Suzhou and the English Corner
We had a really nice day in Suzhou yesterday. Suzhou is 'in Shanghai's neighborhood' to quote one of the guys I talked to today (more about that in a sec.), and is a big and growing economic center. But we went to see the gardens, for which the city of about 7 million is famous. It was really hot, but we had fun nonetheless, visiting a couple of pagodas and the "Garden of the Master of the Nets." Why it's named that I couldn't tell you, but it was a nice place.
This morning we went to the "English Corner" that takes place every Sunday in the People's Square Park downtown. All kinds and ages of people gather there to practice English. A street-artist who draws tourists' portraits for money invited us, but businessmen, schoolkids (often dragged and prodded by their parents), and retired people all show up. We drew a crowd, of course, and split up to talk to people. Eveyone wanted to know of course where I was from, why I was in China, what I thought about Shanghai, ect. My answers to these questions led to some interesting conversations about Shanghai's development. One man who has lived in Los Angeles for 18 years told me that he learned English in the English Corner, so he always came back to visit when he came back to Shanghai. His story is amazing; he was "sent down" during the Cutural Revolution to work farming rice. He said he usually worked 14 hour days, getting only 3 bowls of rice to eat all day. When he was able to come back to Shanghai, he passed the examination to get into the university, but at that time there was an age limit for entrance, and he was disqualified because he was too old. He said he was angry and frustrated, but he did not give up. An uncle in the U.S. was able to get him a job in the U.S., and he married an American woman. When he went to apply for citizenship, the interviewer gave him a hard time about how he came to the U.S., but shook his hand and congratulated him on becoming an American citizen when the man recited JFK's "Ask not what your country can do for you" speech in its entirety. He never went to college, but he has 4 licenses and owns a contracting business. He said when he went to take an exam to get the first license, he was in a room full of college graduates, but he passed and many of them didn't. This, he said, was one reason why America is so amazing; hard work (in this case hard studying) creates opportunities that are unheard of in China.
I talked with another person about movies. The subject came up when someone commented that Marcus (who was standing in his own little crowd a few meters away from us) looked like the movie star from Titanic. Marcus thought this was pretty funny when I told him later. Anyway, we talked about movies for a while, and how he thinks the English in movies is often very hard to understand. Then someone asked me if I had seen "Farenheit 911." I said no, and he asked me why not. I told him that the movie was very controversial in the U.S., that it's intention was to attack the President, and that many people thought its director had skewed facts to this end. Everyone in the little crowd around me thought this was very intereting. The man said, "Well, that's really good too then; I mean, people can make movies about their opinions and let the people decide. Here in China I think we only get one side of things." You know, I said, that's a really good way too look at this movie. A testament to America's freedoms. Later in the internet bar, I came across an entry from one of my favorite bloggers, (one of the few that are not blocked here in China); in it he quotes Thomas Jefferson: "... let them stand as monuments to the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it." Indeed.
This morning we went to the "English Corner" that takes place every Sunday in the People's Square Park downtown. All kinds and ages of people gather there to practice English. A street-artist who draws tourists' portraits for money invited us, but businessmen, schoolkids (often dragged and prodded by their parents), and retired people all show up. We drew a crowd, of course, and split up to talk to people. Eveyone wanted to know of course where I was from, why I was in China, what I thought about Shanghai, ect. My answers to these questions led to some interesting conversations about Shanghai's development. One man who has lived in Los Angeles for 18 years told me that he learned English in the English Corner, so he always came back to visit when he came back to Shanghai. His story is amazing; he was "sent down" during the Cutural Revolution to work farming rice. He said he usually worked 14 hour days, getting only 3 bowls of rice to eat all day. When he was able to come back to Shanghai, he passed the examination to get into the university, but at that time there was an age limit for entrance, and he was disqualified because he was too old. He said he was angry and frustrated, but he did not give up. An uncle in the U.S. was able to get him a job in the U.S., and he married an American woman. When he went to apply for citizenship, the interviewer gave him a hard time about how he came to the U.S., but shook his hand and congratulated him on becoming an American citizen when the man recited JFK's "Ask not what your country can do for you" speech in its entirety. He never went to college, but he has 4 licenses and owns a contracting business. He said when he went to take an exam to get the first license, he was in a room full of college graduates, but he passed and many of them didn't. This, he said, was one reason why America is so amazing; hard work (in this case hard studying) creates opportunities that are unheard of in China.
I talked with another person about movies. The subject came up when someone commented that Marcus (who was standing in his own little crowd a few meters away from us) looked like the movie star from Titanic. Marcus thought this was pretty funny when I told him later. Anyway, we talked about movies for a while, and how he thinks the English in movies is often very hard to understand. Then someone asked me if I had seen "Farenheit 911." I said no, and he asked me why not. I told him that the movie was very controversial in the U.S., that it's intention was to attack the President, and that many people thought its director had skewed facts to this end. Everyone in the little crowd around me thought this was very intereting. The man said, "Well, that's really good too then; I mean, people can make movies about their opinions and let the people decide. Here in China I think we only get one side of things." You know, I said, that's a really good way too look at this movie. A testament to America's freedoms. Later in the internet bar, I came across an entry from one of my favorite bloggers, (one of the few that are not blocked here in China); in it he quotes Thomas Jefferson: "... let them stand as monuments to the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it." Indeed.
posted by Mike and Jean Anne at 1:35 AM
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