Here We Go: Chinese Lesson 1

When I took French in high school I actually managed to forget words at a rate faster than my ability to learn new words. As result, I graduated with zero French vocabulary. Being (made) aware of this talent doesn't exactly give me the confidence I need to learn a new language - let alone Mandarin and it's 6500 characters. Still, if I want to grasp the essence of Chinese soul, I have no choice but to master the language. So here we go! Chinese Lesson 1:

Very well, that should cover the basics. Now, most ordinary people would stop here. But I want to go further - dig deeper. If I really want to understand the Chinese and their culture, then I have to look at the world from a Chinese perspective. So how do the Chinese do it? How do they learn English? Well, let's have a look at the following video:

This video clearly demonstrates intimate knowledge of Western media and culture, brilliantly disguised as a language course. They know our strengths, our weaknesses, our values, and they seem very capable at turning this to their advantage. Very revealing indeed, and food for thought for the next part of my journey...

What I Know About China

My wife is of Chinese origin. I'm from Holland. We've been together for almost thirteen years. She says that I don't understand her and I should invest more time in learning about her culture. Well, she doesn't actually say it - she implies it. Or rather, she implies that I should feel guilty for not trying hard enough to understand her background. Of course she doesn't imply directly that I should be feeling guilty about this. No. She does it by expressing mild frustration about something completely unrelated. Then of course it's up to me to connect the dots and figure out what I should be doing to make things right. That's part of the punishment.  


Clearly my wife is wrong: I already know so much about Chinese culture! I know the Great Wall is very long and can be seen from outer space. I know the giant panda lives there in the wild. I know China is enjoying spectacular economic growth. I know they manipulate their currency. They make poisonous toys. They eat their food with chopsticks. They organized the Olympics. They invented gunpowder. I remember there was an earthquake. Trouble with Tibet. Censorship of the internet. I could go on and on. What else is there to know?


According to my wife this knowledge doesn't do anything to help me understand Chinese culture. It's based on information served by western-biased mainstream media. There is so much more that you won't find in the news or travel brochures. There is a beautifully rich and poetic language, an astonishing history that goes back thousands of years. There is a tradition of Chinese medicine, philosophy, cuisine, family life, simple life. There are so many stories to be found and told. Ordinary stories and peculiar ones.


That's when I decided to start a journey of discovery. A journey to find out more about the Chinese soul. This blog is report of that journey. I call it: China Ordinary and Peculiar. I hope you will enjoy this trip as much as I do!