[旅行] New York ─ The Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA)

       若不是為了要避寒，我在紐約華埠大概只剩下美食。當然美食是很重要的，尤其對一個德州鄉巴佬而言，能吃到上等的港式飲茶，是絕倫享受。然而，就因為吃飽喝足又有些迷路，一月的紐約街頭實在太冷了，轉身剛好看見這間華人移民博物館(MOCA)，門票不算貴，好奇心驅使，便進去參觀。
        If it were not for dodging the cold, my travel in Canal, China town in New York, would only be about food. Food is important, especially for a student from Texas. Being able to try some traditional dim sum is something extravagant. After having a wonderful meal, I was looking for directions and suddenly ran into MOCA. It was freezing on the streets, so I went in out of curiosity.

        "I am one. I am many." 是我對MOCA最深刻的印象。「我孤獨一人，卻也是眾人之一」是這群華人移民最好的註解。這是句印在轉角牆上的詩句，旁邊有簡體字的翻譯，並不起眼，就像這些移民的身世。
        "I am one. I am many." might be the best quote in MOCA. This is the footnote of the lives of these Chinese immigrants. The quote was written as a small line on the wall of the museum, as insignificant as the immigrants' lives.

        或許我們很難想像那些移民曾經面臨的苦難。尤其現在環顧四周在美國校園不少中國官二代富二代，當然也更多是比我更拚上十倍也比我聰明十倍的強者。在商學院，我們每天要社交的美國社會賢達人士時不時就提起自己去中國或亞洲各國出差的經歷。中國人，或說華人，或說亞州人，似乎不是什麼丟臉的事。然而，不過才二三十年前，種族歧視還是相當嚴重。我在教會認識的韓裔媽媽就說：「你們知道嗎？過去當一個亞洲人不是件很酷的事。」
        It is probably difficult for us to imagine the hardships these immigrants went through. Nowadays, there are many spoiled Chinese or diligent Chinese students in a typical American university campus. In business school, the people in suits that we network with every day like to boost about how they did business in China or other parts of Asia. Being a Chinese, or Asian, doesn't seem embarrassing. However, only a few decades ago, racism was still prevalent in America. A Korean descendant I knew from church once told us, "You know what? Back in the seventies, being an Asian was not something cool!"

        然而或許是近代中國遭遇的苦難，也或許是因為對新世界的嚮往，不論面臨再大的痛苦與困難，仍有一股超群的力量帶著這群移民勇往直前。來到新世界的道路是崎嶇的，或說，是波濤洶湧的。我看到一部紀錄片，訪問了一群移民，他們是從中國上船，往太平洋？錯了。他們繞另外一邊。他們往非洲再載了一群非法移民，偷渡到美國。蛤？難以置信吧。我們現在想到要坐飛機坐快一天就很痛苦，他們這種移民方式簡直就像報紙上說的難民，怎麼也無法跟洋腔洋調的ABC聯想在一起。
        Yet maybe because of the hardships Chinese faced in the modern history, or maybe because of the yearn for the new world, no matter how enormous difficulties immigration might cause, there is still a strong force that make them come to the new world. The road here is full of obstacles. I saw a documentary in the museum and it describes how a Chinese immigrant came here. First, they boarded the ship from China to the US. They went through the Pacific? No. They went the other way. They went to Africa to carry more illegal immigrants. It sounded unbelievable. To me, it is even a torture to take a plane for almost a whole day to come to the US. For them, the "immigration" seemed more like seeking refuge. It is hard to link these "refugees" to the American born Chinese today.

        好不容易到了美國，也不代表幸福的開始。就像前面提到，種族歧視很普遍。除了種族歧視，在冷戰期間，在美中國人也被和共產黨連結，經常成為FBI調查的對象。很熟悉吧。多像是現在四處反恐調查。
        When they finally arrived, it does not mean a blissful life. Racism is one thing. Besides, during the cold war, many Chinese were linked to the communist party and was harassed by the official. It might feel like the prevalent anti-terrorism nowadays.

        繁華、盛大的中國城，在美國各重要城市都佔有一席之地。中國城的邊界究竟在哪裡？或許對這些幾代流離的中國人而言，城不重要，他們更想要一個家。或許他們已經有了。2015的今天，對華人的歧視不再普遍，他們成了會讀書有成就的中產階級，而中國早已成了經濟成長與有錢的表率。這就是他們溫暖的家吧。走出MOCA，我再次被紐約街頭的寒風打醒。
        Today, there are China towns in most large cities in the US and they are prospering. Where does China town end? For those who had gone through all the hardships of immigration, maybe a growing town is not so important. They just want a place that feels like home. Maybe they have already got it. In 2015, racism is not as common as in the past. Chinese are regarded as diligent middle classes. Their motherland, China, has gone through economic growth and owns tons of money. Maybe they have already found their warm home. I walked out of MOCA, and was hit again by the freezing wind chill on the streets of New York.