I hope that you are enjoying the spring spotlights and interviews. I greatly enjoy sharing about my expat adventures, but during the month of May I will share about the experiences of some fellow expats I have met during my time in China.
Dante: Thanks so much for joining me on my blog. More importantly, thanks for sharing with us about your experience in China.
Let’s do a quick introduction:
What’s your name, where are you from, and how long have you been in China?
My name is Brandon. Many people out here in China refer to me as Dante (my middle name) because when I first arrived to China, I brought my photography/videography freelance business “Dante Be Multimedia” over with me. I would introduce myself as Brandon but then in the middle of projects people would forget my name and just call me Dante. It stuck (laughing).
But yea, I’m from the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) area. I’ve been here for almost 2 years.
Are you single, married, have any children? If you are married how has married life been for you in China – as a black couple abroad?
I’m not married but I do have a lovely girlfriend. We met back in college at Bowie State University. She’s also from the DC area and she came out about three months after me. It’s been a great experience being able to see the world with someone that you love and care about.
If you do have child(ren) how has life been for them growing up in China?
(laughing) no children yet. Slow down!
Would you and your family ever consider moving back to America or to another country?
We do plan on going back home. We have been looking to move back during the summer of 2020.
What brought you to Asia- more specifically China?
I actually have an aunt that was living here (in Shanghai) for three years (between 2014-2017). I came here to visit her for 11 days. Within those 11 days, I saw great opportunities to travel, learn another language/culture, and save a great deal of money. So I told myself I would come back. Within 10 months of me leaving China, I worked on receiving my TEFL certification and I was back as a temporary resident.
Now we have a little background information about you let’s dig a little deeper!
Breaking and Crushing:
In your opinion – what do you think are some of the biggest stereotypes we (generally speaking – though I know you don’t speak for everyone) face as people of color living abroad – here in China?
Wow, it’s so many (laughing). I would say that the two biggest ones though is that many of them believe that we all like basketball and hip-hop. Though many of us do at least like one of the two, you and I both know we have some friends or family members that don’t like either of those things (laughing). Now, in my case, I don’t help with this stereotype because I enjoy both. However, I still make it a point to educate the Chinese that not all people of darker complexions are entertained by these two things.
What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced living here?
One of the biggest challenges that I’ve experienced is the colorism. They have this mentality that white is the representation of handsome or beautiful.
I remember around the time that I first arrived to Shanghai during the summer of 2017, I was teaching one of our summer school classes at my previous school. For our warm-up, I had the students play, “Two Truths, One Lie”. One of my students (8 years old) came to the board and wrote on the board “Teacher Brandon is ugly”. I’m thinking it’s probably a joke and the students will find out that it’s a lie. Come to find out, it was his truth. Most of the other students disagreed and didn’t even take it seriously and initially I just laughed it off. I don’t take stuff like that seriously and I always make jokes out of it. Then a few students later, a little girl came to the board and listed her things, one of which were “Teacher Brandon is handsome”. Her turn concluded with that being one of her truths but the first boy responded back by saying, “No, he’s ugly!”
So, I asked the boy why he thought I was ugly. His response was “Because you’re black.” I was so shocked about how blunt and unapologetic his answer was. Then I asked him, “So what is beautiful to you?” Without hesitation, he said “White is beautiful”. Of course the first thought that came to my mind was that he’s not white. So I told him, “You’re not white, so are you ugly?” There was silence.
At that point, I couldn’t allow the rest of my day to continue without addressing this issue with the class. It’s actually a mental issue that seems to plague the minds of many Chinese people. I decided right then that I would set aside my original morning lesson plan to have an impromptu lesson about colorism and self love with my age 7-11 students. (I won’t go into full detail about how I went about teaching this lesson but just know that we never had an issue like this again in this class.) I developed some pretty “woke” students. Though I hate this word, I’ll use it because of its relevance to this topic I guess (laughing).
How do you think we are crushing stereotypes- if we are at all?
After the situation that I just mentioned, I always strived to create opportunities for my students and other Chinese people to learn more about black culture. I want them to know that we are different than we they see on the news. I want to understand that we are also intelligent. No, we are not all criminals. I want them to understand that we are not only musicians and athletes. We can also be doctors, inventors, presidents, etc.
We are crushing stereotypes in this country every time we confront ignorance instead of bypassing it.
Knowing what you know now- about life in China and being here as long as you have been here, would you still have moved here knowing what you know now?
