Just Because Everyone Else is Doing it, it Probably Means You Should Too
When I first came to China I was terrified to speak Chinese because I thought I would say something wrong, but the more time I spent here the more confidence I had to attempt small interactions in Chinese. My first try was at a fast food restaurant where I was trying to order some food. I said 请给我 (qing gei wo), meaning please give me, and before I finished the person interrupted me and chose to do the entire transaction in English. This was not the last time that I would attempt to practice my Chinese and the other party chose to speak in English instead. I mentioned this to one of my colleagues who is from China and she said they probably wanted to practice their English. We had a long discussion about my interactions and I became enlightened about a portion of Chinese culture that I was before unaware of. I learned how much they valued education.
In China, to get into colleges there is a standardized test which places students in groups that correspond to colleges. So, the better you do on the exam, the higher colleges you are allowed to go to. At first, this sounds much like our ACTs and SATs in the United States with colleges factoring in the standardized testing to choose students. However, in China this test is not just used along with other portions of the student's application, it is the majority of the application. If a student does not get a high enough test score, they cannot apply to colleges that require that test score. This has led to schooling being highly competitive with students going to school at 7am and finishing around 10pm. Any free time is used to study, take extra classes, or have one on one tutoring sessions. Even those who are no longer in school are continuing their education in their lives. For example, are the people who kept having English conversations with me instead of Chinese. When they saw me they saw an opportunity to practice their English with a native speaker. After learning this, it made me change my attitude on those who chose to speak English with me instead of Chinese. Earlier, I was annoyed that they would not let me try to speak Chinese, but now I am glad that I was able to help them practice their skills.
This week at work I started doing research on protecting children from hazards on the Internet. Although the Internet is a great tool that can be used in a highly productive way it can also be used in a negative way. Currently, in the United States, there is not a fool-proof way to filter the different types of information to keep away from children. There have been multiple attempts at fixing this through legislation, but the legislation was often ruled unconstitutional because of the infringement on free speech. The issue with the Internet is that it is all connected which makes it hard to filter information for one type of person and not another. Many websites have attempted to try to filter themselves by having age requirements but these can often be gotten around since there is not a system to check to see if people are lying about their ages. Most people can see evidence of this on Facebook, which has a minimum age for users. If you look at certain accounts profile pictures of teenagers correspond with the age of thirty. These users are able to get access to information which is not appropriate for their age or gives other people access to them. This topic is a delicate balance between free speech and the safety of children in our technological world.
This week I also learned much from the social cues in China. I went to a street which was full of street food. It seemed to be a big area for both tourists and also those who lived in Beijing. While I was sampling foods I noticed a similar pattern. Although there were large crowds around the areas with live scorpions on a stick, people did not order from there. The scorpions were as much as a tourist attraction for the Chinese as it was for me. The best food was in the booths that were chaotic with several people trying to order food at once. That is when I learned that just because everyone else is doing it, it probably means you should too.
