创造力. Creativity. Die Kreativität.

According to a recent study, I may just be more creative than you for having lived abroad.

I came across this interesting post in the Economist’s Business Travel blog, Gulliver, a few weeks ago and wanted to share it with you. According to the blog article and the referenced study, living abroad seems to make people more creative.

I can’t say for sure that I’m more creative than you, but I can say that China has made me think outside the box more often when communicating with non-English speakers than I’ve ever have before. For example, every few days or so I decide to treat myself to a soda after school. China is super dirty and as a result, you won’t see me touching the rim of the can to my mouth. Chinese people feel the same way, so every small shop has a bunch of straws for the people who buy canned beverages. Sometimes the straws are located on the counter and I can just take one myself. Other times, however, they are stashed under the glass counter and I have to ask for one. The problem is I don’t know how to say straw in Chinese. I could look it up, but I’ve just never done it. Instead I’ve developed a motion that means straw. I say, “have not have” in Chinese and then hold the can up and make a sucking sound with my mouth. It hasn’t failed me yet. The shop owner always knows that I want a straw. My friend, Caroline, has developed her own system for getting a straw that involves a different hand and mouth motion that also works. There are many many non-verbal ways to get a straw.

I’m not saying this is the most creative thing I’ve ever done, but situations like this one come up on an hourly basis in China. As my time in China is drawing to a close, many of my American friends have begun to talk about what it’ll be like to be back in an English speaking country. In China, I’ve danced around the store to get what I want, baked banana bread in a rice cooker, and used hair bands to fasten countless things closed. In only a few months, none of this will be necessary. How strange it will be to have things I want and to be able to communicate with the public using words! I just hope my creativity doesn’t wane.