Informal Learning

I always felt bad not being able to distinguish Koreans from the Japanese from Chinese people in America.  I did not notice the subtle differences in their features and did not understand why a person would become so enraged by being called Korean when they are in fact from Japan.  I finally realized what they must have felt due to my ignorance when my teacher, who is a native Beijing-er and has never been out of China, told me that she thought I was from the Middle East and was surprised when I told her I was born and raised in America.  As you can imagine I was not thrilled with her assertion, but the more I thought about it I had to laugh.  Here I am with my comparatively dark skin, full beard, and unusually dark features and I am expecting a 25 year old Chinese girl to be able to recognize the fact that I am American.  We all associate ourselves proudly with our country and expect others to recognize it, however, being a foreigner my identity is an enigma.  In China, a stranger on the street could mistake me for a number of ethnicities.  In fact, I have started using this to my advantage.  Sometimes the Chinese like to use me to practice their English; however, I do not want to submit to my native language as a crutch.  To combat this problem I have begun to pretend I do not speak English, only Portuguese, and I tell them (in Chinese) that I am from Portugal.  When they ask how I know Chinese I tell them that I live in Macao (a Portuguese port in southern China).

This week has been a great mix of what I like to call my formal learning (class room exercise, homework, etc.) with my informal learning (going out in Beijing, eating at restaurants, etc.).  Recently my informal learning has trumped my formal learning as I am getting my Chinese roommate to teach me swear words.  In exchange I am teaching him English curse words.  As you can see America is getting the most out of its dollar sending me to China.  I believe that the informal knowledge I gain in the streets is something I cannot simulate in a class room and I like being able to use the new words and grammar I learn in class in Beijing at night.  Being abroad is essentially a 24/7 learning experience.  Tomorrow is the conclusion of the first week and I already feel like I accomplished 6 weeks of Chinese class back at home.   I guess I truly “don’t need no education.”  I know…it took a trip half way around the world for me to finally understand the Pink Floyd song “Another Brick in the Wall,” which is also funny because I believe China is the only place non-drug induced that is weird enough to actually get Pink Floyd’s lyrics.