International School Connection

Starting

The first day I got there I visited a lady, who teaches at George Jenkins High school, and we had a pleasant meeting showing her Beijing Opera, and we talked about feng-shui.  Then we drove to stores while Mrs. Hartley did her errands.  I noticed how everybody is very close to each other, wishing a good day and all with all sorts of friendly chats that were very warm and welcome.  This is what isn’t seen in big modern and cold, indeed, cities like Beijing.  A trip to Publix made me realize how modern the goods that are sold are, especially food.  All sorts of instant food that make people’s life much easier and saves time, I’m sure, as well as they taste good.  The nutrition is also very well kept.

Disney World

We went to Epcot of Disney World the second time I saw the sun come up in Florida. Before I went, my experience from Disney Land told me this would be like fantasy, but only fantasy, with no more then people dressed as characters in fairy tales and rides, in addition to a lot of people.  As I entered the park I found myself completely wrong.  The Land was very educational.  It not only easily explained the history of farming and showed ancient and new ways to plant by saving water and using deserted land, but also had shocking facts and gentle tips that lead everyone to help protect the environment by saving papers, collecting reusable stuff, etc.  Due to my father’s education, I have known all of them, but it was very touching to see how everybody is encouraged to work on the same team, and Epcot was one of the coaches who organized it. There were various sayings on the wall that we could see while we waited in line, most of them from kids of all ages, expressing how they feel towards Mother Earth and our environment, OUR environment that we share together, with each other, each person, each animal, and each bug.  I asked to have a picture taken and couldn’t really have taken one myself because I sure couldn’t look clearly at the screen with my wet eyes.

During the tour around a garden I loved how scientists, who are probably at the vertex of their studying field, turned back from their accurate studies and bent down to explain in easy words to the rest of us what is going on, while most scientists hold their heads up and look down on us and think, “What do these people know?” All they do is eat the products we sell and never care or know how hard it is for us to come up with solutions to their easily polluting and wasting. This is very true about what happens, but unless they do something, the situation will stay the same, and this “something” is right at Epcot.  I was deeply impressed and this totally changed my idea of Disney.  I am beginning to see more parts of the “whole eagle”, not just its strong wings and sharp peak.

School Experience

I was picked up early to be at Gorge Jenkins High School for a celebration of their girls’ soccer team, which has just won the state championship. We stopped by Chick-fil-A to pick up food for celebrating. The light atmosphere in the classroom laid her soft hands on my shoulders as I stepped in. Students piled into it and soon we settled down-which wouldn’t be called so in a Chinese High School, where not everyone was seated properly at the table without food and with full school supplies. After a series of congratulations and requirements for details of the wining, the class slowly got back to order and everyone did a little self introduction to me, telling me their name, grade, and place of work. Another interesting difference here is how everyone in High School gets a job. It gets them more connected to society and the real world little by little, while in Beijing, at least, we focus more on knowledge on books and tests (though community service hours are required now, which makes it much better), and students after going or graduating from college find it sometimes difficult to fit in or realize that they need major adjustments. They were very amazed when I told them how long Chinese students mostly spend in school and on their studies outside of  school. I told them how it’s harder to get into college for most Chinese citizens than Americans. The second period was spent with another class and they had asked some very interesting questions. We had a very good time together and communicating was quite easy for we were exactly the same age.

Later that day I went to Lakeland Highlands Middle School, and the Creative Thinking classes took turns in three groups hearing a little talk about China from a Chinese girl’s eyes that has lived there all her life but took other people’s views as well. I told them about my life as a student there and about Beijing Opera along with what I know about it. After talking and answering questions for a period of time I had a little experience, knowing to include the answers to popular questions, for example: there are McDonalds, KFC, Starbucks, and Wal-Mart’s in China. Besides from the students’ eagerness to find out about everyday life in China, some asked very interesting questions, such as about communism and government systems, and gas prices. I didn’t want to talk politics too much, not wanting to mislead them by my naïve political views that aren’t wholly formed yet and would, since it is a touchy subject just like religions to begin with.  There were also questions like, “If there was one thing I could change about China,”  “What do you like best about the US?” etc. that I couldn’t come up with an answer to right away but had to do lots of thinking.  I wrote down some of the questions and promised to be thinking of them.  I realized how much people can learn from their own countries and own selves through other people, especially through remarks and questions. This is also a great way of getting to know oneself, from my experience of talking to Oregon students about Beijing Opera.  I had a great day with many experiences and reached home emptied in the stomach but full in spirit.

