Fri, 22 Dec 2000

Well, only 3 days til Christmas and I am feeling a mixture of excitement and

apathy. A weird (if not impossible) mixture I know, but in some ways I am

feeling that good Christmas spirit but in some ways this Christmas is way

uneventful. We were all going to rent a hotel room and party the night away

(an untraditional, yet fun celebration) but Tomas's mom decided that she

wanted to spend Christmas with her son (and since she's sososo rich, she can

do that) so Tomas and Abby will be spending Christmas with her, and the rest

of us are too poor to afford a room on our own (well not actually poor, but

saving our big bucks for traveling). So we'll be spending Christmas in our

lame-o dorm. At least I have a giant package (being hidden underneath Adam's

bed for safe keeping) from my family waiting for me. That will be fun to

open. Tomorrow we are having a celebration with our Chinese friends (similar

to our Thanksgiving party). That should be nice.

Last week my language partner and I spent 5 hours at a resturaunt talking

about Chinese issues. It was so nice. We talked about government and

politics mostly (suprise suprise). She told me that a government cannot tell

the citizens the true things the government does or else they won't be able

to effectively govern. I said HER country's government can't tell the truth

and remain in power but MINE can (within reason obviously). She was amazed

that I thought this way. She said "You mean, everything your government says

is the truth?!" Basically. I was trying to explain how the media's

involvement made it pretty much impossible for them to lie to us. And she

asked about other countries too. And I said yeah, basically most governments

tell the truth, and she thought this way interesting. But she also told me

that the American government does indeed lie to us all the time, her

government told her so. :) We also discussed the difference between freedom

of opinion in our countries. She was shocked to see that we could openly

criticize the government and that even newspapers will print things

negatively about the government. She said this is one things that could most

definately not happen in China. (***Editor's Note: I was not so naive as to

say our government is perfect, etc. and they don't tell us things that

concern National Security, but that by in large I believe our government is

honest)

We also talked alot about Tiananmen. There are lots of things that she wants

to know about it. Some of the things they have been told are either

incorrect or skewed, and they aren't told lots of things at all. We were

talking about the "bad people" of the Tiananmen movement, and after a few

mintues I realized we were talking about different people. I was talking

about some of the outsiders that became too fiesty and regretably did things

to harm some of the PLA, and she was talking about the leaders of the

movement, the ones at the center of everything. So I explained that we don't

think these people did anything wrong and that is why they are living in

America now. We are protecting them from the Chinese government. She was

blown away by this because she has always thought that these were the bad

people (that's what she has always been told). It was really interesting to

hear the Chinese view on the incident. This led to a small discussion about

Falun Gong and cults and I was explaining the difference between the Branch

Davidians and the action our government took, and the Falun Gong and the way

the Chinese government has treated them. Needless to say this was definately

a good revelation for her, as well as me. The more I defend my government

and the things we do, the more I feel I can talk about these things

accurately.

We then got to talking about each other's perceptions and thoughts. SHe told

me that alot of the things she tells me is to try and get me to see that her

government (and country) are good. But she is afraid that the more she tells

me the more I think the Government and her counrty is bad. For her, she

cannot seperate the two. The government cannot be seperated from her country

and people. This sometimes is problematic for me because there are many

things I want to say about the government, but I know she will interpret

them as bad things about the Chinese people. I also don't want to seem like

I am being some flag waver and saying the US is the best country in the

world (even though I think it is :) I just want to give her my opinions and

let her deal with them as she feels she should. I am obviously some wise

know it all, but then neither is she. I think that we both can give good

judgements of our own countries. She also has shown me some of the good

things the government does. I told her that I will never love the Communist

Party and that it is against my beliefs to even say that their government is

as viable as ours, but I can see that the government is not all bad. They do

do alot of good things for the people and they do try to do good things

(albeit they do lots of not so good things) and she has made me become more

open-minded about it. I am not so quick to condemn something the government

does without asking lots of questions. I think we are the perfect

conversation partner match. We are very alike in many ways, and she even

jokes that I am more like a typical Chinese person than a typical American!

We both share some really insightful views.

And finally for all of you who have suffered through my political thoughtful

babble....in honor of everyone's favorite Hoosier DAVID LETTERMAN I have

come up with a Top Ten List for the season!

Top Ten Signs You've Been in China Too Long:

10. You can walk down the street holding hands with a person of the same sex

and not feel like a giant weirdo!

9. The words "OSHA" and "Health Department" make you laugh hysterically.

8. You begin to forget simple English words and instead substitute them for

Chinese words.

7. "Chinglish" is a perfectly understandable language to you.

6. You can sit in the backseat of a taxi going down the wrong side of the

road 100mph and not even feel the least bit scared.

5. You no longer spaz when you see a roach, and instead move with a casual

yet cat-like reflex to grab the nearest heavy object to smash it.

4. You can tell the difference between a "nice" squat toilet and a "bad"

one.

3. You think that wearing 3 layers of clothes at all times is natural.

2. You bargain for the equivalent of US 25 cents.

AND THE NUMBER ONE SIGN YOU'VE BEEN IN CHINA TOO LONG:

You freak out and stare harder than any Chinese person when you see a

foreigner out in public!!!!

Ok, that's all for this edition of the life and times of Lindsay, Happy

Holidays!!!!