Greetings from the Ponderosa!

Greetings from Menlo Park, near San Francisco!

It has been an action packed couple of days. I am one of 16 participants who will be traveling to China as part of a Fulbright Hays Exchange Program. I am confident this will be a trip of a lifetime. We will be traveling to four cities. We are still waiting for our final itinerary but that should be coming soon.

Everything is becoming a little more real and exciting for me at this point. Today we had a busy day of discussions and more in depth introductions. Our first presentation was from Dr.Gold from UCLA. We spoke about Modern Chinese Society. This was extremely enlightening and informative. Dr.Gold mentioned that there is a big issue as far as cultural preservation is concerned. One of these examples are the Hutongs which are old alleyways full of houses that have no indoor plumbing and sanitation. Some say that they should be torn down and new housing should be developed while others say that this is part of China's identity. We heard that there is a struggle internally in China over the vision of where China should go.

Dr.Gold also mentioned that there is a disconnect between the generations or a generation gap and that relationships between parents and the youth are strained. The single children born to Chinese parents are often called little emperors or empresses for they are indulged and in some cases spoiled. We then discussed other issues such as the education and testing system, capitalism and ethnic differences. I really enjoyed Dr.Gold's presentation and respected the fact that he mentioned these were his impressions and that we should form our own.

We then heard from Dr.Van Slyke who was a Professor of History at Stanford University. Dr.Van Slyke gave us a wonderful overview of the History of China. He recommended a book by Henry Kissinger called " On China". We learned a lot of interesting facts and information on China during this presentation by Dr.Van Slyke. 30% of the land in the United States is arable compared to 11% in China. No where is global warming affecting the earth like it is in the Himalayas according to Dr.Van Slyke. Other random tidbits that I learned or we discussed included the fact that the group takes precedence over the individual in Chinese culture. There is a reliance on hierarchy and authority while China has discomfort with pluralism.For all the periods of disintegration in Chinese history, China has maintained its unity.

The Columbian Exchange, or the influx of goods from the Americas after the discovery, increased Chinese population tremendously. Population growth went from 170 million in 1730 to roughly 400 million in the 1830's. The influx of corn, sweet potatoes, chili's and tomatoes contributed to this increase. The trade went from Mexico to the Philippines and then to China. The population also increased due to a new strain of rice from probably Vietnam which ripened much faster and thusly allowed the Chinese to plant more crops.

Law: The purpose of US Law many would argue is to protect the individual. In China the purpose of law is to assist the rule authority. Individuals have duties. Dynasties at certain points in history refused to publish the laws, this still happens today with people being arrested for ambiguous laws. This however as I mentioned preexisted the Communist revolution.

After our informative presentations we went around the room and discussed how we hope to use what we learn in China in our classrooms. Many of us stated that we need to experience the four weeks and decide where to go from there. However we all have ideas. I am interested in seeing how Confucianism still affects China today. I also am interested in learning more about Buddhism and Taoism. I teach about these religions and often times my students have problems distinguishing between the eastern religions. I also am interested in meeting a Chinese teacher who would be willing to interact between his or her classroom and mine. I would love to be able to Skype with a Chinese classroom and have the students share their perspective on their history while my students would share their perspectives on certain events in United States history. These are just preliminary thoughts and if anyone has any suggestion feel free to comment or email.

Alright it is getting late so I am going to end this long post. Tomorrow is our last fully day and then we fly out on Thursday. I am excited for another trip of a lifetime.