around, or substitute for an English word but eventually need to learn) and take it back out onto the field.
Being fluent in Chinese isnt about a piece of paper from university, or about a number on an exam. To be fluent in Chinese all you need is the confidence to answer the question “are you fluent?” …with a defiant “yes, bitches!” Because confidence in your second language is the most valuable thing you could ever learn. Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not good enough. They usually are the ones who feel the least confident in their own ability.

Haters gonna hate (Photo: Emccall 2014)

I don’t understand what you said but, apparently, I’m a Royal Sister?

I have been currently living in Ji’An for a month, working at my new job for all of three weeks. So far, I’ve been to two mountains, three villages and on a bike-ride through the countryside. I’ve had staff meetings, been to documentary screenings and a sketching class. I’ve started working on a large scale community project and every week must host a two hour theatre workshop.

I am trying to work, explore and make new friends here…

and it’s hard.

I have to keep reminding myself that moving to a small city and starting a new job is pretty challenging as it is, and that I should feel proud to have made it this far. The fact that I’ve done all this in China, speaking Chinese, should make me feel even more satisfied. Right?

But… I can’t help but bemoan my Chinese ability when I consider how much my current level of Chinese is restricting me from doing more things, meeting more people…

This isn’t a classroom where the teacher speaks in moderated, standard accent Mandarin, using standard expressions and full phrases. Here, everyone I meet has their own unique way of talking. They all come from different provinces, and I’ve already learned that if they come from Ganzhou they say ‘r’ as ‘l’, if they come from Ji’An they say ‘n’ as ‘l’, if they come from northern provinces they say ‘s’ as ‘shi’ and ‘shi’ as ‘si’ and if they come from rural Jiangxi they say ‘shi’ and ‘s’ as ‘s.

Most of the people I’m interacting with are in their twenties so use a heap of net vocabulary that I just can’t keep up with.When I tried to tell them that I was excited for our expedition I was told to instead say 我很HIGH,  [I am very high], cause it was cooler than the word I used.  When one of the girls insisted she wasn’t tired as she was going up the mountain, everyone laughed and called her  nuhanzi

“…literally meaning a manly woman or a tomboy – a woman who thinks and acts like a man and is yet more than just an unceremonious woman.” [See: http://offbeatchina.com/the-rise-of-nu-han-zi-in-china-manly-ladies-who-challenge-chinas-traditional-female-image%5D

Definitely not something you would find in a textbook, or in a dictionary for that matter. It has only been around for a few months but these words seem to catch on like wildfire, leaving the second language learners always a few steps behind.

Playing catch-up everyday in every situation is exhausting, sometimes I can’t wait to crawl back to my apartment and speak in English on Skype. When I get tired after a day at work or whatever, the last thing I wanna do is put myself into a situation where I feel lost in a group conversation or struggling to express my opinions on something. But I have to. Otherwise I would become a social recluse and never learn anything. It helps though when the people I’m hanging out with take the time to explain things to me, to speak a bit slower even when they’re speaking together so I can join in if I want to. To appreciate that I’m trying my very best and that if I don’t understand to say it again or wait for me to look something up on my phone.

I have a lot more empathy for the many people who come to Australia speaking English as their second language, I now fully understand why the international students can be so quiet in class and might struggle to make friends with those who are not from their own country.

I was hanging out with a group of girls the other day, and one of them turned to me and said something with a huge smile on her face. I hesitated, wondering whether I should pretend to understand her, but decided to confess my confusion. She whipped out her phone and tapped away, before showing me an explanation in Chinese of a new slang word. 御姐 yujie, this literally means Royal Sister, and it is used to describe young women with the following traits: 20-30 years old, mature, wise, confident, has initiative and style, elegant and considerate. [Source: http://baike.baidu.com/view/2864.htm (Chinese only)] She pointed at me and said that I was a Royal Sister. Although I’m sure she wasn’t saying I possessed all these traits, it was still the nicest thing to say to me, because I felt so happy that even when stumbling over words and getting lost in conversations and feeling like the stupidest, most clumsiest human being on the planet, that I still managed to make a good impression on someone and that she bothered to take the time to get to know me regardless.

Peace y’all

A Miao minority woman posing with me at JingGang Mountain (Photo: Emccall