你好! My name is Nathaniel Hahn, and I am a 3rd
year Asian Studies major at Northeastern University. I have decided to keep up
a blog while I am studying at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics
for the semester. In addition to a written blog, I will be making weekly videos
that show my adventures as they happen. So, If you follow my twitter: (http://twitter.com/Nathaniel_Hahn) I
will post whenever I make an update. Here's my video introduction!
As an Asian Studies major, I always seem to be caught in the
middle of two cultures. On the one hand, I am VERY American, so I don’t
exactly…fit in into Chinese culture. On the other hand, as soon as people learn
my major, I am asked to explain the intricacies of Chineseness to a world where
the mark of China is seen as the ultimate outsider.
Therefore, I intend to use this blog as a description of my
life in the middle: not just the middle country (the Chinese description of
China, 中国,
literally means “middle country”), but the middle culture between East and
West, and how I can ever possibly live up to the expectations of me brought on
by my unique position.
If you keep reading, you will be sure to learn something
about China that you didn’t already know, and perhaps it might spark an
interest to visit here yourself. At least, I hope so. The future resides on
these two cultures being able to cooperate in a complicated world, and I hope
this blog can provide at least one piece of the puzzle. And hey, maybe I’ll
even teach you some Chinese.
你好: (pronunciation: knee-how) (pinyin: ni2hao3)
(translation: hello)
