The Infantile Expert

This essay was written last semester for Asian Studies Senior Seminar.  I believe it holds true for China as well, so I decided to publish it here.

Playground Nearby Kansai Gaidai Dorms in Hirakatashi Japan

The Infantile Expert: Settling in Back Home After Study Abroad in Japan

In my previous abstract I talked about historical roots of culture and the effects of them imposed over a short period of time.  In this abstract I would like to speak more briefly about the similar effect that occurs to individuals who study and absorb culture over a short time in their lives.  In short, I will examine the paradox of the East Asian Studies student.

As the student travels from his or her home country to their country of focus, then back to their home country, after the initial culture shock he or she begins to settle into a role.  While abroad, the road is that of observer and inquisitor.  With child-like ignorance, the student blunders and attempts to absorb.  The process is ongoing.  Some say one must stay longer than one semester in order to move a degree beyond it.  Others say one must stay longer than a year in order to move beyond.  In truth, the student is trying to compensate for all the years they lived outside the culture in order to understand and navigate a world, even though realistically the student will always be a foreigner.

When the student returns the role is reversed.  Suddenly the student is an authority among his or her family and peers.  Having seen, breathed, and eaten things contemporaries don't know how to pronounce, the student becomes an expert.  Essays that might have been an a middle schooler's text book magically transform into advanced language study.  The student becomes a story teller, trying to spread the knowledge that they absorbed.

Certainly such experiences are important for well rounding students.  But what do they mean for the specialist?  What is it to specialize in a culture one did not grow up in?  This author can only speculate since this author is still on the first few baby steps of this journey.  It is the journey of trying to become a bridge.  How does one really 'settle' into being a bridge?  How can one settle into being half-way between worlds?  It is unsettling to realize that one may be a sage in one language and an infant in the other.  Possibly more unsettling is the knowledge that one may never really move beyond that role.  Yet there is something exotic and addictive to it as well.  There is something strange in the desire to not settle in back home, and instead return to childhood and adventure.