Op-ed by Jason Chan*
The title of my first newspaper op-ed submission pays homage to my roots: Journey to the West, one of the Four Greatest Classical Novels of Chinese literature, written and published by Wu Cheng’en in the 16th century – Arthur Waley’s abridged version is known in English-speaking countries as Monkey. The novel is an extended fictionalized account of the trials and tribulations encountered by the Tang dynasty Buddhist monk Xuan Zang during his legendary pilgrimage to the ‘Western Regions’ – Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent – to obtain sacred Buddhist texts. Enduringly popular, the novel is a comical adventure story, a source of spiritual insight, and a fable of obtaining enlightenment through virtuous attributions.
While conceptualizing this article, it dawned on me that my journeys as a migrant to Canada at a young age, and later on as a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) professional and migrant to Germany, though admittedly less dramatic, mirrored that of Monkey’s protagonist – Xuan Zang’s. At the beginning of my teaching journey, I was naïve and ignorant of the forthcoming difficulties of being accepted as a non-native English-speaking teacher and the problems that I would encounter in my personal life in Germany, falsely believing that my experience growing up in Toronto had prepared me well for life in a much less intercultural European country. Later on, as a more experienced teacher in Germany, my teaching journey would be challenged by setbacks, brick walls, and disillusions peppered with self-doubt growing naturally from unrelenting external opposing forces, which ultimately resulted in my decision to return to Asia, after spending close to four decades abroad.
The decision to move back to Asia, particularly the city of my maternal heritage, was not an easy one. It can be difficult to step outside one’s comfort zone; often such strides are made involuntarily and without careful planning, which is certainly the case with my personal cultural awakenings. The last twenty years I’d spent in Germany with my German spouse had been a difficult reflective period in my life. Void of the influence of my Chinese family and peers, I transitioned to an almost meditative state, constantly comparing, reviewing, and reflecting on Chinese, Canadian, and German cultural values and practices. I am hopeful that with my tri-continental life and professional experience, I can effectively continue the next phase of my professional journey, which is to make a difference within the education sector of Macau, and on a personal level, like Xuan Zang, to reach true enlightenment.
*Principal Lecturer, University of Saint Joseph
