May 22, 2006
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ah, the irony.
my long-term, long-distance friend fei-chin came to visit me, from Taiwan.
she has never been to Beijing before, so i’m her tour guide.
it’s been a little interesting when people ask her:
where she’s from – she tries to avoid the question due to some unsettled politicking going on between the two. she tells people to guess and she’s been called korean and american…never chinese. interesting. they think she’s studying chinese here. that must be a little disheartening for the ego…wouldn’t you think?
questions about her stay in beijing – she answers that this is her first time here and that i’m her tour guide. that causes some pauses in thought, i think, for the other people: china is changing.
i’ve had a few days of irony and i’ll have a few more. i’m exhausted but i’ve learned that i can be a tour guide and a student. it’s impossible to miss a homework assignment with her in the house. my friends ask us to go out to drink and she says:
“no, we have an early night…we have a lot of homework tonight, don’t we lauren?”
once a teacher, always a teacher.
Comments (5)
Cute profile pic by the way. I’ve been wanting to get a tag with Rhea on it. Actually, I’ve been wanting to get Rhea, Mo, Bitch… lots of them. There’s gotta be a cheap way I can get them customized and get lots of them. But I digress…
Sometimes we guess everything but the obvious because we second judge ourselves. Fei Chin most likely brings to mind Chinese in China, but that would be tooo obvious. Why would someone tell someone to guess unless there was a reason to?
And this is purely my opinion, but I feel the Taiwanese have this feel towards the Mainland like Sox fans have towards NY. The Sox don’t like NY for the Yankees and they publicize it all over Boston and bring that dislike to NY. (I contribute it to inferiority complex.) But in NY, it’s rare to find shirts that say, “Real women don’t date Yankees”. NY’ers have too many other things to worry themselves than something so petty.
I feel that Mainlanders won’t ostracize the Taiwanese unless they are given a reason to. Of course those higher ups in politics have a bone to pick and vice versa, but your everyday Mainlander probably could care less. Just my two cents worth.
Edit: I meant it’s rare to find shirts that say, “Real Women don’t date Sox Fans”
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh your name is getting eaten!!!!
Well it’s good to hear that someone is keeping you in check and forcing you to study study study!!
Hope you’re having fun, living it up, and making lots of memories
how long are you there til?! trust me i know how it is sweating like an animal cause i just got back from vietnam like a month ago…showering like every minute!! it was a totally differnt experience..have fun!!
Actually, I’m wearing one color from head to toe. But I think I know which dress you’re talking about. Damn, what grade was that picture from? Eeks! The memory is leaving me!!