Bill Wang - Week 1 - An Itch to Speak Mandarin
It wasn’t until pretty recently that I learned just how sheltered I really was. Maybe a month and a half ago, I flew to Pennsylvania for a summer camp at UPenn. There I would receive the largest culture shock of my life.
Aside from the big city, even bigger city lights (the construction site next to my dorm window really liked shining industry-grade laser-beams straight into my room), and my temporary liberation, the greatest shock for me, wasn’t the occasional substance usage, or people my age dating, but the lack of Asians.
In Fremont, Asians make up roughly two-thirds of the population. Almost everyone I interact with in Fremont is Asian. It was only when I traveled to Pennsylvania did I really realize what 7.2% (National Census of 2020) of the population actually meant. Of hundreds of students, only a handful of them were Asian American, and even fewer were Chinese, and out of those, fewer could speak Chinese.
Oddly enough, I found myself itching to connect with the language side of my Chinese identity more. Even more oddly, I also found myself pleasantly surprised whenever I saw a sign with Chinese characters advertising a Chinese restaurant, feeling as if I had just seen a Chinese actor play a lead role.
Language is one of our most important traits and is ingrained into our identity. It wasn’t exactly a tragedy of some kind - I hadn’t even noticed my itch to speak Chinese until I was on the way home - but my trip to Pennsylvania taught me just how important my language was to my identity.
(https://www.california-demographics.com/fremont-demographics) (Fremont Demographics)
Hi Bill! I really liked the topic you chose for this blog; it is so interesting how we live in a city with such a high percentage of Asians. Even other cities in the Bay Area do not have nearly as many Asians as Fremont, which I find to be incredibly interesting. I also experienced “culture shocks” like yours when I visited cities like Berkeley. On another note, I really liked the structure of the beginning of this blog post, since it had a very developed introduction that provided both context and humor; the end of the introduction transitioned very well into the main topic of the blog post, which led to a pleasant reading experience.
ReplyDeleteHi Bill, I enjoyed your blog and it really brings perspective on how diverse of an area we live in. Before moving to the Bay Area, I lived in a predominantly white area so I definitely understand what you mean by wanting to connect with your culture but not being able to because of the people around you. This blog brought me back to those memories and made me realize that I am extremely lucky to live in the Bay Area because I am constantly surrounded by people that come from the same background as me and can understand my culture or language. Because of the diversity here, there are a lot of cultures that we are able to find anywhere on the streets, from restaurants and festivals to the people.
ReplyDeleteHi Bill, after reading your blog I realize how different Fremont is from other cities due to the high population of Asians. I haven't been to cities outside of fremont or the tri cities much and when I do it is always with my family so I have never noticed the increase of non Asians in my surroundings. Although I can relate if we switch up the roles, I remember going to China when I was little and I barely knew Chinese. I remember being frusterated that I couldn't say what I wanted to say since my family there were all only comfortable with Chinese and my dad would tell me to speak Mandarin since we were in China. So I was so happy when a week later I was reunited with the American soil. I dont think I would be able to live in a less diverse community, I love being able to bust out my Mandarin with my fellow chinese friends just to talk about what we would talk about in English.
ReplyDeleteHi Bill! I really loved how you managed to strike a perfect balance between conveying your meaningful message about the significance of language to your Chinese identity, establishing a sense of relatability, and infusing humor into your narrative. From your mention of the reality we all know too well - smiling for “what [feels] like the fifth consecutive photo in 15 minutes,” to your “itch” to speak Chinese. Your experience resonated deeply with me, as I speak a certain dialect of Arabic, and finding someone who speaks it in the Bay Area is always a rare and delightful occurrence. I vividly recall my childhood experiences, where hearing someone speak my dialect or anything remotely similar would instantly fill me with a burst of excitement and a simultaneous sense of comfort, like I was back at home. You also made me laugh! Your introduction was particularly strong; you started with an intriguing statement and continued to draw me in with relatable experiences and unfiltered truths, like the comical situation of the construction site next to your dorm seemingly targeting your room with “industrial-grade laser beams.” Your rhetorical choices (I had to!) and your overall style of writing kept me engaged from start to finish!
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