Welcome To My Home: One Family, Four Countries

Shortly after we arrived in China, my assistant introduced me to a professor who greeted me in Chinese. Obviously, as I did not speak Chinese, I had no idea what he had said, so my assistant translated, saying, "Welcome to my home." Well, that I understood, so I responded with, "We'd love to come--when would be good for you?" The man looked surprised, and there was a long pause before he said, "How about if you and your family come to dinner Friday?" I said that would be fine, and we said goodbye. After we left, I asked my assistant what had been wrong, why the man had been so surprised when I accepted his invitation. My assistant paused, then said, "Oh, nothing, he was just thinking about when the best time would be." I wasn't entirely convinced, but I accepted his explanation. Months later, I learned that, "Welcome to my home," was a standard greeting to people visiting China, and meant something like, "I hope you are enjoying China." It wasn't an invitation to his home any more than my saying, "Hello, how are you doing?" would have been an invitation for him to catalogue his ailments and personal problems in detail. Similar situations--in which we assumed we understood meanings just because we understood the meanings of words--plagued us throughout our year in China. We adjusted quickly, however, to most of the cultural differences, and learned to accept even those customs we didn't like, but there always remained the inherent possibility that, although we acted in good faith, we acted incorrectly. We could never be sure that our understanding of what people said to us--even in English--was cultural, as well as linguistic.

About the Author :
Roy Blackwood, was raised on a small farm in northwestern Pennsylvania. After graduating from high school, he spent four years in the Marine Corps, one-and-a-half years of that time in Panama. After his release from the military, he spent a year at the University of Alaska, six months as a reporter for the "Daily News" in Anchorage, and eight months traveling in Southeast Asia. He has a BA from Cleveland State University with majors in theatre and English literature; and an MA in theatre, and a Phd in adult education and communication from Cornell University. He taught at the University of Illinois for four years, and at Bemidji State University for 23 years, retiring in 2005. In 1982 he served as a United States Agency for International Development consultant on use of audio visual materials to the government of Guyana, South America; in 1987 was one of 16 selected for the first study tour of the Chinese media by U.S. academics; and in 1990 was one of 20 Minnesota State University faculty selected to receive a Fulbright Travel Grant for a six-week study tour of Costa Rica. He taught journalism at Liaoning University in Shenyang, China, in 1988-89; at Chulalongcorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, in 1993-94; American University in Bulgaria in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, in 1999-2000; and American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in 2005-06. Since his retirement in 2005, he has spent about 1800 hours a year doing volunteer work for 12 local organizations. In his spare time, he has restored a 1971 Volkswagen and a 1951 Chevrolet. He is currently working on placing a 1958 Chevrolet pickup body on a 2001 Dodge pickup frame, engine, and running gear.