Plays, Dumplings, and New Perspectives

[Editor's note: thanks to our busy travel schedule, all these blog posts are now pretty belated and out of order! Never fear, though, we are having a rich and fascinating traipse through China in the meantime, and here is a retrospective post by Dakota McCoy on our visit to Shanghai Jiao Tong University last week.]


Today, we were warmly welcomed at Shanghai Jiao Tong University by a group of enthusiastic students with whom we paired up for the day. The highlights of the trip to China for me have been the wonderful moments of conversation that reveal great cultural differences – and similarities!

EXCERPTS:

Ela, Rhodes Scholar from Germany (2013) had been wondering about changes in young adult career ambitions due to the One Child Policy and its aftermath. (An article we’d read hinted at that sort of cultural change). The following exchange took place:

Ela: "As an only child, do you feel a lot of pressure? Does it change your outlook?"

SJTU student: "You mean, when I'm taking care of my parents as they get older?"

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Over lunch, I brought up the topics of Darwinism/evolution and climate change in the United States. After a few minutes of explanation to drive home the point that these issues are – truly!!-- politically polarizing, I was met with incredulous stares and a not-insignificant amount of giggling.

Finally, one girl ventured to say: “Maybe these politicians should remember their junior high school science classes?”

(As Madeleine, Rhodes scholar from Canada (2013) noted, “maybe they were remembering their junior high science classes!”)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After lunch, we – the Rhodes scholars and our assigned SJTU buddies-- walked along a path framed by blooming magnolia trees, shootin’ the breeze about everything ranging from love to government censorship. My favorite quote came from one girl who summed up a common attitude towards the government (at least among SJTU students):

“If the government says ‘One!’, sometimes we hear ‘Minus one!’”

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In the afternoon, we had the peculiar – yet marvelous -- experience of attending an exposition of traditional Irish drama in the lovely Shanghai Grand Theater. In the company of the Irish Consul General to Shanghai, we watched:

(i) an unremarkable scene (about whether or not some women would go to a dance) from a play written by a lesser-known Irish playwright whose name I’ve forgotten*

And

(ii) the most emotionally wrenching and captivating scene from Pygmalion (the inspiration for the much-loved, familiar classic My Fair Lady), written by Nobel Laureate George Bernard Shaw.
The contrast was… striking.

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Our first day with the students, we came together for a conference of sorts. The MC was a lovely student with the voice of a radio announcer from 1920s America, and he kept us right on schedule with a variety of entertaining metaphors (“rev your engines!” vroom vroom vroooooom). He was, without a doubt, the most entertaining conference MC I have ever seen.

After Rachel Kolb, Charles Masaki, and Adam Mastroianni spoke to the SJTU students about their experiences at Oxford, we moved to small themed discussion groups (with two or three Rhodes scholars and 8 or so SJTU students per group) that revealed very interesting cultural differences – e.g., risk-taking propensity --  in considerations about business, entrepreneurship, the environment, and more.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I left SJTU with a deeper understanding of the beliefs, practices, and personalities of students at China’s top universities. I left with a belly full of delicious dumplings that we made together, with laughter and storytelling. I left with a notebook filled with quotes, sketches, and memories.

But most importantly, I left with a new friend: my buddy, Sara (first year student at SJTU). The night that we parted ways, we exchanged WeChat contact information (you haven’t heard of WeChat? Do yourself a favor and download it ASAP.), then stood on the banks of a huge body of water overlooking the futuristic, geometric Shanghai skyline. The haze of pollution made everything feel ethereal.

After about five minutes of standing in comfortable silence, looking out at the triumphant spectacle of human achievement spanning the entire horizon, Sara said, “it is so broad! It is just so broad. It makes me feel broad.”

Thanks to Sara and her friends at SJTU, I know my perspective has broadened, too.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

* I am being unfair to the poor chap, who is a quite well-known playwright named Brian Friel. A quick Google—aided, of course, by my ever-trusty VPN, who never fails to charge through Chinese firewalls—immediately revealed his name.

- Dakota McCoy
(Pennsylvania and St. Hilda's 2013)

Chinese Civilizations

[Editor's note: apologies for the delay in posting, mainly due to busy schedules and unreliable wifi; photos coming soon, hopefully!]

Ndjodi’s taken up the blogging baton today.

Many will concur that today was by far the most eventful day! Cherry picking what to blog’s a tough ask (no pun intended, birthday girl Cherry). We woke up to the most modern of civilizations – white linen and western buffet breakfast. We then dashed off to experience earliest of Chinese civilization at the Chengdu Jinsha Archeological Site Museum. Touring the site, we marveled at preserved evidence of the Chinese way of life spanning over three millennia.

