Friday, January 15, 2010
12:20 A.M. BEIJING – Hello all… Yes, that is Mandarin I write to you. Fortunately Google can automatically translate that stuff for me (can you imagine me trying to write that middle character? I failed handwriting class in fifth grade, that would take me years to learn), but I have been able to pick up a few characters. Bei and Jing for instance: 北京. Bei means North, and Jing is city. It's nice to know that the back of the shirt I designed for my Grosse Point North classmates at senior year homecoming is legit even if the sleeve isn't - right Tom Bogen? ;-).
So we have now presented at two Chinese schools (in Anshan) and two international schools here in Beijing. While it may be uninformative to say that these schools were very different from those back home – I must reiterate- they were. The Chinese schools with no heat in -20 degree weather. The international schools with pleasant streams running through them. The Chinese schools with huge outdoor bathrooms, with troughs bigger (and dirtier) than the bins at the Big House. The International schools with marble sinks in their bathrooms that smelled of summer.
The drastic differences in the schools here really didn't concern me much until now, as I see it written down. The thing that HAS stuck out to me the most is the seemingly indifferent attitudes (and I am generalizing here) Asian students have displayed - not necessarily to our message but more towards taking the time to help others. It's very interesting to see the lack of excitement at the prospect of helping others, but it begins to make sense when you look at the priorities they are given and maybe the lack of resources they have.
For the Chinese schools, it's time. They are in school until 7:00 or 8:00 at night almost every day. The students are so entrenched in their schooling that it is very difficult to get them to see beyond it, and they are far from encouraged to do so by anyone- especially their teachers and parents. They are told to focus on school, and that's it. They dream to be engineers, doctors and lawyers, and anything that can distract them from those goals is considered frivolous. Even elementary school students have developed this seemingly closed mindset.
As for the International schools, I have yet to figure them out. They, for one, are by no means short on funds. One of them seems very active in a ton of different service projects and has even hired a "Global initiatives coordinator" for the students to go to when they want to start a fundraising activity. The other is still relatively new and is having problems getting certain programs off the ground – but we ran into some very interesting dynamics where students refused to participate in some of the goofy activities we do and hesitated to speak in front of each other. I am beginning to think it stemmed from the fact that the majority of the students in the workshop were Asian and probably adhere to the same sentiments of the Chinese schools. Perhaps by explaining to them that initiating projects like this will help them with their college applications they will begin to understand the importance Western culture places on being well-rounded and begin to start implementing their own projects. I also see our tour as a great way to start the ball rolling with these kids. Every little activity that we do to open their eyes just a little is a step in the right direction. No pun intended. Alright maybe it was a little, I couldn't help myself.
So enough about that. I got had for 60 yuan (12 dollars) yesterday by two girls wanting to "practice their English" with me. I knew darn well what was going on when they said they wanted to go to a coffee shop and yet I still went. Fortunately, I knew I only had about 60 yuan in my pocket so they couldn't nab me for more than that and in the end I got the last laugh as they were stuck footing the rest of the 280 yuan bill.
Also, yesterday we went around the Forbidden City and walked past a market were you could basically find anything you wanted (many things you wouldn't) to eat. Today we booked a trip to this wall they keep talking about and tomorrow (well, today now) we have our last speech till our first in Hong Kong on Monday. I believe my photos just updated and you can find them here: http://picasaweb.google.com/schragoo/ForbiddenCityCIS
PS - Do you like my picture?
PPS - The title of this post is the room number I am in that I need to ask for every time we travel in and out of this hostel. Definitely have that down.
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