In the summer of 2010, two years after I left Crazy English magazines group to pursue my dream as a writer in America, I received a welcoming note from Tiffany, the then editor-in-chief of Crazy English Speaker. She asked me to share my foreign student experience in America with her readers. In the beginning, I wasn’t sure I could manage to write about my student life in Chinese. English was the only academic subject I took strong interest in (You’ll find out why in my memoir Golden Orchid). I asked Tiffany if I could write in English, because I felt more comfortable expressing myself with it.
After a brief hesitation, she handed me a contract. She told me a full column in English language was a brand new idea for the Chinese and English bilingual magazine. She was concerned that some magazine readers may find it difficult to read English completely without the help of their mother language. I convinced her that I would simplify the English vocabulary in my writing and it would give the readers a taste of my real life situation. As a new arrival, I was then living in a foreign country where there was no Chinese language to help me. And because of that, all my senses–hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch–became so much sharper in an exotic environment. I felt as if there was a motor engine inside me to propel me to quickly grasp the changing American culture.
The more I wrote, the more I wanted to write. America is a great country and yet, it is not as what Chinese people have thought. Their image of America is one-sided and incomplete. China is also a great country, but American people either know so little about China or have misconceptions about this dynamic country which has the world’s largest population. I committed to this project out of friendship and for fun. I did not expect it would last long.
Months later, Tiffany told me that my column went very well and she received many letters, among which were praises and questions from the loyal fans and the crazy curious. I was thrilled and agreed to keep on writing. That’s how this column “Karen in America” continued for a good five years and now is revived in a new home.