From the Outside looking in

There are many things about China I feel I will never understand, no matter how long I’m here or how many people I talk to. But I am thankful to be in the position to get little glimpses!

Sunday I was on the bus home for my church in Shekou to Laintang which is usually a little over an hour ride. As soon as we got closer to the center of the city traffic became a nightmare, like barely moving. A few people got up to talk to the driver and before long he opens up the doors in the middle of the road and lets them off the bus! The bus attendant runs to the front and they chat for awhile the only thing I can catch is “metro”. The whole bus seems to join in on the conversation until the bus pulls over to the curb, not at a bus stop mind you, and starts kicking people off. The attendant would ask each person “where to?” and then respond, “no, metro, go” direct translation! She didn’t ask me anything, and I didn’t know where I was so I stayed on the bus with a handful of other people.

Some of the men moved to the front of the bus, seemingly to give the driver directions. And next thing I know we are on the highway, skipping 2 districts worth or bus stops! Even with the detour the ride took FOREVER! I finally asked the attendant in my crappy Chinglish, “ummm Wo qi liantang ummmm ma?” which translates, “umm I go liantang ummm huh?” and the best part of the story is that she also answered in perfect Chinglish, “OK le!” but then I must have fooled her with my Chinese skills bc she raddled off 3 more questions in full speed Chinese and was surprised when I just smiled and gave an awkward laugh.

So 2 hours later I finally get home, and my friend txt me that she was on a bus that was stuck in an anti-Japanese protest! The Uniglo was closed, the Japanese stake house was closed, and there were extra gaurds outside the Toyota place by my house. So I look up online Shenzhen Daily, the local English paper and the site is down, I try to google search and NOTHING not ONE article would come up for Japan and China! My search had obviously been censored!

So apparently, anybody who has ever read a newspaper knows that China and Japan are fighting over “the fishing islands”. I had never read said paper. I didn’t get it. China has been boycotting Japanese products and there have been protests and riots all over China. I didn’t know. I asked Daniel and his response was, “It doesn’t matter.” So like any good teacher, I used my students for information. Oh yes with the help of Wikipedia! And this is what I found out…

The fishing island belonged to ancient day China and has been under debate, pretty much ever since. Recently the Japanese government has purchased the land on the island from the public in an effort to better control the island. And my students are not at all happy with APPLE because google maps on the new I-phone shows the island as part of Japan! Btw, in the whole discussion this one of the most heated objections! I asked why dose china care so much about one little island, china is huge and this land is so small? The answer began with cultural value but then words like oil and resources came up, which makes more sense to me. Sunday was also a special anniversary of past wars between Japan and China, again something I was suposta know but didn’t.

During the protests people will destroy anything Japanese. There are reports of people smashing Japanese made cameras, vandalizing Japanese stores or companies, and flipping Japanese brand cars! The Cars are the biggest shock because this even included CHINESE POLICE cars, here in Shenzhen. So I showed my students the pictures and asked what they thought. They seem to think it is only a few wild Chinese that are starting these protests and most people just crowd around in curiosity. And they say the protest is mostly against Japan, but also against the Chinese government. In Dongmen, one of my favorite shopping areas, police used tear gas on the protestors. I wasn’t there, but it must have been pretty out of control. For the most part the students feel the government encourages the protests, almost as a sense of Chinese pride. The government even sent out a list of Japanese items to boycott, by my students hadn’t heard of that.

The new Japanese ambassador to China, was found dead in Tokyo 3 days ago but no details have been released. This has lead to many rumors of a possible assassination. I was surprised that this didn’t get a big reaction out of my students. Few had heard the rumor, but simply replied “maybe true, maybe nothing”.

They did bring up that all Chinese hate Japan, very matter of fact. They referenced WWII, but didn’t go into any details. Even my students that I have taught for over a year would start to say something about the government, then stop and said, “I don’t want to say out loud.”  It’s interesting to me how hesitant the Chinese are to speak out against the government when I live in a country who’s government criticize its self, republic vs democrat. We have bumper stickers publicly criticizing our leaders or president. My students tell me all the time that everyone in America hates Bush! To them it seems like Americans have no pride in our country, but to us it’s the opposite. I criticize my government because I believe that I can change things for the better. I have been taught to always express a position or opinion. In China speaking against the government is speaking against yourself, they hold their tongues to show respect for their country. I see the point, but it still shocks me as a polar opposite.

On a side note, last night I was making plans to go out with friends and one of the girls said she was afraid with all the protests and things going out and would rather stay in, just to be safe. I called my Italian friend to see if she wanted to reschedule. She responded, “come on, we will be inside the restaurant and then inside the KTV, we will stay ‘IN’ it’s just as safe!”  Pina is an amazing woman, well said!