I inherited my love of baseball from my father. He coached my first team “The Chickadees” when I was at the ripe age of five. Later, in middle school, he took me to the little league tryouts for fast pitch softball. I played for the “Ravens” for four years. During that time, my father bought a pitching machine. On nice afternoons, we’d take the pitching machine to local fields and practice batting and outfield pop flies. Of course, there were always ground balls hit to my position, the hot spot…third base. My father even set up a batting training course in the cellar. Some evenings, we’d take an hour to go through all of them. He built a wooden balance so I could perfect my batting stance and stride. We had all types of balls and techniques to improve the speed and motion of my swing. Our ultimate goal and success was to be hand selected to play for the local traveling team, named “The Gems”. Later, after college, I ended up coaching my old high school team and I’ve never lost my love for the game.
Since I came to Hong Kong, I’ve been looking for a team to play on and finally I’m back in the game. “Tropical Paradise” is the name of my new team, formally known as the “Evil Angels” (the name I prefer).
On the first day of practice, I came to learn that I am the first and only westerner to play in this league of 5 Chinese teams. I was assured that it was okay to play, even though I don’t speak Cantonese. Through the team, my Cantonese has improved, as well as my affection for Chinese culture.
My only other long term interaction with a Chinese group of women was at the kindergartens, where I did not feel included. Playing baseball with these women has helped me see Chinese culture in a relaxed environment. Most of my teammates are in their late 20’s, and we actually have more in common than I originally thought. They make funny jokes about “uncle goldfishes”, who are old men that stare at young women too much. They get ticked off when the umpire makes a bad call, even though I’m the only one who’s bold enough to express it…they just readily agree. These women are also fantastic about team spirit and cooperation.
I suppose it’s easy to make broad generalizations about cultures. Often Americans are seen as lazy, fat, and very free with the first amendment (otherwise known as loud and obnoxious). I’ve heard jokes about Chinese people only being good at games like table tennis, because it involves no team. It was my experience to have a negative view of Chinese culture through a work environment. Now that I have another Chinese experience to compare, I am happy that some of my own generalizations were easily broken. People are people. Being open to cultural experiences and looking closer makes all the difference.
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