Absolutely! I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world. I still feel like it’s probably one of the best life decisions I’ve ever made.
#LIC – Let’s talk a little about Life in China! There are definitely some positives about being here.
What are three things you like about living in China (if you can think of three).
Being able to travel around Asia for reasonable prices, being able to learn a new language, and being able to meet so many people from all over the world!
What do you do for fun with your free time?
In my free time, I like to hang out with my girlfriend and other friends, read books, travel, and anything else life randomly throws at me! I’m very spontaneous.
Has it been hard for you to meet people and make friends here?
Not at all! Once you get here and start joining WeChat groups and going out to events you’ll quickly learn how small the communities are here. It’s not difficult at all to make friends.
What do you do for work here in China?
Currently I’m a Leadership and Public Speaking Teacher for a company that has contracts with different public schools around Shanghai.
Food- Food makes the world go round!
How has your food journey been here? Has it been a hard transition from home to here?
I will say, I thought the food here in Shanghai would’ve been similar to the carryouts back home in the states. (laughing). But I arrived and learned that the food from back home is actually Hong Kong style Chinese food (laughing). Nevertheless, I have no problem with the Shanghainese food. You can find things here that you will enjoy!
Have you tried anything here that you love that you don’t have at home? Hmmm…. maybe dan bing, vegetable baozi (don’t like the meat ones), and xiao long bao. The dumplings here are also amazing!
Have you tried anything here that you absolutely hate and hope to never eat again?
I tried Durian (stinky fruit) and I would never try that again! I’m also not a fan of red dates or red bean. And they frequently like to use these in different foods and desserts here in China. Kill me. (laughing) Just kidding.
How is shopping for food here for you? Do you spend a lot buying food or eating out?
So I’ve been mostly eating out since I’ve been in China because groceries for foreign meals are more expensive here than at home. However, lately I’ve been considering trying to cook a little more so that when I go back to the states, I would’ve developed the habit of cooking more.
Access to travel – A lot of people move abroad because of the access to travel to other countries. Let’s talk about this!
China is huge!!! Have you been to any places in China? Are there any places in China you would like to visit?
Yes, actually I’ve been to quite a few places in China. The places I’ve been are: Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong (not considered Mainland but you catch my drift). I think my favorite place so far out of all of these places would have to be Guangzhou. They have awesome seafood and it’s always warm! The cost of living is also cheaper there than in Shanghai. Some places I would absolutely have to visit before I leave China would to be Chengdu, Yunnan, and Guizhou. There are other places that I would like to go but these are the main three.
Have you visited any nearby countries since you have been here? Where did you go?
Yes! I’ve been to Jeju Island in Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam. All beautiful countries with unique cultures.
What cities/countries are on your travel list?
In terms of Asia, my travel list consists of: The Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia. I would also like to visit Australia and New Zealand. There are so many other places in Africa and Europe that I would like to visit but I will keep the answers within Asia and Oceania (laughing)
What is your dream trip? Have you been there yet?
I want to go to so many places but I think my #1 trip that I MUST make before leaving this earth is to Egypt. I have always had a fascination with ancient Egyptian culture. I haven’t been there yet but I’m sure the universe will make it happen in its proper time.
One Last thing-
If you could share one thing with everyone about life what would it be.
I would just like to encourage everyone to live the life that they envision for themselves and not the life others envision for you. The last thing that you want is to reach old age and look back with regrets. Take advantage of the one life you have and inspire others to do the same.
What am I listening to?
I’m listening and watching the music video for the song “Call it Home” by Foreign Exchange. One of my favorite songs.
Thanks so much for joining me on my blog! Many blessings.
Here are a few pictures of Dante and his life abroad:
#FearlessinShanghai #Thankful #joychangeslives #KMarieTakesChina #BlackGirlMagic #KarlaGirlLivingLife #BlackGirlJoy #LivingMyLifeLikeItsGolden #ChinaorBust #ChinaAintReady #BlackInShanghai #BlackInChina #BlackAmericanInChina #LookOutWorldHereComesKarla #KarlaGirlJoy #BlackGirlInShanghai #eatsleeppartyrepeat #givingisgood #givingisfun #WakandaForever #ShuriAndNakiaAndOkoye #MelaninMagic #Blessed #FaithfulIsMyGod
“life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all” – Hellen Keller
*I choose ADVENTURE
FEARLESS in SHANGHAI 