Adventures in Asia

“Oh, China! My sibling/friend/acquaintance adopted from China!” While this isn’t exactly a FAQ, it is a Frequently Stated Observation (FSO?) when my life-in-China comes up in conversation with people back home. For many, the only personal connection they have with the exotic Far East is adoption . (And mine, too, until I got into English teaching. And Asian TV shows .) There are several fascinating reasons why adoption from China to the U.S. exploded back in the day, and why it’s steadily decreasing now. Random picture of blossoms in spring~ Why did so many people I know adopt from China? Americans began adopting children internationally in the 1940s [read this article by PBS] , and the U.S. continues to be the highest receiving nation of children in the world. This article by CNN goes so far as to say that “the story of international adoption is an American story,” and “The United States adopts more children internationally, but also domestically, than the rest of ...

Vacation is here! School’s out for summer, school’s out forever! Woohoo! A few weeks of no class means I’m States-side for the first time in nine months. The following is a list of things I keep having to remind myself now that I’m home in midwest America and not in northern China. 1. Strangers are going to talk to you. A lot. And it’s going to feel weird, because (a) they can speak fluent English (what the heck?), and (b) it’s a lot of small talk that you aren’t used to. In Asia, conversation at the checkout or with a waiter is brief. In America, strangers are friendly and will talk to you more. And you’ll probably accidentally end up telling them you just returned from China. (How does that even happen?) 2. Public restrooms will have western toilets (not squatty potties), furnished with tp and soap. You no longer have to keep your bag stocked with tissue and hand sanitizer. Isn’t it great? 3. Clean up after yourself at Starbucks, McDonalds, Panera, Moe’s, and al...

“We all have the same dream.” “No, we all have the same job.” I laughed. I was having coffee with some fellow foreigners and our Chinese friends, the Idealist and the Realist. Later that same evening, I asked, “What’s the most important thing to a Chinese person?” “Making money.” On a different coffee date with a different Chinese friend, I heard a similar statement: “Money controls my life.” Making money is important to us Americans, too. The U.S. is pretty much the capital of materialism. But the way my Chinese friends say it, it’s different. And the more I hear their stories, the more I understand what they mean. China has a collectivist culture, where the group is more important than the individual, and the family is the most important of all. Which is really beautiful to see. Each of my students have their two parents and four grandparents all looking out for them, investing in them, concerned about their wellbeing. There’s only one child, ...