ChinaExchange2014
Kelly: Blog 2
Over the first couple of weeks, my host sister, Sunny and I discussed many aspects of American culture and society. She began to see there were many misconceptions that her and her friends had about Americans. Whenever I would bring up our daily life, she was shocked from what she heard. It wasn’t upsetting to hear the thoughts that she had about Americans; it was just surprising. Her first misconception was that if you were a student that is studying in America, you would have little to no homework. The average life of a Chinese student consists of many hours of homework and studying, and to them, the workload that Americans get does not even compare to what they receive. But when I told her and her friends that I go to sleep late every night because of the large amount of homework I get, their ideas quickly changed. Yes, we may not have the same quantity of homework each night, yet that does not mean that kids in America are not pressured by the large amount of homework given as well.
Another misconception was that they believed Americans didn’t eat rice. This one was the most surprising for me because I always thought that rice was a known as universal food. It would be crazy to think that China was the only country that eats it. Chinese students also believe that Americans do not have to take a test in order to get into and apply to college. Here in China, students must take 高考 (gao kao,) in order to determine what level of college you will attend. They did not know that American students should also take a test in order to see their knowledge going onto college. We take the SAT’s, this is extremely important when being accepted into different colleges. The better you do on you SAT’s, the more options you may have. We all are raised with misconceptions, but these are what bring us to true understanding.
Before coming to China I had some misconceptions of my own. My first misconception was that I thought my parents were only going to be focused on their daughter’s schoolwork and not necessarily me. But even on my first day in my house, I was already treated like their daughter. They put so much effort into trying to make me happy. Even though they do pay a lot of attention to Sunny, they still find time to make me feel at home and part of the family. Another thing I believed about China was that everyone was going to try their best to keep the sidewalks clean. But after spending many weeks here, I have realized that not many people care about the cleanliness of the sidewalks. For an example, when I am walking home from school, I see many people hacking, spitting and littering out in public, but here it is not seen as rude. It is very fascinating to see the differences between what you grew up thinking and what is actually true.
Kelly: Blog 2
Over the first couple of weeks, my host sister, Sunny and I discussed many aspects of American culture and society. She began to see there were many misconceptions that her and her friends had about Americans. Whenever I would bring up our daily life, she was shocked from what she heard. It wasn’t upsetting to hear the thoughts that she had about Americans; it was just surprising. Her first misconception was that if you were a student that is studying in America, you would have little to no homework. The average life of a Chinese student consists of many hours of homework and studying, and to them, the workload that Americans get does not even compare to what they receive. But when I told her and her friends that I go to sleep late every night because of the large amount of homework I get, their ideas quickly changed. Yes, we may not have the same quantity of homework each night, yet that does not mean that kids in America are not pressured by the large amount of homework given as well.
Another misconception was that they believed Americans didn’t eat rice. This one was the most surprising for me because I always thought that rice was a known as universal food. It would be crazy to think that China was the only country that eats it. Chinese students also believe that Americans do not have to take a test in order to get into and apply to college. Here in China, students must take 高考 (gao kao,) in order to determine what level of college you will attend. They did not know that American students should also take a test in order to see their knowledge going onto college. We take the SAT’s, this is extremely important when being accepted into different colleges. The better you do on you SAT’s, the more options you may have. We all are raised with misconceptions, but these are what bring us to true understanding.
Before coming to China I had some misconceptions of my own. My first misconception was that I thought my parents were only going to be focused on their daughter’s schoolwork and not necessarily me. But even on my first day in my house, I was already treated like their daughter. They put so much effort into trying to make me happy. Even though they do pay a lot of attention to Sunny, they still find time to make me feel at home and part of the family. Another thing I believed about China was that everyone was going to try their best to keep the sidewalks clean. But after spending many weeks here, I have realized that not many people care about the cleanliness of the sidewalks. For an example, when I am walking home from school, I see many people hacking, spitting and littering out in public, but here it is not seen as rude. It is very fascinating to see the differences between what you grew up thinking and what is actually true.