There’s “above and beyond,” and then there’s “above and beyond” in China.
All of my generation in China seem to go so above and beyond that “above and beyond” becomes the new standard while being considered “above and beyond” in China means you must be something of a genius.
My friend, we’ll call her “Raine” because her Chinese nickname translates to “Little Rain,” is a Chinese girl two years older than me. One time when she was over at our apartment in China, I flipped through her homework while she messed around on the piano.
On one page was her English homework, the tails of her f’s and her z’s graceful and long. She was confused when I complimented her handwriting: That’s how we’re taught. Doesn’t everyone write like that?
Yeah, everyone using a calligraphy font on a computer.
On another page was a “quick sketch” for her art class, a beautiful drawing of an anime character. It’s nothing, she said. Just an imitation of something I saw online.
When I draw a pinecone sitting right in front of me, I wanted to tell her, it ends up looking like a pile of squished pancakes on the brink of toppling over.
Later, she got curious and asked about what I did. Math competitions, I tell her. So she tried her hand on an AMC 8 practice competition and managed a 16 on her first try, with none of the training that I required to get to that point.
How did I do?
Oh—fine. You did fine.
But then again, why am I surprised? The math training I started out with was going through Chinese elementary school math books.
When she got bored, she pulled out a phone so she could play the 24 Game, and I caught a glimpse of all the other too-smart games she keeps on her phone.
She’s something of an athlete, too. Great at baseball and a fine runner. We went jogging in the park once and she kept up a running commentary with my brother the whole time while I just tried not to pant too loudly.
If she were in a character in a novel, she’d be pegged as a Mary Sue within hours.
But she’s nothing exceptional in China. Maybe slightly above average but definitely nothing more.
Thankfully, I was born and raised in America, so I don’t have to match girls like her. The Chinese that was born and taught into me is dampened, so while it pushes me into math competitions and into occasionally taking extra math classes on AoPS, I don’t stay up until past midnight to do homework the way Raine must all the time.
I am ABC. My Chinese trips and stammers the way Raine’s English hesitates. I’ve always claimed to be a banana, yellow on the surface and white on the inside, but truthfully the white on the inside is tinted slightly yellow and the loquats in China would certainly call me pale.
I am “above and beyond” by the A and standard or even inferior by the C.
I am American-born Chinese.