A year ago, I spent
about 2 weeks in Xincun, a small village located in Hainan, for a community
involvement project. My team and I ventured on a turtle caring and saving
mission, which required us to travel out to the sea on a daily basis so as to
arrive at the sea turtle hospital. It was my first time living in a village and
I had a tough time adapting to the unfamiliar environment.
People spitting on
the floor, motorist riding without a helmet, children playing firecrackers on
the streets and people chewing on betel nuts, are some of the common sights in
Xincun village. However, these acts are in fact illegal in Singapore. Their
nightlife is also very different from what we experience here in Singapore.
Instead of drinking and chilling with a group of friends at a pub, the
villagers dance on the streets and everyone are welcomed to join in. Apart from
all these differences in cultural behavior, I would like to share a particular incident
that I had experienced.
My friends and I
were invited to a fisherman’s home for dinner with his family as he wanted to
express his gratitude to us for helping him paint his home. Dinner was served
on the floor and I felt rather uncomfortable after sitting cross-legged for a
prolonged period of time. I had to stand up and stretch whenever I felt pins
and needles in my legs. Before the start of the meal, we had to do a toast with
a cup of Chinese wine. The wine served was so strong that I did not want to
take a second sip. I had to pretend to drink and make sure the cup is never left
emptied so that the host does not have to refill it for me. In the Chinese
culture (and in many European culture), the host would offer to refill your cup
whenever it is empty. The same goes for food…
We were pleasantly
surprised by the variety of food they had prepared for us. There were at least
4 different kinds of meat and 3 different types of vegetables served at the
beginning. Halfway through the meal, the host went on to prepare more dishes to
ensure that we had our fill. What’s more surprising was that instead of having
dessert as our last course, we had RICE! By then, all of us were so full but it
would not be nice to reject their offer.
The hardest part was bidding farewell to the host and his
family. Their seemingly endless conversations with us implied a sense of
reluctance in saying goodbye. We were put in a difficult situation, as we wanted to leave
politely but did not want to offend them by interrupting their conversation. I guess this is an issue that
many of us would face whenever we are invited for events.
I could feel the warmth and love
within the family by just observing their behavior over the dining table. It is
quite a pity that family dinner is becoming uncommon these days in Singapore due
to our hectic lives. One thing I admired about the villagers in Xincun is
that they understood the importance of spending quality time with their own family
and thus would make it a point to have dinner together everyday. It is a
practice that we all should appreciate.
Living in a village was a great
opportunity for me to learn more about the Chinese culture and lifestyle. It is
rather important that we have the basic knowledge of a country’s culture before
visiting the place, especially when it comes to greeting as it is the first
impression we give to the other party and we do not want to appear rude. We need
to understand our cultural differences and behave appropriately so that people will
not feel offended by our actions or words. There are also certain practices
which we can learn from one another, such as making time for family dinner. In
today’s fast-paced society, the importance of family bonding has been severely
overlooked. Henceforth, it is good that we interact with people from various
cultural backgrounds and learn from one another.
