The Tourist and the Toddler Abigail Soryal
My first real experience of tourism took place when I took time away from a stay in Prague to accompany an older woman on her three-day whirlwind tour of Budapest. The first day’s marathon wore me out completely. CastleHillMargaretIslandNewYorkCa fé TheParliamentOfBudapest TheFis herman’sBastionSzechenyi ThermalB athsandHeroes’Square! (GASP!) By the second night, after we had sped through Matthias’ChurchGellé rtHill T heCitadellaShoeOn TheDanubeMuseu mOfFineArtsSt.Stephen’sBasilicaV ajdahunyadCastleDohányStreetSyna gogue... (OH GOD, MY FEET!) ...I had already lost track of the previous morning. When I finally returned to Prague, I was in semi-shock and could wear only slippers. It might have been unexpected for me, but this kind of tourism is typical for many. Globalization, and the advent of cosmopolitanism has inspired in many of us a value for the intercultural. Intercultural skills, multilingualism and cultural fluency are not only becoming increasingly prized in the workplace, but they are also becoming themes in our personal lives. And, because family and friendship shape us as individuals, in our world of increasingly intercultural businesses, families and friendships, we are more and more likely to be shaped by more than just one culture. I am no exception.
Born to parents from different continents, in a country in which neither of them claimed citizenship, I was, one could say, destined for cultural curiosity. As I was growing up, the cultures at home mixed, clashed and melded. Although I still do not fully comprehend the full impact of that mixture, I watched my parents come out of their own cultures, challenge the assumptions, norms and values that they once took for granted and choose what was important to them. It was that process that made them some of the deepest, most thoughtful, open-minded, yet principled people I know. It was the desire to deepen myself, to see the world through another lens, to satisfy my curiosity about how culture had shaped me and could change me that brought me around the world to Hong Kong. But when I arrived, I was not sure how to pursue the transformation I wanted. I felt instinctively that tourism wasn’t going to cut it for me. Tourists? You can spot them. They stand out like sore thumbs. Think selfies, backpacks, walking shoes, loud voices. They are always on the move. They don’t speak the language. They come and go. They’re insensitive. They aren’t really interested in anything more than a fast-food version of your culture... Tourism is pretty much intentional—but controlled—exposure. It makes for stories, photos and a whole lot of receipts. But it is just one step beyond ignorance. What I was looking for, however, was something more like the transformative cultural experience I had witnessed at home, something that was created through more than exposure: the fruit of prolonged, whole-hearted, cross-cultural interaction.
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