「Ni Hao！」這是許多荷蘭孩子遇到亞洲人的第一句話（©Cindy Lao 攝影）
和台灣籍的老公一起出門時，我們有時遇到大人和小孩用中文跟我們打招呼：「Ni Hao！」我們平常也會打招呼回應，或者報以一笑，但也常納悶他們是哪裏學來的。今天又遇到這情況，這讓我決定拿出紙筆訪問他們。他們的回應大部分是友善且坦誠的，但在各為往下讀以前，我希望各位知道他們都是小孩，有些口無遮攔，沒像大人般三緘其口。他們的看法都是他們自己的，不代表我的意見。有些説辭可能不太禮貌，但我決定將我聽到的全寫進去。
他們是一群十二歲左右的小孩，大概六到十個人，一半是男生，一半女生。他們來自不同背景，是在荷蘭長大的土耳其、摩洛哥、蘇利南人，都很樂意受訪，願意讓亞洲人知道他們對亞洲人的看法。
當我問他們為什麼說「Ni Hao！」時，他們第一個脫口而出的是「你好，凱蘭」（註1）；「你知道的，這是一部卡通，『你好』就是中國人說的嘛。所以我們看到中國人就講這個。」他們大部分沒有中國同學，他們的學校也沒有教授中文。其中一名女孩有從中國鄰居那兒學了點中文–她可以用中文從一數到十，當我對她說這是真的中文時，她顯得相當驕傲。他們當中有些人從沒和中國人講過話，只有幾位有中國同學。我就問他們對中國人的看法。從他們的反應，看得出來中國人對他們來說相當陌生且遙遠。其中一個女孩說：「中國人好笑。就像看『你好，凱蘭』卡通時，裡面的中國人頭都很大，很爆笑！」我問他們是否覺得中國人都有大頭。「沒有，可是他們真的很好笑。他們總是騎孩童腳踏車，在萊登轉一圈都看得到。」當我問他們，除了「好笑」、「怪異」和「孩童腳踏車」之外，是否對中國還有別的印象，他們提到了成龍和中國餐館。「至少他們的食物很棒！」我問他們是否聽過萬里長城。其中一個男孩很朗聲說：「這是中國的一面牆。」（荷蘭語裡長城就是「中國的牆」。）
整體而言，他們關於亞洲和中國的相關知識與同齡時的我差不多，這讓我很震驚。我本來認為他們應該要比我12歲時多懂得多，因為我12歲時中國還不是一個很夯的話題；此外，我是鄉下長大的，除了中餐館外，那裏沒有別的中國人了。而這些小孩所住的萊登，是一個擁有數千中國和其他亞洲學生的城市。儘管如此，他們對中國文化的了解卻竟然全來自一部（有教育性的）卡通。所以，我問他們想不想到中國一探究竟。他們馬上說「不要」–就算我說，假設你可以免費去一趟。被問到想不想學中文，他們相當確信學中文怪異且無用。「聽起來太怪了。」我辯駁說，你學了之後就不覺得怪了。但他們不吃這套。
只有一個小男孩，看起來比其他幾位年輕幾歲，我對他說學中文沒有想像中困難，他才表示願意一試。聽到我說學中文可能是他能力範圍內的事情，他似乎真的感到驚訝，又有點欣喜。呃，至少他是這群人中的十分之一，我想這算挺高的比例吧。我謝謝他們願意接受我的採訪。我離開時，一個男孩大喊道：「Ni Hao Konichiwa!」
Ni Hao! Views of Dutch children on Chinese Culture
Often when I’m out and about with my husband – who is from Taiwan – we encounter adults and children who greet us in Chinese, saying: ‘Ni hao!’ We usually react with a smile or a greeting and wonder where they learned that. Today it happened again, and I decided to get out my pen and paper and interview them. Their answers were candid and generally friendly in tone. But before you read on I’d like to note that they were children who did not self-censor, as adults might have done. Their opinions represent those of themselves, not mine, and while some of their remarks might sound rude, I decided to write down everything I heard, rather than picking the parts that are nice to hear.
It is a group of about six to ten twelve year olds, half of them boys and half of them girls. They are a group of children from different backgrounds, and tell me their parents are from Turkey, Morocco, Suriname and other countries. They are very happy to be interviewed and I tell them I will write an article about their responses for Asian people to read.
When I ask why they said ‘Ni hao’ and where they got it from, the first thing they mention is ‘Ni Hao Kai Lan’; ‘You know, that’s a cartoon, Ni Hao is what they say in China. So we say it when we see Chinese people’. Most of them have no Chinese classmates, and they tell me Chinese is not taught at the schools they go to. One of the girls has actually learned some Chinese from a Chinese neighbour – she counts to ten in Chinese and looks proud when I answer her friends that it’s real Chinese. Some of the others had never talked to Chinese people, one or two have a Chinese classmate. I ask what they think about Chinese people. From their reactions, it becomes clear that China and Chinese people are quite alien to them. According to one girl, ‘Chinese people are funny. Like when you watch Ni Hao Kai Lan, you see that Chinese people have huge heads, they’re hilarious!’ I ask if Chinese really have big heads. ‘No, but they’re definitely funny. They ride around on children’s bikes. You see that here in Leiden.’ When I try to find out whether they know anything else about China beyond ‘funny’, ‘weird’ and children’s bikes, they mention Jackie Chan and Chinese restaurants. ‘At least their food is great!’ I ask them if they’ve heard about the Great Wall. Very accurately one boy replies: ‘It’s a wall in China.’ (That’s what it’s called in Dutch: the Chinese Wall.)
In general, it struck me that they have about as little knowledge about Asia or China as I did at their age. I had expected them to know more than I did at the time, because when I was twelve, China hadn’t become a hot topic yet, and besides, I’m from a village where there are no Chinese apart from the local Chinese restaurant… Leiden, where these children live, is a town with a few thousand Chinese and other Asian students. But despite this, their knowledge of Chinese culture comes entirely from an (educational) cartoon. So, I ask whether they’d like to go to China to find out more. They say ‘No’ straight away – even when I say, imagine you could go there right now for free. When asked whether they’d like to learn Chinese, they’re also quite convinced that learning Chinese is weird and useless. ‘It sounds too strange.’ I argue that it only sounds weird until you learn it, but they’re not to be convinced. Only one boy, who looks a few years younger than the rest, shows interest when I say that learning Chinese might not be as difficult as they think. He seems genuinely and pleasantly surprised that learning Chinese might be within his reach. Well, he makes up 10% of the children that are still standing around me at this stage, I suppose that’s quite a high percentage. I thank them for taking part in my group interview. When I walk away, one of the boys shouts: ‘Ni hao konichiwa!’
註1：「你好，凱蘭」是一部兒童卡通，主要播放在Nick Jr.頻道，官方網站為：https://www.nickjr.com/ni-hao-kai-lan/
本文《荷蘭人都說Ni Hao，中國！》刊載於英語島雜誌，經同意轉登文章後增編內容，未經特定授權許可不得轉載。
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