In the 14th season of the show, in which 11 teams compete in a race around the world, the Jihs – Chinese born Americans and Harvard-educated lawyers – crossed the finish line first to win the $1 million.

They were strong competitors from the start, smart, athletic, dominating many of the challenges and coming first in five legs of the race. The second last leg of the race took place in China (Guilin and Beijing), where Tammy and Victor were able to stay at the head of the game because they could speak Mandarin. The Jihs have credited their mother, an immigrant from Taiwan, as the person who forced them to speak Chinese even though Victor and Tammy were both born and raised in America. They were annoyed as children. $1 million later, they are grateful.

Their language skills came in handy when talking to taxi drivers, booking plane tickets, and in one challenge, pronouncing the names of traditional Beijing dishes to a Chinese chef. And, over and over the siblings exclaimed to amused Chinese locals that they were overseas Chinese in a race and if they didn’t win, their Chinese parents would be embarrassed to death.

A blogger for the Chicago-Sun Times asks if the Jihs had an “unfair advantage”: Was it fair for Tammy and Victor to dominate the challenges in China, considering that they are of Chinese descent and speak Chinese? Especially considering one of the challenges was, um, to speak Chinese?

Being able to speak one of the most popular languages in the world is, of course, an advantage. It’s not only an advantage in The Amazing Race, but in many of life’s experiences — for getting into a good school, getting a good job, traveling. So why an unfair advantage? If it were a Spanish speaking team won in Spain or French speaking team won in France, would we be asking the same questions? If the Jihs were white and could speak Chinese, would that be an “unfair advantage” too? In one challenge that required the teams to swim laps in a pool, Tammy (who was smart and planned ahead) had taken swimming lessons before entering The Amazing Race. Does that give her an unfair advantage because other teams didn’t know how to swim?

No doubt, the Jihs had an advantage in the China leg, but they dominated the entire race and therefore demonstrated their strengths (besides their Chinese language abilities) throughout. To question whether the Jihs really deserved the prize is really applying double standards. It’s time people got with the program and recognized that being bilingual, even in America, is normal and acceptable these days. *rolls eyes*

Today, I’m at my parent’s home in Canada, and as I type, I listen to the sounds of the house; kitchen dishes clanging, water and soap in the laundry machine swishing, a smooth mix of English and Cantonese. I grew up speaking both languages. My parents, both university-educated here in Canada, are fluent in both English and Chinese. Having educated parents who speak and write in English has been a blessing, but it has also allowed me to get away with using English a lot over the years.

Hence, my sub-standard Chinese.

Having been away from China for almost a year now, I have been witness to lapses of what I will call temporary amnesia. It makes me feel better to classify this forgetfulness as temporary. Inside my head, the bank of Chinese characters I had painfully memorized and locked away safely after hours and hours of studying in Beijing, seems to be slipping away. There’s a leak somewhere. And I need to patch it up.  Last week, I tried to write the word “apple” in Chinese. 苹果 . I couldn’t remember how. My pencil hovered over my piece of paper for a few seconds before I had to look it up on the computer. 

The patch can be applied in a number of ways.

Point 1) Self Study

Counterpoint – Can’t find time and discipline to sit down and do this during my “free” time.

Point 2) Get a tutor

Counterpoint – When I’m reporting for the Associated Press this summer, will I really have the time? I know I won’t.

Point 3) Return to China.

Within hours of returning to Hong Kong or China, it all starts coming back. So, I think, that’s what I’m going to do.

Last week, at my Columbia graduation, I was awarded a Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship. I can travel anywhere in the world and write stories. So, naturally, this was the perfect opportunity for me to get back to China. !!! I didn’t think I’d make it back to the motherland so soon. I am super excited. Now to find a great story to write about..

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(To watch an interview with Victor and Tammy Jih, see them here on Regis and Kelly)