The Chinese!!!

Before writing this blog, I did a lot of digging here and there, mainly from official websites of the Chinese related cultural organizations, student newspaper articles, different departments within the cultural pockets of Dartmouth and interviews with exec members of the organizations. I wanted to make sure that my personal opinion as a Chinese on campus towards the different cultural organizations is unbiased and legitimate.

Yes, we have discussed enough issues about race, diversity and segregation on campus, but I would like to bring it to another level, discussing how and why people of the same skin color do not necessarily fall into one category. In fact, we might celebrate some same traditions and cultures, but when it comes to certain issues, the Chinese might just break down into even smaller pieces compare to other cultures, thus the existence of what I called 'Chinese related' cultural organizations on campus: ASEANO (South East Asian Organization), DAO (Dartmouth Asian Organization) , DCCS (Dartmouth Chinese Culture Society) , SoHK (Society of Hong Kong), DTA (Dartmouth Taiwanese Association), and perhaps KSA(Korean Students' Association) , VSA(Vietnamese Students' Association).

You might be confused with all the acronyms already, so was I when I was making my choice during freshmen year. I signed up and started shopping in all the organizations mentioned. I imagined being a part of the big Chinese family in Dartmouth. I should have the freedom to join any of those organizations because I am all of them: I could be an ASEANO member because I am from Malaysia; DAO (I am Asian); DCCS ( Chinese ); SoHK ( I speak Cantonese and grew up watching HK soaps); DTA ( I grew up listening to Taiwanese pop artists and watching Taiwanese TV shows); KSA ( I love watching Korean dramas) and finally VSA( we were all once from China?). I can't help but amused by my own thought process, "I am truly everything, ain't I? "

However, I can't possibly be in all of the organizations. Choosing any of the organizations means dropping something out from my interest and the 'culture' that is attached to me. But joining all of them is also a waste of time, because people flock into meetings for the food, and sometimes you see the same faces in these organizations, talking about the same things! Almost all meetings start with ice-breakers, describing personal interest in a restricted format of " if.....then.." and " why am I here?" etc. The biggest events of the term would normally consist of a Boston trip, Bubble tea day, and ultimately Legacies (Chinese New Year event). To Dartmouth students hiding in the middle of no where, Boston trip, or rather Chinatown is the most luxurious (expensive) way to 'experience' Chinese culture. It make sense, Instead of inviting a group of friends to Boston, why not get some funding from Dartmouth in the name of cultural experience, and go to Boston Chinatown for free? Monetary resource could be one of the reasons for students to start many 'Chinese' organizations, as each organization can only get a limited amount of funding for students activities. Assuming each organization gets $300 for a Boston trip, we could have collected $ 1200 for the students for holding the same events in 4 organizations! When asked the founder of SoHK the necessity of starting a society when all members are already friends, his told me that his motivation was exactly the funding. Getting money from the school to socialize with Chinese food that is not offered in DDS is a very attractive idea when forming an organization is encouraged, not to mention the importance of food in our culture.

It may seem superficial to mention food as our only cultural tool. Growing up in a homogeneous Chinese society, participating in these bubble tea, and hunting for Chinese food in Boston look lame to me. But I might have overlooked the diversity within the Chinese society if I am only questioning the authenticity of Chinese culture from a very subjective point of view. But authenticity is a legitimate factor to attract or chase members away from the Chinese organizations. For DCCS which focus on promoting Chinese culture, some members question about the language used during meeting. This comes back to the ISA discussion, is DCCS for Chinese or is it for all who are interested in learning Chinese culture? DCCS risks loosing members like me who prefers to speak Mandarin in a Chinese club, as that was my way to create my comfort zone. Language in this case dictates the form of self I prefer to be in the environment. However if DCCS try to please native speakers like me, they might lose Asians Americans and none-Asians who grew up in the states who are genuinely interested in Chinese culture, and might perhaps work or study in Chinese speaking country.

DTA and DAO were started for political purposes. They were more compelled to organize international borders conflict discussion and dinner discussion about recent news in Asian countries. Rumor says that DTA supports Taiwan’s independence (if occurred) while other organizations are politically neutral. SoHK members tend to have a more ‘liberal’ view since Hong Kong is a more ‘westernized’ place due to its tie with the Brits and its more practical way of living.

Even thought there were instances of conflicts between the organizations, I doubt the members differentiate themselves from the others due to their political views. Though we might eventually question the lack of integration between the Chinese from diverse origins who opted for one organization’s image and agenda over the other, at the end of the day, the options are known and available. If I want, I still get to choose which organizations that I want to participate in.

Some opted to socialize in the Chinese Department, which provides many opportunities to master the language, study abroad, or resources for a potential job in Asia. Some live in the Chinese Language House, enjoying the big kitchen and more socializing through food and the cozy space. Who would guess, in the midst of choosing and differentiating myself from the rest, I actually learn more about my own people (based on our eventual roots from China): how we are different or similar in the ever evolving culture, social space, learning environment and the people who is influencing us till date.

Analyzing the Chinese organizations has made me realize the different group of audience that these organizations has successfully targeted: non-Asians who are interested in Chinese culture, Asian American, ABC(American born Chinese), and non Chinese speakers of different or neutral political views. However, they might be weaker in targeting audience who are native Chinese speakers eg: native Chinese from China or internationals, and Chinese who have high expectation and ambition in presenting the more 'authentic' cultural aspect of the Chinese. Therefore, even though there's a dire need for an organization where Mandarin speakers can express themselves in their mother tongue, given the circumstances where grouping and labeling culture seems prominent on campus, the diverse Chinese on campus might have to sacrifice some of their preference in order to stick together in this healthy alternative social space, or don’t choose at all.