A Big Day of Class and Hosting the Chinese Students for American Games

June 26, 2008- Thursday

Again today we went for our morning run, got ready for class, and listened to the many wonders of Mrs. Mao. She showed us a picture of the American’s who helped the Chinese fight the Japanese invaders. She explained that when they crashed a plane, the farmers were rescued by some farmers. They walked the countryside and someone who knew what they needed wrote in Chinese on their backs where they needed to go so that people along the way could direct them. It said, “Help us fight the Japanese.” She also talked to us about western religion influence in China. She said that now there are more than 10 million believers who believe Jesus Christ died for them. She said that the churches are open to the public and they have communication with other countries-whatever that means. I am guessing it has to do with missions. She said that government people at all levels are believers and that Christians help the country by offering money and taking care of kids whose parents are incarcerated. She said that the believers go help these children and persuade them to believe. She said although she doesn’t believe, she has three bibles in her home that she has received as gifts and there are two teachers that she knows of at the school that do. She said some young couples get married at the church and that people go to church to sing and praise. She said she knows of at least seven churches in Beijing. She informed us that those who live in the countryside mostly believe in Buddhism. Although Mrs. Mao is not a believer, she did an excellent job telling us of the presence of what she called, “Western Religion” in China. I hope though that she doesn’t think that all people from the Western Hemisphere and specifically America are Christians. If so, there are plenty of poor images being broadcasted.

I think that the beauty of study abroad is that not only do you get to see a country with a tour guide, but you get people to actually explain to you in academic terms what is happening there. You live there. You operate there. You learn there. It is a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week learning experience. Even when you are sitting in class you are having knowledge poured into you! Mrs. Mao talked to us about pandas and how they are such a huge part of China’s character. She didn’t pronounce panda right saying, “pander,” but it added to the effect of her talk. (She has also said a few other things in pretty funny ways, for example she says, “Jimmy Cart” when speaking of Jimmy Carter.) As you may have heard on the news, many of the “panders” are from the Sichuan providence, where the earthquake occurred. For this reason, may have been rescued and taken to Beijing Zoo. We will be going there this weekend to see the “panders” for ourselves. She said that it is common for pandas to drink too much water and then not be able to walk and that usually they are quite calm, but every April they fight to win the love of the female pandas. Currently, the panda is the first rate of China’s precious things. Her quote was, “Last year 30 panders were created by human being,” as she referred to artificial insemination of pandas. She said that it is very difficult for panders to give birth and that if they have twins they usually only take care of one and disregard the other. For this reason, scientists try to find the other panda and take care of it with frozen panda milk and milk from other animals. She told us of times when hundreds of pandas were found dead from disease and that Nancy Regan sent money to help.

She talked to us about the earthquake that occurred in Sichuan in May. We heard that 79,000 were killed. She said that they will have to rebuild democracy in that area. They will have to decide who will get what house as they are being built and allocate food, goods, and materials that have been sent. She said much money has been sent from other countries including 23 million from America. She said that it has strengthened the spirit of the Chinese, bringing people together for ones own salvation and helping people treasure all human life. From now on they will educate children on disaster relief. Many of the schools and universities collapsed while the government buildings stood tall. The people are up in arms about this. They have learned their lesson from this earthquake and the experience of other nations. They will put more money into structures and research on forecasting earthquakes.
She gave a solid explanation of the impact the Olympics will have on the city of Beijing and the country of China. Many people from all over the world will have the opportunity to see the country with their own eyes. She said that not only will 70 world leaders be here, but a lot of ordinary people will come as well. She said the success is not simply built on how many gold metals China will win or how many political leaders will come. She said that China will deem themselves successful if they are able to spread the Olympic Spirit and improve the human race. As a harmonious society, China would like to be a responsible player in this world. They want to have a responsible and active role in building a peaceful and better world.

Later in the class, one of her students came in to report on significant happenings in China since 2000. He said that on July 13, 2001 the Olympic Committee announced Beijing as the Olympic City for 2008. He told us about this year’s Olympic seal which is a Chinese character that looks like a person who is exhibiting energy and charm. He said that they have built 11 new facilities and there are 37 venues in total. The Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube is the most famous. One World. One Dream.

She told us about the importance of martial arts and tia chi to the Chinese people. She went on to talk about the highly regarded, older generation, of Chinese culture. They are very well respected. Confucius said, “If a person forgets his parents his is not a real mature man.” She said that old couples spend their time in the parks together. I have seen this first hand when I visit the nearby park in the mornings after we run. I don’t see couples but there are plenty of 70+ people over there utilizing the exercise machines, doing dances, saying chants, twirling ribbons, walking around, and doing all sorts of stuff. This is a way to start their day for so many! It is great to see! The older generation also joins clubs and plays games and learns things. She said no matter where you go in China, you will find the old people in the parks. They all gather together just to participate and be with each other. She said that for the granddaughter or grandson (remember, there is only one) the weekends are very busy because they go to see the grandparents on both sides. She said her son gets annoyed by this and she promised him that when she gets old and he has a child he does not have to come so often. We laughed. She went on to explain that it is respectful to hall the older generation of a family by, “Old (insert last name here).” Sometimes in class she will say, “Old Bush” or “Young Bush.”

