I completed my GCSEs and A-Levels (a British schooling standard similar to an American high school level) at Island School in Hong Kong. Island School was highly recognised by many public schools in the UK, and a lot of graduates from Island School were getting into the top unis in Britain. It made perfect sense for me to continue my uni years there. UK universities normally last three years and immediately immerses you into your selected concentration. That was my main problem: How could I have one concentration when I wanted to do and be everything?
My oldest brother, Tien, always liked business and attended Nottingham University in the UK to study Econometrics. My middle brother, Ch'ien-Hsiang, knew when he was ten he wanted to be an architect and got himself into Pratt Institute in NYC. As long as we were furthering our education, my parents really didn't mind where we went to school.
I always had a thirst for learning. When we were learning about castles in primary three I would go to the library and take out as many books as I could on castles. I loved drawing and was already learning about any artist who's name would come up in class. When we studied a new continent in Geography I wanted to learn words in their language, find out about their culture, and find out what they ate! It really wasn't me trying to be a goody-too-shoes but I was really sincerely interested! There really wasn't a subject I wasn't interested in. A lot of my pocket money went to art supplies or books. My brothers thought I was an idiot because I wasn't buying remote controlled cars or figurines.
By the time I was 15, it was pretty much crunch time. I completed my GCSEs with almost straight As and it was time to start focusing our selected A-Level subjects to prepare us for University. Most people went into arts, science, drama or economics. I ended up taking art, french, graphic design, physics, economics, pure mathematics, and statistics. I don't think many others had such a varied selection of subjects -- I wanted to keep all my doors open!
It was during my A-Levels that I knew I really enjoyed art. But I was not interested in going to Art School. I wanted money! I thought Art School = Starving Artist. I needed to get into a lucrative design field like Advertising with the understanding that I could change my mind at any moment and needed a backup plan. Thank God for American Universities where you pick a concentration that is to be completed in four years, but you start with your freshman and sophomore years studying Liberal Arts -- what a fascinating system -- and then you focus on your concentration during your Junior and Senior years. If I changed my mind of what I wanted to study I'd have a two year cushion; Yes!
After several offers and rejections, I decided to attend Boston University. They had a great Communications College and a huge international student community. I couldn't wait to meet these new American people that made amazing Hollywood movies! The English were getting tired to me, as were all the South East Asian countries and Australia where my parents took us during our summer holidays.
Coming to America was a trip. My mum accompanied me on my journey -- I was her baby finally leaving her nest. We stopped off in Phoenix, AZ to spend some time with my cousin before I continued on to Boston. People in Arizona were so nice it was creepy. I wasn't used to it. Why did a stranger ask me how I was doing? These Americans are weirdos... What did they want from me? I asked my cousin's husband about this (one of the nicest Americans I have ever met!) and he patiently started to clue me in on some American lifestyles and habits.
Arriving in Boston didn't get any better. I was introduced to a brand new set of ignorance. I remember being at the Eliot hotel and our waitress came to our table and asked my mum and I for something to drink."Can I get a glass of water, please," I said.
"Sorry, what?" our waitress replied.
"Some water," I repeated.
"Huh, is that a cocktail?" I thought my waitress was mocking me.
"Miss, some water. What they're drinking over there," I pointed to a table where the couple were sipping H2O.
"Oh! Water! Sure thing! Be right back," she chimed as she bounced off to get the water jug.
Now we might be a little lost in translation here since water looks like water on paper. But try and hear this out. When I asked for water, pretend you're watching Dame Judi Dench asking the Queen for "Wah-Terre." Then when the waitress replied to me like I was a three year old child who just got caught scratching his ass, she said "Oh! Wa-Derre." Maybe it was just the waitress? My mum and I rolled our eyes and chuckled.
After a few days with my mum in Boston, we bid our teary farewells when I started BU's International Orientation for all foreign students. It was a great program and many orientation students were international, too. It was during this orientation I quickly learned that I was referred to as Euro and Asian Trash. Solely because of my accent and how I dressed. All international students had to temporarily stay at the Towers on Baystate Road. Us foreigners quickly made a tight bond as we were clearly separated from the Americans. The Americans that were leaders were giddy to have me talk to them.
"Ch'ien say that word again... I love your British accent... Where do you put the trash? In a Bin? ha haaaa... What do you call an eraser? ha haaaaa... Say 'Wa-Dere' how you would say it again!"What started out as something cute very quickly turned tired and annoying. Growing up we got a lot of American Sitcoms and watched all the American movie blockbusters. But didn't Americans watch BBC America or period flicks? Why are Americans so enamoured with the British accent? I was starting to feel that Americans were really protected from other cultures; it was something very hard for me to understand as I grew up with people from all over the world.
