Reading Children's Books on the Subway

Lately, I have been studying childrens' books on the subway. They're useful because: 1) they're easy to read (all have pinyin) and I can practice my pronunciation, 2) they use characters I haven't learned in my textbooks that I probably should know, and 3) they allow me to go through the same process of learning that every Chinese person goes through, ensuring I have a better grasp of the culture.

I get on the train at Wudaokou, and since it is rush hour, the car is full. I have just enough room to pull out a book I found called "Study Good Character" (学习好品德). I'm interested in learning more about basic Chinese values taught to children. I know they are different from what we learn in the West. I know that if I can understand them, I'll understand more of the situations I encounter in China every day.

I read the book, which talks about the importance of having a happy family ("mom, dad, dad's parents, and me"), getting good grades, being humble, not focusing on material possessions, etc. All along, a young guy is observing.

Do you speak Chinese?" he asks curiously.

"Yes," I say. And so we begin chatting.

He tells me he is a freshman at a university studying computer science. He compliments me on my Chinese and tells me his English is bad. He is a sincere young man and he probably hasn't met many foreigners before. We have a very warm interaction and get off at the terminal station together. I wish him good luck.

I am moved by his sincerity and his reaching out to speak to me. Perhaps because lately I just have been annoyed by the way some people stare at me in public. It doesn't seem very friendly. In fact, sometimes, I can see people grimace as their mind starts along it's train of thought! It's uncomfortable sometimes, although my Chinese friend says people are just curious.

Well, instead of just staring at me, this brave kid reaches out and talks to me and that made a big difference.

A few days later, I am reading my book of Tang poetry on line 10. I pull out the green children's book, full of colorful watercolor paintings accompanying each poem (along with explanations in simple, modern Chinese, and the hanyu pinyin for each character).

There's one line that I'm stuck on, so I decided to ask the woman standing next to me, as she looks like she is smart and would be willing to help (and also looks a little bored). She is happy to help and explains the line (遙看瀑布掛前川), which although is a line from a children's poem, is still considered formal classical Chinese.

We get to talking and once again, it is a very friendly interaction. She asks me where I learned my Chinese and I tell her in Taiwan. She says that foreigners who learn Chinese in Taiwan usually have very standard pronunciation. There are people who have told me this before here, but usually most people say the standard: "Taiwanese people's putonghua isn't good" (at which point I usually roll my eyes).

I guess China is all about maintaing a positive attitude. When you fall down (or are shoved), you just get up and keep going, because there are kind and good people everywhere.