July 8, 2007

So I think quite a bit has happened yesterday. I went to a Chinese Science and Technology Museum. It was interesting in some ways, but I thought that a lot of parts of the museum were pretty old. Like I felt the technology that was so fascinating there was pretty old or nothing new. I guess that's a because I live in Silicon Valley. So maybe it's a geographical difference that causes it. But I also think that it's social. In America we are a pretty technology-oriented society, and in China I feel what most people are concerned with is just getting things done in the masses, which does not require the most technological solutions. So I guess that's something I've learned. Also, I noticed how a lot of things inside the museum were actually advertisements, like Intel and BMW. Only those stands were pretty cool. And another thing, since this musem was what I would think as very child oriented, I got to observe a lot of the interactions between the children. So I've worked with children quite a bit teaching swim lessons to them for about 5 years now. But these children, I swear were crazy. I felt like they had so little control. Some of them had some manners and restraint I could tell, but most of them were just outright crazy. I felt like it was jungle in there, and I really wanted to just restrain some of those kids, which I did not. I guess that's another difference in American culture where children in China I feel have less discipline. I guess that has to do with the one child law allowing parents to spoil their children or maybe just how a lot of the culture is very how should I say it, unfounded in a set of traditions. Anyways, I felt that I learned a lot on this trip; not from seeing the booths in the museum, but more of observing interactions between people.

So what else did I learn yesterday? Oh, so I also went to what was called an English Corner. Basically, a lot of students in the university would come together and practice their english with each other. I learned a lot from going here, for I did not realize about a lot of these opinions that the Chinese had. For instance, I learned how a lot of people in China dislike the Cultural Revolution. I always thought that most of the population was proud of it since it created the foundation of their current communist government. Oh, and I also learned how the people feel that there's not as much oppression and propaganda now. Like, to us in the U.S., we have always focused on comparing the human rights violations between us in the U.S. and China. But these people helped open my views by pointing out how so much has changed in the past couple years that you can't deny that human rights will probably only get better with the progress that they've made so far. On another part of our discussion, we also talked about the diverse community in China. I did not know about this, but apparently a lot of people in China feel ill to Shanghainese, which is what I am. Apparently, everyone supposedly agrees that Shanghainese are very good business people, but because of that, they look down on all other Chinese people. I feel that this was interesting since I never knew that. I'm not saying that I feel insulted by it, which I don't think I should. I just think that this gives me a new perspective on who I am and the diverse interactions that have been forged within China's population. So other than that, there are a couple other things, but I prefer not to go into lengthy detail, since I have to go soon. But on and on, I plan to go again to this English Corner every week now to learn more about China's culture.