Conversation
partner #2
Vera and I met in the BLUU for
lunch. She had just been in class where she spends most of her time writing in
English. I started thinking that after learning in a classroom about English
she might be more proficient writing English then I am.
Talk turned again turned to China
as I learned more about her homeland. I somewhat stupidly asked if she had any
siblings. The fact that China had a one-child policy slipped my mind. I grew up
with one sister and I couldn’t imagine not having her. The fact that the government
is so involved in your life in China is something that I wouldn’t appreciate.
I also asked what her Mom and Dad
were like. She said that her dad was a policeman and her mother owns a company.
She said that her mothers company was involved in clothing, textiles and
export. Our language barrier was obvious at this point because she couldn’t explain
her Mom’s business any more in depth.
We also talked about her schooling
and the concept of private school vs. public school was something that was not
very easily explained. She said that every school is run by the government in
China.
The more I talked to her about China
the more interested I became. However, I also appreciate America more. Even
though we do have our problems we are at least free to choose most things about
our lives.
thanks for the response. Seems like you are both learning about each other, and I appreciate the good effort.
ReplyDeleteI actually had a similar conversation with my partner, Harrison the other day. We talked about the one-child policy and it surprised me that he did not think of it negatively at all. He even said that the policy "saved" China because they were so overpopulated before. He seemed to be really proud of China and their government and confident in it's ability to make the best decisions for the country, even if that meant taking away some of their freedom. He didn't seemed so attached to the idea of freedom as we are in the U.S. It was definitely strange to see how different his views on high government involvement were compared to the average American.
ReplyDelete