The end of her lecture brought us to discuss Chinese mass media. She said that she can read articles on the internet and that some American and British articles about China are one sided and that is not fair.

Today was our turn to host three hours of introducing ourselves, American culture, and games to the Chinese similar to what they did for us the day before. Each of us agreed to prepare a power point on ourselves and some aspect of American life. We still weren’t finished with these after class and so instead of going somewhere for lunch, we headed to our rooms to eat our snacks from the store and crank out the power points. This turned out to be really beneficial not only for the Chinese students, but for us OSU students as well. We learned a lot about each other. Although, Ashley, Jessica, and I had similar power points we all hit on different topics. Ashley talked about what people in rural America do for fun. I talked about the availability and content of agricultural education to high school and junior high students in America. Jessica explained the concept of 4-H. We all talked about our families, church, friends, and all of the things we like to do for fun. We showed pictures of football games and various travel. They were fascinated by our pictures of our large families since they have only one child per generation. They enjoyed looking at the things we do for fun such as football games, weddings, and spending time with family and friends. I showed pictures of the blizzard we had last winter at OSU and of our Dominican tour group in front of the waterfall. I showed pictures from class and school and living on a farm. I also talked about how in America it is important for college students to have internships and career experience. They liked hearing about this as they are in a never ending fight to prepare themselves to get the best job. I had a few more slides on American Agriculture, but I knew I was going over my time limit so I stopped there and thanked them for hosting us!

Jessica taught them the song “Singing In the Rain” and we played Simon says. We asked if a Chinese student would like to lead Simon says. A couple of girls tried, but they couldn’t talk fast enough to get us. Paige, who is so sensitive to other people’s needs, jumped up and said, “How about we do this together?” So, they took turns giving a command every other one. We asked them to play speaking only in Chinese and we would watch. They talked so fast. We quickly caught on that they were not playing Simon says, but they were playing a game where you do the opposite of what the leader says. SO for open your mouth you’d close your mouth and so on. It was tons of fun to watch. We played another game where everyone sits in a chair in a big circle and one person stands in the middle. We pushed the tables back to make plenty of room for our group of thirty-some people. The person standing in the middle was to give a description saying something like, “Anyone wearing glasses.” At that point, anyone wearing glasses had to get up from their seat and run to another empty seat. The person in the middle went after an open chair too. The person left without a chair would be the next one to call the description. The Chinese loved this. They said some pretty funny things and so did we. One girl said, “Anyone wearing long trousers.” That made us laugh. One of our people said, “Anyone with blue eyes.” The person in the middle and Jessica switched spots as no one else in the whole room had blue eyes. When we said, “Anyone with brown eyes,” not all of the Chinese moved. They said, “We have black eyes!” We have never heard of anyone with black eyes. Sometimes they weren’t so easy to understand. For example, one said, “Anyone who wear glasses,” and I thought she said, “Anyone who wear dresses.” Some of us really laughed when boys got up and moved around on that one.

After the fun and games with the Chinese students some girls invited me to play ping pong in the recreational area with them. The students here are only allowed to play on the basketball courts, soccer and volleyball areas, badminton courts, and ping pong tables after 4:30 in the afternoon. This is because it might be too loud and distract others from their studying. Studying is for sure important here. All of the students were asking me about the fun in America that we explained in our individual powerpoints. They said that they didn’t have any time for fun because they had to study so they could pass the examination and get into a good college so they would have potential to get a job. They asked if it was easy in America to get a job. In a round about way, I explained that of course you have to have credentials, but it is much easier than how it is in China. With 1.3 billion people living here, there is tons of competition for jobs. The girls talked to me about hteir boyfriends and how they would be furthering their education beyond the master’s degree they are working on now. They are fascinated to hear that I am getting married next year and were really a fun group to talk to. I hope I get to spend more time with them on our Saturday student led tours.

For supper, we just ate at the Blackwell and then went to our rooms where we worked on burning CD’s of American music to give to the Chinese students at the party tomorrow night. Before coming we collected a song title and artist from each of the students and Melissa to put on a music CD. Ashe, Jess, and I made CD cases complete with a thank you note and a list of the songs in order. We brought the CD’s from home to burn. Everyone worked together to crank out the CD’s from 12 different computers. We made about 45 and it worked out great!