A Feeling of Irony

It’s ironic how much English permeates the Chinese culture and yet, how nationalist the students feel. They wear T-Shirt’s with American words like “Cutie” or “Kobe”, they subscribe to magazines where it’s trendy to have English titles, and they terminate conversations with “bye-bye”. Yet, when asked about the future, most students say China will surpass America in the next 5-10 years.

Taxi drivers tell me about the people they know. People that went abroad but now are back because they “love the Chinese culture” and “couldn’t cope with a western one”. Yet, in the same breath, they convey envy for the opportunities I have as a Chinese American. Perhaps I generalize the Chinese as they generalize me but today, I feel this country’s irony.