AM I AN EGG YET? MONOCULTURAL CHINA
2014-04-12
In China and beyond, a person might be regarded as a banana or an egg - yellow on the outside but white on the inside (Chinese appearance, western values), or white on the outside but yellow on the inside (western appearance, Chinese values). For a Chinese person to be labelled as a banana is insulting, like being a traitor to one's culture as Chineseness is based largely on external appearance. It's really tough on ABCs (American Born Chinese) as everyone expects them to be able to speak Chinese, despite not having been born in China. They can experience some negativity when they don't answer strangers' questions. On the other hand, if I speak just two or three words of Chinese, I receive buckets of praise - the less I say, the more I'm admired generally, as the more I continue to say, the more my shortcomings are revealed. The only ace I hold is that many local people really do want to know about where I come from and how China compares, so they are really interested in what I have to say. On the other hand, I want to understand how they talk about their lives and current issues but I struggle to keep up. I've spent all my time in China both loving and resenting that famous Canadian, Mark Rowswell (Da Shan) for his amazing Chinese skills and wondered if even he is regarded as a complete egg - too special! I think it will be very painful for China to become broadly multicultural and with present policies will take a long time. Non-Asian people don't easily receive the right to permanent residency in China. They haven't any ghettoes; though expat areas appear, they are rarely monocultural and also frequented by middle-class locals. Permanent foreign residents have to be "outstanding aliens". I know I'm equating long-term temporary Chinese residency and Chinese sympathies (a true Chinese egg could appear in a very short time of living in China), but I do presume staying long-term in China goes along with enjoying and appreciating Chinese culture. I have met a few foreigners who do nothing but complain, yet continue to live in China for several years. They are a bit cringe-worthy and I guess we'd have to call them vanilla ice creams or something equally cold and white, though they could be black too. What has no trace of yellow anywhere?
Many local friends regard me as an egg because of my warm regard for them and China generally, but I'm still on the outer and a temporary resident even though my skills have been in demand for the last fourteen years. Is there another nickname for the warm-hearted, long-term partly-fluent temporary resident? Scrambled egg? Mashed banana? Rice and corn zhou? No matter what, people will always be asking me where I come from and to be honest, that's my question when I meet other non-Asians too. There's little chance that anyone who looks different is actually Chinese.
Nice suggestions, thanks, but I might avoid the blended canary for now.
Is there another nickname for the warm-hearted, long-term partly-fluent temporary resident? EGG - Sunny side up!
Quote: What has no trace of yellow anywhere? A canary after it accidentally got blended in a Kenwood mixer with carrots and tomatoes
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