March 6, 2003 was the day I saw my South Korean baby brother for the very first time. About one year later my parents decided that they wanted to adopt again, except this time from China. A requirement when adopting from China is that the child cannot be brought to you, but a two week trip to China must be made by the parents or parent. When would I ever again get the opportunity to travel to China? So, of course, I tagged along. March 2, 2009 was the day that I held my Chinese baby sister for the very first time. Not only was I able to witness a culture that I had never even imagined witnessing, but my family and I received our beautiful little bundle of joy as well. It was an absolutely amazing experience that I will never forget.
I had no idea what was awaiting for me in to see and experience in China, but each and every part of it excited me beyond belief. I did not realize it at the time, but after reading chapter 4 and learning about culture shock, it is evident that I started to experience it. After the first few days my family and I really started to miss New Jersey. The part of Chinese culture that affected us the most was the food. Americanized Chinese food is something that we eat often in my house, but the real thing is much different than the take-out that we loved and were used to. The island of Guangdong, where we stayed for a week, happened to have a Subway, which excited me at first glance, but after taking a bite into my sandwich, I honestly would rather have stayed with the “real deal” Chinese food.
Just as we did not know much about their culture, we had to understand that they also did not know much about ours. There were many who stopped and stared at us as we passed by, pointing fingers and chatting amongst themselves. This took us a little while to get used to. It was not exactly rude, but actually very interesting. We felt as though we were celebrities. There were even a few people who asked to take a picture with us. Schafer also talks a little bit about cultural relativism, which he states, “places priority on understanding, rather than dismissing” (Schaefer 56) someone else’s culture. I believe this to be very important especially when visiting another culture. We had to take a step back and remember that we were just as foreign to them as they were to us. My family and I had the opportunity to understand the culture we were surrounded by, other than simply viewing it.
My trip to China was most definitely an experience that I will never forget, not only because I was bedridden with a terrible case of food poisoning for two days, but also because it opened my eyes to a culture outside of my own. I had read about them, heard about them, and watched movies which displayed them, but spending time inside of one and experiencing it firsthand was something entirely different. The most important thing that I realized when entering into the Chinese culture is how blessed and fortunate I am. Having more than one child is frowned upon in the Chinese culture and because there is a desire to carry on the family name, there are so many little girls left, by their mothers, near orphanages, with the hope that they will soon be found. We may find it strange that for them to have more than one child is looked down upon and they might find it strange that sally has 9 siblings. The truth is though, that strange is the wrong term to use. It is simply different.
Works Cited
Schaefer, Richard T. Sociology: a Brief Introduction. 9th ed. NY: McGraw Hill, 2011. Print.
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