in China, the word guanxi is so much more complex than a simple
relationship between people. Guanxi is a chain of relationships,
where, when one person helps another (no matter the deed), they are
forever connected and indebted to each other through guanxi, whether
they like each other or not. If, for instance, one person helps me
out in one way or another, I "owe" them a favor in return. If later
that person needs something that I cannot help them with, but I know
someone else who can help, I will offer the latter's assistance, and
thus now owe the latter a favor, as well (because the latter cannot
say no). Often times, contestants in competitions/elections win not
because of their conquering talent, but because of their guanxi with
the right people. It's complex, it's confusing, and I love it. My
goal is to obtain as much guanxi as possible within these next two
years; not because I need any favors, but simply because I find this
idea fascinating enough to pursue and to conquer. Already, I like to
think I am rocking at this whole guanxi thing.
At my school I am constantly asked to help translate/edit things for
other teachers, for our department, for other departments, and even
for other schools (the most recent editing being for a local middle
school). Occasionally, when I'm really busy, and I'm given the "Fei
Fei, I need you to help fix some documents" phone call, I will kindly
apologize but inform the caller that I am far too busy to add these
documents into my schedule. However, in these instances "no" is never
acceptable and I'm kindly told "no, no, you have time; it's okay, you
can do this. Tomorrow you can pick up the documents in my office." At
first I was confused as to how our faculty got involved with these
documents in the first place, let alone how I got roped into it. But
now I know. It is all because of guanxi. See, my coworkers have guanxi
with people in other departments/schools, and must do the translation
work in order to keep their guanxi. When they are incapable of doing
the work, they offer their foreign teacher's help. The reason they
never take "no" for an answer is because if I say no, I destroy their
guanxi. I'm okay with this. Because now I realize that I, too, am now
connected in this guanxi train, and while I can't think of a single
excuse to call upon this guanxi, it's nice to know I have it.
On Friday I also racked in some major guanxi. GuiDa (Guizhou DaXue),
the best school in the whole province, asked me to come give a two
hour lecture on drama and acting. Their school is starting an English
drama club, but they really know nothing about theatre or about
acting. They heard through Dave (my friend who teaches there) that I
have theatre experience, so they called upon me in desperation.
Actually, the lecture turned out to be an amazingly fun time (I refuse
to give a class/lecture/speech unless it's going to be fun and
interesting for both me and for my audience), I met some great people,
and think I actually inspired some of the students. At the end of the
lecture (which actually was more of a lively two hours of me teaching
students how to act) the students (whose English was amazing and so
refreshing!) asked excellent, profound, thoughtful questions. It was a
great teaching moment. Plus, by lecturing for free and with short
notice, I now have guanxi. :)
Stepping away from the ever complex and exciting guanxi, I also had a
neat experience where a fellow Loras Duhawk came to visit me for a few
days last week. My first visitor! Joe, a senior at Loras who I
volunteered in Honduras with two years ago, is apparently studying
abroad in Wuhan, China. We realized a few weeks ago that we are both
in this country, and that the trip to visit each other is only about a
20 hour train ride. On Wednesday, I received an email from Joe saying
"Hey, I'm coming to Guiyang tomorrow, please meet me at the train
station at 5pm." So, with little notice and no preparation, I canceled
my office hours and had my first visitor from "home." Joe ended up
coming with another student at his university (a Chinese boy who is
actually from Guizhou province) so the two staid with me from
Thursday-Sunday. It was fun to experience China with a fellow Duhawk.
We went to some scenic spots in the area, I took him to my favorite
horse meat restaurant (I hate admitting this, but horse is delicious…
I'm not really a meat eater/appreciator, but horse is exceptional.
Terrible to say, I know!) and (brace yourself) we ate DOG!! It's
true!! Actually, dog meat is REALLY expensive (we didn't realize this
until after we had the vendor chop us off a chunk and cook it) and
tastes a lot like roast beef. If I could have controlled the images
of puppies popping into my brain, giving me major gag reflex, I would
say that dog actually is also quite delicious. But, as I said, I
gagged far too much and I'll never put myself through that experience
again. I tried it, I feel bad, and now I'm finished. Wan la.
In other musings, I've developed a new fear of the dark. It's
unwarranted and unexplainable, but exists, nonetheless. Currently,
it's almost 1 am, and I have class at 8, but I find that it's better
for me to make myself really tired before I go to bed and turn the
lights out, otherwise I lay awake afraid all night. Afraid of what?
Nothing in particular. Just fear of the dark. I sleep with a big
knife.
This coming weekend I will be traveling to Zunyi to visit two fellow
volunteers. It will be my first trip! I'm so excited to travel. Thus
far, I have been in China 4 months (random thought: funny enough, I
thought I came in June and for the past two months I've been telling
everyone that I've been here 1 month longer than I have…I've gotten
used to saying that I've been here for 5 months so it's weird to now
jump back down to 4…) and in these 4 months I've only seen Chengdu and
Guiyang. I'm so hungry for travel! It will be great to get to see a
new place. Although Guiyang has been lovely, sunny, friendly, and even
warm lately so I have to give Guiyang some major props. :)
Random observations:
* I have internet more than I have running water.
* Integration is amazing and I love being accepted as a local and,
more so, as a real friend who people share secrets with.
* If you only drink warm or room temperature beverages in 4 months,
and your body stops training itself to adjust to cold drinks, drinking
cold water is extremely painful on your stomach.
* Cookies need baking soda.
I love China. :)
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