Eric's Beijing Diary

Language. The great barrier. Language is often viewed as the primary factor in any cultural adjustment. This is not always true, because the most significant cultural adjustment for me was when I moved with my family to America at the age of 13. English was my mother tongue, so language was not the problem. Perhaps that experience has helped me to keep things in perspective, and not allow the language issue to become a bigger thing than it is. But it is still quite frustrating at times.

There is a small restaurant near my apartment that is frequented by working people. The place is popular, I think, because there is an assortment of items on a table at the front, and people who are in a hurry to get to work can take something quickly, without waiting to order. The first time I went there with Piano, I saw immediately that this might be a good option for someone like myself who is not comfortable reading a menu. The other day, I went there by myself. I pointed to an item, and told the lady that I wanted one of them. Well, she started talking to me very rapidly, and I gathered that I couldn't buy one. Apparently they came in pairs. Then she motioned to me to go to the cash register. Well, of course I couldn't tell the cashier what I was ordering, so she did it for me. It was awkward, but it worked.

Eating my meal, I was feeling kinda glum about my inability to communicate freely. After breakfast, I was reading an article by Dehaan in the BICF Community Digest. He was talking about Joni Eareckson, and the process she went through adjusting to her handicap. This is really what it comes down to. I have a handicap. It is not quite the same, of course, because I am in no way resigned to it. I am determined to find a tutor and overcome this disability. But for the time being, I have to learn how to live with my handicap while I am in the process of overcoming it. Some have questioned the wisdom of jumping right into a job with a Chinese university without extensive language training. In my case, I think I did the right thing, because my field is technology, and if I were to leave this field for two years so that I could study language, I would pretty much have to start over.

Clearly, a good language tutor is my greatest need right now. But along with that, is the need to see my problem in proper perspective, and learn to live with the limitations that it imposes on me. There is something I am supposed to be doing here, and in the process of discovering it, I will no doubt face many obstacles. Mountains are put there to be moved. Sometimes with a bold proclamation; sometimes with a good shovel and a lot of work.