born again with my chinese new name
Getting a chinese name was a little like being born again. I arrived in china to teach and was quickly given one. To be honest,I don't remember what it was because I rarely used it.I do remember the woman explaining that one character meant"smart"and the other "strong".Clearly,she didn'tknow me very well.I am neither smart nor strong.
Two years later, I was given a second Chinese name.I went back to the US to go to graduate school.My Chinese teacher gave each student a Chinese name. This time the Chinese name was like my English name,William Shifflett.my Chinese surname became Shi.My Chinese given name became Weipeng,or" Great Bird".
In class, we students called each other by our Chinese names.One of my classmates seemed more beautiful to me when I called her "Little flower".
By the end of the year, I had forgotten many of my classmates' English names.But their Chinese names had stuck.