Wednesday, November 3, 2010

China (The People)

Think on this…The crowning jewel of my trip in China apart from some of the most flavorful food I have eaten in my life was the amazing people. Once again nothing in China is, as it seems. I was anticipating a feeling of oppression and control. But, the Chinese people have many more freedoms than we would ever imagine. Outside of all the Asian people and architecture things felt mostly like anywhere here in the states. Conversation was similar to that here, although as a foreigner we were told to avoid the 3 Ts Tibet, Taiwan, and the Tiananmen Square incident. There is a major since that change is in the air and the country is becoming more modern and western.

The Chinese people are exceedingly sweet. I didn’t see one unfriendly face as I endeavored to get out amongst the people. I had the opportunity to visit street markets and by the street food (okay I am trying not to talk about the food), I went through the subway, I spent time on a college campus, and I visited 3 churches. I had an authentic Chinese experience, but all things were consistent, the people are the highlight of the country.

I visited two schools while there. One was the 4th ranked college in China and the other was a smaller less prestigious one. The top ranked school was much larger and you could tell that this was some of the best students the country had to offer. The students were really smart and their English was as good as mine. They were the future of the country and they felt the pressure from both their families and their nation. The second group of students really grabbed my heart, as they were most likely ones who didn’t test as well and they didn’t carry the same sense of confidence. Both sets of students were very knowledgeable about the world and they seemed to not necessarily embrace the leading parties philosophy.

Read more: http://damianlboyd.com/college-impact-blog/

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