How often do you go to China?
Mar 30th, 2007 by Michael Max
Since buying my latest ticket to Shanghai, I hear this question a lot.
“Oh, back to China? How often do you go?”
It is still a question that is difficult to answer.
In some ways, I’ve not left, I just happen to live on this side of the pond.
And while life does indeed unfold on this side of the western sea, it is is inextricably knotted to Asia. Especially, as every week includes more than a few hours spend on bringing “shi da lei fang” from Chinese to English. Like any project worth doing, it whispers possibilities at the beginning, then once committed and in a with both feet, a glimpse of what is truly required is reveled. This is not a complaint, just an observation. Life does not want to discourage us, so it grants a vision of a city on the hill. That gives you something to draw motivation from when sloughing through some grey rain invested lowland.
Dr. Huang quickly responds to my email inquires about parts of the book I don’t quite understand, or colloquial phrasing that had I lived longer in China I would no doubt understand. But, language evaporates like last night’s dream. It is a living thing, that requires care and attention. So, I’m going back.
Going back not only to brush up the Chinese, but seep myself in the clinic and thoughts of the man whose book is slowing making itself into English. There is plenty of knowledge in books, but what I really seek is the experience behind the words.
It is that which draws me back across the sea!
