*The Debatewise Blog
Crystal Yan’s view of globalisation
"噢, 我不明白! 这不好玩!", the boys snickered to each other."Shhhh..." a girl nearby whispered. "She can hear you!"
Rolling their eyes, the two shot back, "Yeah, like she can understand Chinese."
Smiling secretively, she raised her hand. "Eh, excusez-moi, Madame? Est-ce que vous pouvez comprendre le chinois?"
The new teacher smiled back. "Mais bien sûr! 当然! 你为什 么问?"
It's a French 2 classroom, at a public high school in California with a student body of more than 65% students of color. Turns out the new teacher was more well-traveled than these students had thought. An American, she had taught English in France and in China to local students, thereby picking up the languages and now teaches French to American students.
While the term globalization is most commonly associated only with the study of macroeconomics and battles of businesses big and small around the world, to me, I experience more commonly globalization via the integration of international cultures. I have friends who are Indian-American who dress up as actors and actresses from Korean dramas for Halloween, friends who are African-American who gush about Bollywood movies and learning Arabic, and friends who are Hispanic and know their manga to a level that can only be described as fervent obsession.
For me, globalization of culture means defining my unique cultural identity. I question myself whether to define myself as Chinese or American and really, only feel comfortable with Chinese-American, a hybrid of my Chinese tendency to be humble and American tendency to take initiative, and because really, I don't know that many Chinese pop stars and my family spends Thanksgivings making dumplings.
That globalization of culture can be nonpartisan, that people my age are much more open to learning more about something that seems just a little bit different gives me hope.
So what about you? What's your story? Leave a comment below. As a writer, I always hope someone learns something from what I write. And as a student and lifelong learner, I hope that I can learn something from you too.
Comments
I hope you enjoyed my piece on globalization (or, as they would say in the UK: globalisation)!
You can contact me here: http://www.crystalcyan.com/contact-me.html
And read my blog here: http://www.crystaly.wordpress.com/