It’s All in My Head!
By Mayamiko Mwapasa
Mayamiko Mwapasa (right) and Tiyamike Banda cut each other’s hair in BeijingCOURTESY PHOTOWhen I first arrived at the Beijing International Airport - that was in 2014 when I was invited to attend a seminar in Wuhan - my first reaction was wow! I am from Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, and at the Lilongwe International Airport, we have only about two to three planes flying a day. In Beijing, on the contrary, you have a plane taking off every three minutes!
The infrastructure and the transport are amazing. I love the way the transport is so coordinated and organized. You know a bus will take you exactly where it says and when. In Malawi, the buses are run by private operators and you have to queue up for hours. Then when your bus finally arrives, it’s so jam-packed that you may not be able to get on to it.
I like the way the Chinese show respect to elders on buses and the subway, getting up to offer their seats. That’s something we have in Malawi too and I realize that in some ways we are the same.
After the 2014 conference, I came to China again in September 2015 on a Chinese Government scholarship to do my Master’s in international relations at the China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing . It has been one of the best opportunities for me because I am in the foreign service and we work in the international cooperation division where we deal with China matters. We are being taught Chinese law along with international law and there’s a weekly Chinese language class. So I have an exposure to China and Chinese culture.
The scholarship not only pays for my accommodation and studies in China but also includes a stipend. Students like us can actually save some money from the stipend and send it home. It is really a win-win cooperation and we students, who have received the scholarship, would like to work to make this cooperation grow.
I am asked, have I encountered any racism in China? Well, one day when we were looking for a supermarket, we were directed to a local market where the stall owner was fast asleep. When her neighbors woke her up on our behalf, she looked at us, let off a volley of angry-sounding words which we could not understand, and then went back to sleep again. We were very surprised because the Chinese have been very welcoming and kind.
One day, a friend and I were trudging back to our campus from a market, laden with a lot of things. Then we met one of our Chinese professors bicycling from the opposite direction. To our surprise, she stopped, insisted on helping us and put our heavy water bottles in her bicycle carrier. In Malawi, there is a lot of distance between students and professors. Professors are held in awed esteem and are not easily accessible. I can’t think of just walking into a professor’s room. But here you can and they are always ready to help you.
Also, there’s a club in the touristy area of Sanlitun where they have preferential treatment for us. I am told the club is frequented by the rich Chinese who like to meet foreigners. Whenever we go there, the cover charge is waived for us and we don’t have to pay for the drinks as well. We are treated like VIPs.
My China memoir would not be complete without my hair story. We are quite formal in Malawi and as government employees, must look conservatively well-groomed when we go to work. But in Beijing, we can let our hair down. Both my friend Tiyamike Banda and I were losing hair by the handful in Beijing due to the pollution; so we cut each other’s hair. I cut hers really short, like a boy’s, something she can’t even imagine doing back home. But no one knows us or cares in Beijing and we can go out as we please.
As for me, I braid my hair using hair extensions. So when I came to Beijing prepared to stay for a whole year, I brought lots of hair extensions from home. When I ran out of them, I begged my parents in Malawi to mail me some more and they did. Then someone introduced us to Taobao, the Chinese online shopping platform, and I realized all those extensions are made in China and are actually far cheaper in China than what they cost back home! CA