November
7, 2010
During my first year in
Shanghai I was teaching a lot of one-on-one “conversational English”. It
was more lucrative than teaching full time at an English center or school, and
I had to work fewer hours. I would meet with my Chinese students at their homes,
offices, or Starbucks. I essentially just had to talk to these people and
correct them when they made mistakes. The best part was that I could talk to
them about whatever I wanted, so I learned the Chinese perspective on many
things in which I was interested. The following are some of the things I
learned from my students:
Students:
Yami, 24, female, business
manager
Ms. Ru, 25, female,
housewife
Andy, 27, male, business
manager
Mark, 40, male, businessman
Jason, 31, male, business
owner
Kevin, 42, male, businessman
Tong, 25, educated in U.S.,
businessman
Andres, 36, male,
businessman, spent alot of time in Mexico
On education
Kevin – I want to send my
kid to high school in the U.S.
Andy – I bought a house in
Sydney so my daughter can go to school in Australia. When she is old enough,
she can decide whether she wants to be educated in Australia or China.
On Mao Zedong
Andy- Mao was 70% right, 30%
wrong. He did alot for China, but made some mistakes.
Tong – Mao created the China
that we have today. China would still be horribly poor without Mao.
Jason – on Jian Guo Da
Ye/The Founding of a Nation (about Mao) – That movie is made of lies. The
government made that movie. It is all lies.
On the Japanese
Andy – If China decided to
go to war with Japan, I would personally fund one war ship.
Jason – If you were
Japanese, I would be civil to you, but I secretly wouldn’t like you, and I
could not be friends with you. The Japanese have never admitted they were wrong
in Nanjing. They never apologized.
On politics
Ms. Ru – I don’t care about
politics. I only care about the health of my family.
Yami – I don’t care about
politics. I only care about myself. I like shopping. I don’t pay attention to
it.
Andy – There was an
earthquake in Sichuan that killed 70,000 people. Many children died because it
was during school hours and the construction of the schools was shoddy. Many
parents were outraged and saddened by this. The government paid these families
$8,000 each in exchange for their silence/not causing an uproar/uprising.
Fertility specialists were sent to Sichuan and provided government funded
advice so that couples could have new children and forget about the old dead
ones.
On democracy
Jason – I think democracy is
in China’s future. Maybe in 10 years. I want democracy. It’s good to be able to
vote.
Kevin – Not enough of China’s
population is educated. There are many poor people in China. We can’t have
democracy until people are more educated. Maybe in 10 years.
Andy – People are not
educated or wealthy enough for democracy.
Tong – There are too many
uneducated people in China to have democracy. Leaders could buy votes from
these people because they would rather have money or food than be able to vote.
On being the world’s
superpower
Andy – Are you crazy? The
U.S. is afraid of China?! The majority of China is so poor and uneducated! We
will not surpass the U.S. any time soon.
On religion
Mark – I’m a Christian. I go
to church and sing psalms with my family and Christian group. I don’t celebrate
Christmas because I dont believe in it. I dont think it was possible for a baby
to be born outside in December. Confucius is the closest thing China has to
Jesus Christ. He shaped alot of our morals and ideals.
On work ethic
Andres – Single child policy
has created several generations of spoiled whiners. They dont get along with
one another. They dont care to cooperate. They are tattle tales. They only look
out for themselves. They are terrible to manage.
On Taiwan
Andy – Taiwan is part of
China.
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