Why are you studying Chinese?

I'm staying here at BLCU (Beijing Language and Culture University). I'm here to observe teachers teaching English to Chinese students. For a lot of my classmates from CSULB, there is an adjustment needed for the differences in culture, customs, language, etc. As an Asian, someone who speaks Mandarin, one who has Chinese friends, you would think the adjustment would be easy. And for the most part it is, in the classes I'm observing, I can follow along in both English and Chinese which is a great help in understanding what is happening in the classroom.

However, things happen which makes me stop and think: why are the Chinese people like that? A lot of the time, it concerns the questions that the Chinese ask me. There are certain questions that in American culture are considered private information and are not routinely asked of strangers such as: how old are you? are you married? how much money do you make? Etc. I'm not concerned with these questions, many Vietnamese would ask the same questions, but the question that gets to me the most is when people find out that I speak Chinese, they ask me: Why are you studying Chinese?

The problem I have with anwering this question is, I always think to myself: why not? China has an interesting culture, long history, great civilization. I would think that the response of a Chinese person to knowing that a foreigner is studying Chinese would be: that's great. Maybe the Chinese don't yet see the importance of their language in the context of world civilizations, or more likely, they think Chinese is just too hard for foreigner to learn so why should they try. At many times, the Chinese seem to feel a certain sense of superiority because they have a language that is so different and hard to learn. Maybe this confers a sense of uniqueness, domination, and secretness which no or few foreigners can access. When a foreigner can speak Chinese with even some facility, they are praised like some unique creature, and there are special programs/competitions for foreigner to show their language skills in Chinese. There are TV programs where prizes are given to foreigners who can speak Chinese well. I suppose these are some other ways to reinforce that sense of Chinese uniqueness and strength.

Irregardless of these things, I've had a good time so far on this trip. Although I do up to 6 hours of observation of language classes a day, in additon to the daily 1.5 hour class with my professor from CSULB, the students and teachers I've met and interacted with have been very friendly and helpful. I just wish we could get out of the campus and into the city more. I guess you just have to make the time.