During a Freshman Orientation where all the international students were now folded with all the other US Freshmen, I couldn't believe some of the conversations I was engaging in.Ignorant American #1: So you're from Hong Kong? But I don't understand? You speak English?
Me: Well, I am actually from Malaysia, but I went to school in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a British Colony so there are a lot of British expats there and my parents sent me to school with them.
Ignorant American #2: But you speak English, English...
Me: Uh...
Ignorant American #3: Oh, that's so cool! You lived in Hong Kong! So do you speak Japanese?
Me: No. People speak Japanese in Japan which is a whole nother Island far away from China.
Ignorant American #4: Isn't China just a bunch of rice paddy fields?
Ignorant American #5: So does that make you Hongkanese?
Me: No, I am from Malaysia.
Ignorant American #6: Oh, so what State are you from?
I wanted to stick my "Be You at BU!" badge into my eye. I couldn't believe how ignorant of the world these people could be! And they got into the same University that I did! What did that say about the admission process?
After that orientation session I slugged myself back to my dorm room at Myles Standish Hall on Beacon Street. Before I got to my room I passed my neighbour's door that was left wide open.
"Hey! Are you my new neighbour? I'm Jo," said the girl in the room with an American accent.
"I guess so," I replied.
She invited me in and she was so sincerely friendly. We chatted for a good half hour. She was a Sophomore from Detroit, Michigan (Wait! I know that place! Isn't that where Madonna was born?!?) and had a cousin living in Singapore. Jo even knew where that was!I called my friend, Patricia in the UK and told her how defeated and I appalled I felt from leaving the student orientation session.
"Cheng, they're just stupid. Don't worry about it. Next time just tell them you went to school in the UK and they won't ask you anymore stupid questions!" Patricia advised.
I took her advice and for the most part, it worked.In the following weeks Jo showed me the ropes at the dining hall as many of my international friends only ate out at restaurants. There was an art to creating your own meals instead of just getting what was being offered on the lines. She showed me cheesy recipes with pasta and microwaves; how to ask for grilled chicken and making a fantastic salad with that; how to ask for a strawberry daiquiri and spike it with a nip of vodka! A resourceful American!
Jo also introduced me to the Myles Standish Smoking lounge. This was where some of the friendliest Americans hung out to study, play cards, and smoke. This was also where Joanna introduced me to many people that would become my closest friends during my time at BU.
"This is Ch'ien. My sophisticated neighbour who's Chinese Malaysian but went to school in Hong Kong and speaks with a British accent. He came into my room the other day and asked to borrow my 'hoover,'" Jo would giggle. "However, the other night when he knocked on my door to ask me if I had a 'torch' 'cuz he saw a mouse in his room, I thought he was nuts and wanted to set the poor rodent on fire! I didn't realise he was actually asking for a flashlight," she continued.
I met all sorts of Americans. Ones from Ohio, LA, Seattle, New York, Florida, Iowa, the Midwest. I had no idea they were all each such different places. I always thought America was just that: America, 50 united states. I had heard of all these cities and states but if you asked me to find it on a map I would have had to search! I started to learn about their state pride and compared them almost like fifty countries in one continent rather than fifty states in one country.
In the proceeding months I realised how ignorant I was about American geography! It was no different to people confusing Thailand with Taiwan or any of the South East Asian cities and countries. I also realised how unprepared I was in choosing what University I would attend in what city and state of America. I really lucked out with Boston. It's close to New York, the Cape, P-Town, Maine, and Boston had a really solid cultural night life. I could have ended up in the middle of "bumble-fuck," as Jo would say, since I was also offered a spot at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Thanks to Jo and my new American friends I found not everyone was so clueless and xenophobic. Jo later found out I wasn't as "sophisticated" as I had led on. She soon started to introduce me as the "crazy fucking Chinese Malaysian from Hong Kong who speaks with a British accent." The two additional preceeding adjectives "crazy fucking" was added when she'd constantly see me laughing so hard I might snarf the vodka strawberry daiquiris out of my nose in the smoking lounge; or later getting my eyebrow, tragus, nose and tongue pierced; or when I dyed my hair blue and gave myself a mohawk and mimicked a Southern twang. I personally thought that the best form of flattery would be to assimilate to what I didn't realise would eventually become my new home.
Fifteen years later, I'm still in Boston even though I have tried numerous times to move to the West Coast. A job or a boy has always kept me here. My friends from the UK call me a Yank as I've acquired all the American slang and more and more of my friends here in the US have invited me into their families. It's only when I get angry, or nervous, or drunk, or after speaking to a friend from the UK that I speak English, English. It's especially at these moments that my American friends would ask me: What's up with that fake British accent, Madonna?
1 comment:
Haha.. I had the same thing happen to me when I asked for water.
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