Another reason why Shanghai was so nice was because we could actually enjoy ourselves, engage in cultural endeavors, and not merely fight for our basic needs. For the past month, we have had to forage for food on a daily basis (often elbowing our way in crowds in the cafeterias or street restaurants to get seating and service), have had to fight for inadequate laundry facilities (which involved learning the hard way that the washers and dryers in our building are not only entirely too scarce, but are absolute crap), have had to fight tooth and nail to get every-single-amenity in our dorm, have had to fight for internet (this took almost two weeks with absolutely zero help from the school), have had to fight for a good night’s sleep where the noise inside the building rivals the honking, clunking, and shouting outside, have had to fight to understand our barely functional dorm bathroom with its badly placed showerhead, awful drain that clogs if the filter is on it, and sink whose “hot” and “cold” water directions are backwards, have had to fight for taxis or space on the buses (which are often late because they are stuck in traffic), and in all of this, have had to fight for our health, which has suffered stomachaches and colds. I’ve felt like an animal the past month, competing for scarce resources for survival. It’s been so wonderful to feel civilized in spacious museums and restaurants, and to have the opportunity to contemplate the higher things of life. I've been able to ascend Maslow’s hierarchy of needs beyond merely the basic eat, sleep, bathe, repeat. I’ve felt human again.
I know I’m ultimately grateful for the experience the past month. I now have a better understanding of a poverty mindset where people fight for scarce resources. When people are afraid their basic needs may not be met, they turn into monsters. They lash out at anyone who may hinder them. I now understand that people aren’t going to be friendly or hospitable to me if they see me as competition. Until they themselves feel secure, they will only respond (at best) with indifference and more often than not, with outright hostility. I now understand a little more why some people on the streets here can seem so disgusting and repugnant. And honestly, I am sure some of my own behavior the past month has also seemed repulsive when I’ve felt particularly frustrated or desperate.
Like many other Americans, I'm currently reading the Hunger Games trilogy. As some of you know, this young adult series features a dystopia set in the future where people can scarcely feed themselves through hunting, scavenging, and bartering. Every year, two children from each of the twelve districts in this horrid country are brought to the capital to fight each other to the death for the sport of the wealthy capital citizens. Out of twenty-four “tributes,” only one lives to win. The winner will bring honor and food to his/her district back home, but the price paid is enormous. All the tributes lose their dignity, and most lose their lives.
I’ve obviously not had to kill anyone here (praise God! Seriously!), and I am also grateful that Brian and I have never truly been in danger. Yet I do relate on a new level to the fight for scarce resources that is featured in Hunger Games. Like the characters in the trilogy, I’ve had to forage for food. My foraging is of an urban sort, which means finding reasonably priced restaurants, fruit stands, and cafeterias that have nutritious, not too greasy, and sanitary food. If I’m lucky, this food may even taste good. I’ve had to fight for adequate housing (jury’s still out if our dorm is adequate!). I’ve had to fight for my health, and I’ve had to fight to learn the language as quickly as possible so that we can fight more effectively. This process has given me more discipline and determination, but it has also been exhausting.
Shanghai was such a relief because it not only allowed Brian and me a respite from the fight, but it reminded us that the scarcity mentality so dominant on our campus is not definitive of the entire country (in fact, I doubt it is dominant of our entire city, but our experience in Hangzhou has been almost completely defined by our time on the university campus). There is a hopeful pulse in Shanghai, and I now understand why so many people have featured China as the Next Big Thing. Our time away reminded Brian and me that the fight of this past month does not define us. Yet it does inspire us to persevere in this season of language study.