The next day I went back to George Jenkins and visited their Chinese classes. The Chinese teacher, Mrs. Liang, was from Taiwan and had very well organized classes, though after the first class I realized it was really hard for students to try to memorize the squared characters when they didn’t grow up doing so, and it was like memorizing confusing pictures.  While I substituted for the Chinese class the second period, I tried to match them up with English pronunciations and structures and hoped the combination and comparison would help the students.  The students were very nice to me even though their original teacher wasn’t there.

After that I also showed up at Lakeland Highland Middle School again and visited their Chinese class. It was teaching of a totally different style, though mostly because of the different age levels and times of classes they have at middle schools.  These classes focused mostly on speaking and listening, and students haven’t been forced to write Chinese characters but used Pinyin as a replacement.  Pinyin is made up with letters similar to the letters of English and shows you how characters are sounded.  We learn pinyin during first grade and use it our whole life when we want to find out how a new word that we don’t recognize would be pronounced or the meaning of a new word (the Chinese dictionary goes by strokes and pinyin).  This makes a lot of sense to me and seems to interest middle school students and this, as I see it, is the main goal of a teacher who teaches a foreign language.  They also did little plays and learned songs that might be a little below their age level, but this situation occurs a lot when it comes to foreign language learning, especially if they didn’t start off learning it since very young and don’t have the environment to learn it.  The problem is that when they start to learn the textbooks provided to native speakers their age, it is way too hard for them, but easier leveled books and learning materials would sound a little naïve compared to their intellectual level and maturity.  It is a common problem with second languages (foreign languages) and happens everywhere.  For example, most Chinese students here are facing the same problem. This is why I think the learning of another language should be arranged at a young age when that is reasonable. What I mean by a reasonable age is not too young, when they are still struggling with learning to talk in their native languages, like at age one, but when they are 3 or 4.  My experience and also scientific research show that students who experience this can keep it up all their lives and it’s rather easy for them to pick up other languages though their lives.  America has a very unique environment where there are large amounts of immigrants from many parts of the world, so learning another language as a kid should be easier than for kids in other countries

Another fact is that the United States is the strongest country nowadays. No offence, but it’s very easy for Uncle Sam to be somewhat with a lot of pride and overlook the importance of all the countries and the need to work together by collaborating.  Globalization is what the world seems to be heading for, and that not only means the western and US cultures and costumes should play a major role, but also indicates that all cultures and histories are to be included, understood, and appreciated. As I have observed, not only during this trip but also many others, some Americans are not quite aware of this and seemed a bit over proud.  Now this is the same situation everywhere, in every country, every race, but it does need to be drawn attention to.  I am not afraid to admit that during the Tang dynasty and before, China was once in America’s place and was soon shrinking of power and place for we soon were filled with self-satisfaction and refused to pay attention to what other countries were doing and how they were developing.  Soon we had a rude awakening started by the War of Opium which flipped open the page of modern Chinese history, starting with many wars marked with disgrace. Not that this is going to happen to the US, but it is always smart and a shortcut to learn from history and especially historical faults

Back to the topic, in my opinion, it is very important and helpful to learn more about other countries.  In fact, I have been trying to start an English reading corner at my community and teaching kids(well, mainly learning together since my English isn’t really that good either, but I could lead them to the way to improve their English) to read.  But I always struggled about not having enough books, and I was thinking of doing a book raising exchange program for the kids in Florida to help bring the books that they have already grown out of and who have no younger siblings who will be using them and that are still in good condition to mail them to me.  I’ll organize the same with the books in Chinese.  I never believed in buying new books when there are many books that could be used again, and there are no reasons why they can’t be passed on.  I thought this exchange program could work out fine having the effect of not only fully utilizing the value of books but also of promoting and connecting relationships across continents.  Mr. and Mrs. Hartley have been very nice and had a fully packed and educational trip for me, which was rather busy, so I didn’t have time to fully mention all of my thoughts during the trip, so this might be a good chance.

