First Exposure to Chinese Culture

If the topic is expanded to first exposure to "Asian" rather than just "Chinese" culture, my experience goes back to elementary school when one of my best friends was the daughter of a "Japanese War Bride". Christine's father was Black and her mother Japanese - they met in Japan when her father was part of the U.S. Occupation Force after WWII. Christine's mother was from Hiroshima and had survived the atomic bomb attack. Being a survivor also made her an outcast which made it "easier" for her to become involved with a Black solider and leave Japan. Growing up with Christine and her siblings made me look at Japanese people as close to being black. It also gave me a personal connection to the horrors of nuclear war and made being a kid during the Cuban Missile Crisis all the more terrifying growing up on the East Coast.

Yes, my students have the same problem. They mix all of Japanese and Chinese culture, sometimes with some Korean thrown in for good measure. When we start to learn about China, one of the first things we do is make a big chart on the board. The kids say something they know from Asia and try to decide if it's from Japan or China (or Korea, if that comes up). If they're in the wrong category, I tell them, and they write their ideas in the correct column. Giving them a big visual aid helps them keep the two a little bit clearer in their minds. Plus, since I have a SmartBoard, we can refer back to it as necessary.

Confusing the counties of origin of Asians is something that I've always tried to avoid as I have been often accused of being something other than what I am - a Black American. Within the black community here in L.A., most contacts with Asians in the 1970's and early 80's were with Vietnamese refugees, many of which initially were ethnic Chinese (and preferred to be known as such). Subsequent waves of immigrants from Southeast Asia including Vietnamese and Cambodians arriving since have established businesses in minority communities - nail shops for Vietnamese and donut shops for Cambodians. There has been a large increase in Korean immigration during the past 2 decades and many operated dry cleaning, liquor stores, and beauty supply businesses within minority communities. Unfortunately, many uninformed people refer to all of these ethnic groups as "Chinese". I admit to not always being as aware of these differences until I worked for several years as the H.R. Manager for a casino and got to know and work with folks from many different Asian countries.

I can’t remember exactly the first time I was exposed to Chinese culture but like many of you it was China’s soft power, movies, that got me hooked on China. I was a huge fan of Bruce Lee films because of my older cousins. We would watch the films and then re-enact the fight scenes. Although, I appreciated kung fu it was not until I met Chinese/Chinese Americans that I began to really be exposed to Chinese culture.

My first exposure to Chinese culture was when I was in first grade. I made a friend with the boy sitting next to me, but he moved back to china during winter break. We started writing each other letters and he would send me cute chinese stickers in his letters. I have completely lost track of what he is up to or where he is living, but I still have the stickers of pandas and bamboo!