Public Speaking in China

It has been a busy month since I last wrote, and I can’t help but begin to feel sentimental about leaving China.  First, I have given three formal speeches in Chinese the past few weeks.  Fortunately, the first speech I gave was so painful and uncomfortable that I had nowhere to go but up. 

 

A student had asked me if I would be willing to discuss American college life with a few Chinese students.  I accepted without hesitation and she sent me an email telling me where to meet her.  Because of the rain and humid weather, I felt sick and congested for a good three weeks.  The week of the speech was no exception, so I was hoping to finish the speech as quickly as possible to get back home and rest.  I met her outside one of the school classrooms and asked her how many students she was expecting.  She told me she would be surprised if more than 10 students showed up.  Naturally, I was a bit surprised when I saw about 50 students and a photographer waiting for me behind the podium.  The informal discussion was so informal that it involved a microphone, podium, and photographer.  Even worse, I was exhausted and had absolutely no idea what I was going to speak about.  While I am quite comfortable giving impromptu speeches in English, I don’t have the same confidence in Chinese.  Despite some awkward moments, the speech was not a total failure and I learned to prepare a little more for my next speech in Chinese. 

 

Aside from giving speeches in Chinese, I have also been busy becoming friendly with the locals.  One incident especially sticks out.  I was buying train tickets to Nanjing a few weeks ago when a young Chinese man approached me.  Excited that he heard a white guy speak Chinese, he decided to start a conversation and asked me where I was from.  I told him I was American but he didn’t seem convinced.  He told me that I didn’t look American.  Because I meet so many Chinese people who claim they know what Americans do and don’t look like, I was getting ready to hear more of the same comments.  However, he surprised me by telling me that I looked Jewish.  Jewish?  How did he know anything about Jews?  More importantly, how did he know that I was Jewish?  The majority of Chinese cannot differentiate between different groups of non Asians.  In fact, most Americans could probably not look at someone and immediately know that he is Jewish.  For a Chinese person who has never met a Jewish person to immediately know is beyond impressive.  I have friends from Yemen and Syria who thought that I was either Syrian or Yemenite.  My friends from France all thought that I was France, and my friends from Latin America ask if I am from South America.  But my friend from a small village in Central China knows immediately that I am Jewish.  The irony is that he doesn’t know anything about Jews.  He asked me if we were centered in Iraq and whether we believe in Jesus or Mohamed. 

 

Consequently, I have been eating dinner with him quite often and will keep you updated on his story.  I have a few more topics I’ll write about in the next two weeks.  Stay posted