Wrestling

I went to wrestling as the Florida State Wrestling tournament arrived in Lakeland.  I was plainly lucky for the opportunity because the Hartley family has been involved in it for a long time. The day before it started, I arrived with Mrs. Hartley and we typed in hundreds of wrestlers’ names and schools.  When I competed before at contests and all, I would panic and be all fed up about it.  Now that I have witnessed and participated in this wonderful but so tiring process, I felt sorry for my attitude towards them earlier. Though I have never watched wrestling before, there were helpful people at the table who would explain to me the rules and what the wrestlers are doing.  There were practicing mats in the hallways for them to warm up, and some would practice right out there. At first I dreaded passing them for fear they would wrestle each other and accidently hurt me by falling on top of me or even elbowing me.  I also didn’t want to interrupt them in the middle of concentrating to get ready for the wrestling and distract them, but later I became an expert at ducking and “snaking around,” avoiding people from different directions. It also amazes me how tough they all are.  One was bleeding so his blood time was up, but they wrapped his nose and practically his face up with a huge mask, and they continued wrestling.  Also, I realized wrestling is not at all just about using strength to put people down but is very dependant on thinking and quick movements and strategies.

Softball

Another place that I visited was a softball league at a park.  I was taken by a friend that I met at the ISC summit held in Beijing.  It was the opening ceremony, with many games of all ages going on.  We spent a little time watching each of them, from T-ball to high school teams.  I realized that no matter what age level they are, or how good or bad the team is, the enthusiasm of the parents was always the same.  They would shout on and cheer for their kids or their kids’ team no matter if it was poor pitch and they made it all the way to third base due to miss passes of the other team, or if it was a fast ball thrown by a very good athlete aged up to 16 and caused a strike.  I was also very envious of the kids who have started since they were very young, or any that had the opportunity to do so and keep it up.  Because of my special experience, I have been deeply involved in softball, as well as many other sports, in an international elementary school.  Due to this experience I have discovered the beauty of them and understood why people are so fascinated and enthralled by such.  In Beijing(or most of China, though I can’t be sure of that since I have not had a lot of experience in other provinces), few community-wide teams are established, not to mention ones that are well organized and cover all sorts of sports and take it really serious, with everyone (mostly everyone) involved.  Beijing students spent most of their time studying after they reach middle school or even when they are younger, and few have the chance to participate in group sports that build good sportsmanship and focus on their collaboration as well as skills of sports.

Shopping for……………Clothes

I was never the kind of girl that focused that much on clothes or fashion (though I did like shopping for earrings), but the Hartley family took me to a second-hand clothes store called Plato’s Closet.  It was like a platform for clothes exchange among teenagers, and I really liked some of the clothes.  This might not be the perfect example to compare but I have been aware that the secondhand business in the US is much more developed than such in China.  The Chinese secondhand market still needs more time to grow and develop into a whole and reliable market.  What I mean to say is that there has been a question of trust during this sort of trade, and the Chinese law to restrict it is not yet fully developed.  In this case, secondhand purchase of goods is still not very safe and that common, especially when it comes to cars.

PCC

I quickly had to draw back my attention to something very important to me-- my speech at Polk Community College.  I spoke at the Fine Arts Center Auditorium and there were more than a hundred students who came.  I talked to them about Beijing Opera, Chinese environmental protection, school life, and all.  Some were music students and were nodding as to show comprehension when I explained to them about the logical reason that explains Beijing Opera, so people don’t have stereotypes about it.  I’m glad that they didn’t know my age until about the very end during Q&A when one came up with the question of how old I am.  I really enjoyed going, and it has been a great experience for me.  I learned a lot, just like from everything else during the trip.

Time flew by like an arrow that travels by light years.  During this brief visit I have learned so much and this experience has been priceless.  I want to thank everyone who was kind and nice to me and made my trip possible and wonderful.  I was very lucky to be on this trip, and I will definitely be willing to share my stories and experiences to those who didn’t go.  It is globalization, the ISC, the Hartley family that I shall be mostly thankful for such a great visit, along with everyone else who has helped me and made me feel so warm and like at home in Florida.