In China, people stare.
At least, they stared at me. This spring I went abroad to study Chinese language and culture – and can’t believe I never caused a traffic accident.
Grizzled old men, hunched over alleyway chess matches, straightened up to watch me pedal past. Teenage subway patrons paused mid-text to ogle my I-Pod. Smiling mothers nudged their children and pointed – “Look, a foreigner!”
In China, people stare. But here’s the catch: in China, staring isn’t rude. It’s acceptable. It’s generally OK to gawk, especially at gangly Americans.
I never got used to the staring, but a semester in Beijing taught me a lot about tolerance. And next time I visit, I’ll know what to expect. That’s the beauty of cultural exchange – it breeds mutual understanding.
As we in Snohomish County work to develop strong economic, political and personal ties with China, mutual understanding will serve us well.
Ask Joanne Lin, a Shanghai native who’s interning this summer with Philips Ultrasound in Bothell. Or U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Everett), who co-chairs the U.S.-China Working Group in Washington D.C. Ask Edmonds Community College art educator Cami Smith. Ask Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson, who traveled to China on a trade mission last winter.
“I believe the world is getting smaller and flatter by the day,” Lin said. “To be successful you need to understand another country’s social culture. Exchange is good for communication. It’s essential in business development.”
When Chinese officials sign a gargantuan Boeing deal or Fluke Inc. adds a big-time Hong Kong client, it’s easy to overlook what made business possible – delicate diplomacy.
“I talked with the folks from the Chinese embassy after President Hu left Washington D.C., this spring,” Larsen said. “They were blown away by the reception they received in Everett, at Paine Field. They appreciated how well our region understands the U.S.-China relationship.”
According to Bill Stafford of the Seattle-China Trade Alliance, 30-40 percent of planes assembled in Everett during the next few years will be sold to China. The upshot? More international teleconferences, more guest workers, and cross-cultural encounters galore.
Boeing leaders are preparing for increased interaction with China. This winter, Everett Community College created a Mandarin program for Boeing employees. Now EvCC offers Chinese classes on-site at Paine Field. All employees have been encouraged to sign up.
“There’s a lot of interest and enthusiasm,” said Kathy Koss, coordinator of the Nippon Business Institute at EvCC. “People want to further their careers by enhancing their language skills. Classes are filling up like crazy.”
Most people know Boeing does business with China. Philips Ultrasound, on the other hand, enjoys a lower profile. In 2004 the Bothell-based subsidiary entered into a joint venture with Neusoft Digital Medical Company of Shenyang, China.
Lin has been an intern at Philips for less than two weeks, but she has a lot to offer. Before moving here to earn an MBA from the University of Washington, she worked for an international consulting firm in Shanghai and helped ex-patriot executives navigate the Chinese market.
“When you work for a foreign company you add perspective and that’s valuable,” Lin said. “Because I’m comfortable speaking both Chinese and English, because I have experience balancing cultural differences, I’m able to bridge the communication gap.”
Snohomish High School teacher Bin Yang hopes some of her students will follow in Lin’s footsteps. Yang, a Chinese immigrant, began teaching Mandarin at Snohomish 10 years ago. Today only one other high school in the state offers four full years of Mandarin.
“We focus on language but we do some calligraphy and Chinese history too,” she said. “I’ve taken students to China during the summer. For the kids it was a once in a lifetime experience.”
A once in a lifetime experience is exactly what 24 lucky Edmonds artists and art educators got in October when they toured China. They hooked up with Chinese peers to compare teaching techniques, met with musicians and drifted through Beijing galleries.
“You can’t just head to China and say ‘buy this plane,’” said Cami Smith of Edmonds Community College. “You have to form personal relationships. That’s what’s fun, and that’s what art is good for.”
Smith and her colleagues were especially fascinated by a thriving Beijing art district that sprang to life when a few renegade painters set up shop in an abandoned munitions factory.
“It made me think about the planned Everett Artspace,” Smith said. “We want to do what they’ve done – renovate dilapidated buildings, bring in artists and watch the creative community grow.”
Work by the globetrotting Edmonds artists will go on display in August at EdCC. They’re calling the exhibit “Altered by China.”
Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson found his trip to China eye-opening as well. He visited Guanghan, a medium-sized city in Western China home to China’s top aviation school. Stephanson and Guanghan’s mayor discussed a possible sister-city relationship and the potential for aviation-education exchange.
EvCC will welcome a Chinese exchange teacher this fall and EdCC already hosts a number of Chinese students. Of course, “exchange” implies give and take.
“We always hear about the U.S.-China trade deficit,” Larsen said. “But there’s another deficit that, in the long term, is even more important.”
According to Larsen, roughly 60,000 Chinese students take classes in the U.S. each year. This year, only 2,500 Americans studied in China.
If Snohomish County wants to connect with China, leaders must promote cultural exchange – the kind that breeds mutual understanding. It will pay off.
Dan Beekman is The Herald’s editorial page intern and a student at Whitman College in Walla Walla, majoring in anthropology.
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