I have always wondered why my American education seemed to
completely omit Asia from my History
classes. Today we had a class on Chinese
History. In 2 long hours we covered over
5000 years of China’s
recorded history. That was barely enough
time for our lecturer (the president of the University) to list all of the
emperors, dynasties, and kings. We did
hear some interesting facts like the 1st writings came from copying
the cracks formed in a tortoise shell after it was heated over a fire. Mainly I fell back into the semi-conscious
state of boredom I assumed in my high school classes. I sat there thinking about how many hours
Chinese students must spend listening to, studying, memorizing, and reading
about Chinese History. With the long
list of difficult names and ancient dates I was grateful our exposure only
lasted 2 hours. I can see now why it is
difficult to push Asian history in America.
My lunch today, veggies and rice, cost about 15 cents. I am really enjoying the variety of food and
the cheap prices in the cafeteria.
“Is it safe for me to visit America?” this is the first
question I receieved at English Corner.
I replied, “Of course it is safe for you to visit America.” The response, “REALLY?!?” “Is it true that most people in America have
guns? What do you think of the Iraq war? Who are you going to vote for?” These are the questions one of the girls
peppered me with at English Corner today.
We do have to watch what we say at English Corner. We can not talk about Christianity or
anything that pertains to our religion.
Both the program we are going through and the students we talk to would
receive the consequences of being shut down or imprisonment.
This evening we were invited to a program being held for the
Freshman class. A large room was filled
with excited chattering students. We
were ushered to the front of the room right next to the speakers. Glow sticks were handed out and we posed for
many pictures being taken by cell phone wielding students. Finally the talent show began. I stayed for a few dance performances, some
singing, and a comedy act, but all of it was in Chinese. I did not have the patience or the attention
span to sit through more than a few acts.
