One of the funniest things about the last month has been that I never know what I will see in my e-mail inbox when I wake up in the morning. While usually I am dealing with spam from old clubs from Brandeis I no longer attend, I am now occasionally contacted by people who have seen my articles on Chinese comedy and the Laowai Style video. I’ve been really touched by the way my friends and I have affected people’s lives, even if only in a small way. These two stories are to me the best things to have come out of the whole Laowai Style hullabaloo!
Last week I got an email from a girl named Tracy, who talked about how “Laowai Style” broke outside of just being relevant to China, and instead talked about the identity of being a foreigner in general:
“Hey Jesse,
I’m a Fulbright ETA grantee (Morocco 2010-2011), and I was introduced to your “Laowai Style!” video by the Fulbright Program Facebook page. I liked it so much that I decided to use it as part of a homework assignment for my ESL students at Murray State University. The assignment is not due until next Monday, but the students are already talking about your performance. They’ve enjoyed it, and they are applying the same idea, albeit in paragraph form, to what life is like for them here.
I just wanted to let you know that in addition to entertaining your friends and family, your video is sparking a conversation on things like what it means to be a foreigner, the similarities and differences between how foreigners are treated in different cultures, and of course, how foreigners can be a constant source of entertainment. It’s also getting them to think about the little details about life in Murray (small town, in the middle of nowhere, voted “friendliest town in America” earlier this year) that are worth noting when showing folks back home what it is like here for foreigners.”
What an amazing assignment! I was blown away by the use of the video in a space I never would have thought to use it. Who knew, somewhere in a small town in Kentucky there would be an ESL class using my Chinese video in such a way?
The Kentucky-Morocco email was followed up the next day by a letter from a teacher at a boys’ middle school in Washington, DC.
“hi jesse—
i got your email from one of your comments on your youtube page. i also went to college with nick stucky-mack. originally one of my best friends from college (and a great friend of nick’s) sent me your laowai style video and i loved it!!
i am a middle school chinese teacher (learned chinese in college) at an all boys school outside of washington dc. my 8th grade boys were equally enamored with your video! so when we entered the chinese karaoke music video competition that we enter every year, we did a cover of your song— don’t worry, we gave you credit for the lyrics and linked to your original song! but i wanted to share it with you because i thought you might enjoy it.
here’s our contest entry: http://www.cheng-tsui.com/superstar/videos/489http://www.cheng-tsui.com/superstar/videos/489
thanks for making that! and hope you like our video— let me know what you think and i’ll certainly share it with my students!
best,
brittany”
This video is amazing for so many reasons. First of all, I felt like they were doing exactly what I would have been doing eight years ago if I had seen something like Laowai Style and took Chinese in middle school. This added this strange sort of reciprocal satisfaction, as if I had become the type of person I admired in middle school and never noticed it happen. Secondly, at 1:25 you can see one of the kids move it like Bernie.
My friend Jian (BRANDEIS REPRESENT!) snapped a picture of me with a sign saying “Go Ms. Ma’s Chinese Class!”