I am no archeological fundi - others in this cohort of scholars would certainly be better poised to provide an informed opinion on the value and riches of the site. However, the physical and virtual representations of Chinese rural way of life strikingly resonated with me as I thought of my small home farming village thousands of miles away. Green, lush landscapes without the obscurity of skyscrapers; the humbling simple yet magnificent life as hunter-gathers; times when man and beast co-existed in relative harmony. In contrast, a quick Google search reveals the bleak present and future of the Asian elephant and rhino populations, which are decreasing alarmingly as poaching sophisticates and natural habitats are cut down exponentially. Depressing thoughts in a breathtaking place!

For much of the afternoon we roamed around a traditional Chinese marketplace as we tried to negotiate lowered prices with merchants without a common lingua franca. Chinese artwork certainly amazes. And not to forget the sensational ear cleaning service some of us indulged in! On our bus talks, we had lectures on a series of topics ranging from the one child policy, family names, and ethnic harmony in China.

Fittingly, the day concluded with contemporary Chinese cultural performances as we feasted upon a diversity of Chinese dishes.

Day one in Chengdu certainly brought together the civilizations.

Selfie Sticks!!!

Hey there it's Adam writing really quickly in a cafe that's closing! Here's some random things that would have been more cohesive if I knew this place closed at 9:30!

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In a group discussion on AI and the future of humanity, one engineering student posited that aliens had visited the Earth and this could be the reason humans evolved. Everyone agreed. All of us Rhodies shot each other glances, unsure of what to do. We thought about engaging, but didn't.

After the formal discussion was where the conversation really got good, as Josh and I got to talking with some students about the firewall and sex education in China. About the firewall: one student revealed that elite universities in China actually have more access to the internet than the average Chinese. At our current host institution, students can get onto Google and the sites it owns without any problem. At Peking University, they hear, you can even get onto Facebook and Twitter. One student's theory was that the government restricts the internet to protect the less-educated people of China, who might read spurious things online and rebel against the government. By getting into an elite university, students demonstrate their intellectual maturity, which gives them the right to greater access.

About sexual education: one student in our conversation had gotten some in school, the other hadn't. The student who had described it as a handful of documentaries they watched in middle school while split into gender groups, with some vague references to AIDS in a high school psychology class. The other one said he hadn't heard anything about sex in school, and that sex ed was considered outside the purview of the school. Both agreed that sex outside of marriage is considered morally wrong, or at least it used to be, and they claimed this prevents a lot of it from happening.

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Shanghai has 25 million people in it. This is double the population of my home state of Ohio, plus a couple million more.

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Today's conference/exchange with Shanghai Jiao Tung ended with a dumpling-making session with our host students. There was a cheer as we got a selfie stick out. I'll upload the picture as soon as I get more wifi.

-Adam

Day 1(?): Rhodes Scholars in Limbo Land

Greetings from Canton Baiyun Airport! 

Where approximately fifteen of us have been experiencing the marvelous talents of Chinese air traffic control management since we landed here five hours ago. (For a two-hour layover.)

It is now 10.37 p.m., and there is still no definite word about our 8.00 p.m. flight.

For your entertainment (as well as ours -- since there is not much else to really do in this subterranean holding cell), below is some photographic documentation of our travels from the day! Enjoy.

Aisle seats for everyone! (The flight from London Heathrow to Canton.)

Pre-departure (last moments in the UK!)

Holding Cell 1 of 2 while Chinese customs 'randomly inspects' our luggage. (With free drinks and snacks to partially make up for the inconvenience.)

After an hour and a half of waiting for our delayed flight, some group noodle therapy for dinner.

Holding Cell 2 of 2. Four girls (Cody, Cherry, Audrey [the empty seat], and Rachel) holding down the fort while the rest of the cohort hangs out upstairs. 

If we ever get out of this endless purgatory-limbo, we'll let you know!

-- Audrey Shi (St. Catz)

Off to China!

Greetings, readers!

Rachel Kolb writing here, as one of your guest bloggers and editors for the next two and a half weeks. Welcome to the informal travel blog for the Rhodes China trip 2015, which will take a group of 19 Rhodes Scholars (from various years, academic disciplines, and global constituencies) through three major cities in China over the upcoming 16 days. On our itinerary, after we travel from Oxford and fly out of London Heathrow later tonight, will be the destinations of Shanghai, Chengdu, and Beijing. Along the way, we'll be visiting universities, talking with academics and businesspeople and many others, learning about culture and art and modern affairs, meeting current Chinese students, and engaging with a fascinating range of individuals and institutions that constitute contemporary China. (And many more.) On behalf of the group, many of whom have never been to China before, I can tell you that we are thrilled for the opportunity to learn about and immerse ourselves in this country over the upcoming fortnight.

Family, friends, and all interested parties, watch this space for updates on the trip, written by a variety of scholars along the way. Watch for plenty of pictures and stories, too, as we all trek along our own Silk Rhodes through China (yes, pun intended).

First stop, Shanghai. Here we go!

- Rachel Kolb
(New Mexico and St. John's 2013)