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March 2006
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS |
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It took a trip to China for Jackie Vorhauer, SOC/BA ’02, to realize what living in a small world really means. She was on assignment to shoot a documentary about the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huangdi, for a major cable network. Vorhauer stepped off her plane in Beijing, anxiously searching for the person who was supposed to meet her at the airport. She saw Xiang Li, SOC/MFA ’01, holding a sign with Vorhauer’s name on it. Soon enough, they found their common denominator--AU. “It was surreal to get off a plane and start talking about Professor Aufderheide’s classes, some of the projects we worked on, and to realize that our circle of friends at AU overlapped,” says Vorhauer. “Having base experiences in common helps kick-start the beginning of conversations, which helps lead to friendships.” During Vorhauer’s stay in China, which lasted from Sept. 9, 2005, through Nov. 27, 2005, she and her team had to recreate Shi Huangdi's life--who he was and how he turned an empire of warring states into a single country: China. Vorhauer soon found that she’d be working with two other AU alums: Elissa Ewalt, SOC/MA ’97, and Stephanie Rucci, SOC/BA ’03. There wasn’t too much culture shock for Vorhauer since she had been to Vietnam and South Korea years before. She did, however, learn Chinese “street smarts” and techniques for fitting in. For instance, as an English-speaking American, Vorhauer found that she could make instant friends at the local McDonald’s in any small town. When Vorhauer would cross the street, she’d make sure to squeeze in between other pedestrians because the locals “know when to move,” she says. Her non-Asian features made Vorhauer stick out in public. She learned not to take offense to the stares she received, realizing that she was just a new and different face in the crowd. “I had never stood out in a crowd for so long anywhere,” she recalls. “It felt part like I didn’t belong and part like I was a celebrity--except people wanted to practice their English with me, not get an autograph.” Navigating through a foreign country where Vorhauer wasn’t fluent in the vernacular, she oftentimes found she needed help from a local. “I learned that when you think people are pushy and mean and just don’t want you there, there is always a stranger who sees you are frustrated and will offer to help you out,” says Vorhauer. Even though she considers herself a patient person, Vorhauer says her experiences in China helped her patience grow even more. During her stay, Vorhauer tried to learn Mandarin. One day, she successfully used it to direct a driver to a nearby pastry shop, then to a fruit stand where she bargained prices with the worker so she could get a large amount of fruit for the film crew’s breakfast. "It was such a little task, but when there was no way to speak English, it became a little adventure,” she says. Vorhauer,
a former Student Confederation VP, Letts RA, orientation leader, and KPU
staff member, says she’d go back to China in a heartbeat. “I
learned so much about how to work with Chinese actors, how to approach
an issue so it goes from problem to solution, and how to bridge the gap
of understanding of cultural differences of the unspoken rules of Chinese
television and the desires of American television,” she says. -Tara Shlimowitz '08 | |||
