oneworldtalk

Changed forever by a trip to China

CHRISTINA MAXWELL • SPECIAL TO THE CITIZEN-TIMES • JUNE 21, 2009 12:15 AM

Before this year, the word “China” never caught my attention when it came up in a conversation or on the news.

I always opted for a fork instead of chopsticks at Chinese restaurants, looked at a cricket just as I would any other bug and took a shower with my mouth open without thinking about the quality of the water. At the end of my eighth-grade year, I had no idea that all of this would change with the adventures of my freshman year.

But on April 9, it did change for me.

Actually, it changed for 139 students from Reynolds High School. Our Chorale and Wind Symphony, along with 18 brave adults, took a true trip of a lifetime with our Open Hearts Open Minds: Asheville to Beijing adventure.

When I heard that we were going to China and that I was going to be part of that trip, I was shocked and ecstatic. China, of all places.

I could hardly wait to get there, but I was worried, too. It was a communist country. I had no idea how many people would speak our language. I didn't know what it would be like being so far from home in a foreign country where we didn't know how things worked. But what I did know was I was going to be surrounded by people who were in the same boat and were going to take care of me.

For months, there was penny-pinching and fundraising, writing sponsor letters and pulling weeds for extra money. There was applying for visas and going to meetings and making packing lists and getting shots. But it didn't seem real; China was just some faraway land of dragons and small feet. I couldn't process the fact that in a quickly decreasing number of months, I would be standing on the other side of the world.

But suddenly the months turned into weeks and the weeks into days and the days into mere hours — and before I knew it, there were only a few miles between us and China.

When we landed at the Beijing airport, the largest building in the world, we all smelled, were jet-lagged and a little queasy from the airplane food. But we were in China.

We loaded our things on the three big tour buses that would become our second homes for the next 10 days.

As we rode down the crazily packed roads, we passed another bus full of Chinese students. I will never forget those children's faces pressed against the glass of the window, waving wildly at us. They didn't know who we were, what we were like or why we were on the same road they were. They were just so full of joy, curiosity, and wonder that they didn't even care.

Those children were a perfect representation of China's reaction to us. Everyone, from the oldest little old women to the tiny children, lit up with uninhibited and pure amazement and joy when they saw our blue eyes, blond hair and matching sweat shirts that screamed, “I'm a tourist.”

One of the most unforgettable and personal experiences of the trip was when we spent an entire day with students our age at Public High School 80. When we went to the public high school, I was amazed at the students there.

Our students played basketball and soccer games against them and ate lunch with them in their cafeteria. We talked with the students about everything from our favorite music to Michael Phelps to what we like to do in our free time. I was amazed at how much we had in common and how much they knew and wanted to know about the United States.

They welcomed us into their arms, thrilled with a chance to learn more about the United States and its people. I'm sure that with time, I will forget the students in my group's names and what their uniforms looked like. But I will never forget their automatic offer of friendship and hospitality.

The walls of that high school, lined with colorful photos and artwork, will forever be engraved in my mind. So many other places that we saw on our whirlwind tour will always have a place in my memory.

The beautiful, colorful designs on the roofs and the leaves of the ancient trees blowing in the breeze at the Children's Palace. The elaborate temples and roof carvings of the Forbidden City. The stunningly complicated and intricate design of the Bird's Nest and Water Cube.

One of my favorite days was the day we climbed the Great Wall of China and took a Hutong tour in an old part of China. The Great Wall of China was more incredible and breathtaking than I could have ever imagined. It's easy to see why it is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. To think that the ancient, crumbling wall we were climbing up was built so long ago by so many people, and that people died making it, was awe inspiring.

Chinese students (in vests) Allen and Robert stand with AC Reynolds students, from left, Sean Langberg, Blake Johnson, Bennet Garner and Celeste Cowan during the WNC high school symphony's visit to China. (Special to the Citizen-Times)

AC Reynolds tuba players Chase Beattie, center, and William Garrison, right, perform with a Chinese tuba player at the Children's Palace concert in Beijing during the high school symphony's visit to China. (Special to the Citizen-Times)


One of the most meaningful memories of our trip happened in the tiny one room home of a family in that Hutong town. We were blessed with the opportunity to break into small groups and eat dinner with a local Chinese family in their home.

After dinner, an old man with a huge grin entered the room. He spoke no English, but he didn't need to say anything for us to see how excited he was. It turns out that this man was the champion “cricket fighter” of China.
In China, they have a great, competitive sport of “cricket fighting” where you train your cricket to fight other crickets in what they call the “fighting pot.”

People bet money on these monster-like crickets on steroids and are even willing to sell their homes and the clothes off their back for the best cricket. I will never forget that old man's animated delight as he showed off his prized crickets.

Our tour guide suggested that we sing for our host family, that it was the greatest gift of gratitude we could give them. So we circled around the small room and sang “Danny Boy.” As we sang, our voices rising and falling with the words, a feeling swept over me that rivaled even the feeling I get when I am on stage in a performance. It was a feeling of awe, wonder and gratitude that was so strong it moved me to tears.

To sing and to play were the real reasons we were there, to share the life-changing gift of music with people on the other side of the world. It's one thing to sing or play in the United States where people are used to what is coming out of our mouths and instruments. And it is quite another to make music in a country where the audience is hanging on every single note and clapping their hands with joy when they hear something they recognize.

Because of China, sometimes I drink a cup of jasmine tea in the morning instead of coffee. Because of China, I can't see a cricket without wanting to laugh, cry, or do both at the same time. Because of China, my heart and mind are open and I am more awake. Because of China, I know that God's plans for me are greater than what I can imagine.

To me, China is no longer a country that I know of from colored maps, photos in text books, and the “Great Wall” Chinese restaurant across from our high school. It is a family opening their home to us when they would seem to have so little but give so much. It is saying “Ni Hao” to every single person you pass on the street. It is meeting in a tiny hotel conference room at night to worship God on Easter eve. It is messy suitcases full of cheap chopsticks, wrinkled chorale dresses, and hand sanitizer.

Reynolds High student Christina Maxwell was a member of the school's symphony this past year.

Many foreigners who visited China are awed by the economic progress and rich cultural heritage. Australian Prime Minister John Howard came away impressed by China's economic development when he first visited Beijing in 1997. Unlike the current PM Kevin Rudd who served as a diplomat, Howard had limited international exposure and had certain prejudices against non-western cultures. He was surprised that China had made remarkable advances. Howard was quoted asking the Chinese official escort how long had the infrastructure developments been in place and the answer they gave was "quite a while".

The old addage : is the glass of water half full or half empty? One's perspective can easy be altered by crossing the fine line between positive or negative sides. There is a tendency for people to form conclusions when overly focussed on the what they deem as either good or bad and ignore other possibilities, grey areas and the big picture. A skilled photographer is both a technical expert as well as an artist, who makes the best use of all the equipment at his disposal. He sees the world with his macro, telephoto and varying zoom lenses. The world is your oyster. Find out, experience and enjoy what different worlds have to offer.

For months, there was penny-pinching and fundraising, writing sponsor letters and pulling weeds for extra money. ...

When the Beijing Olympics torch relay began March 24, 2008, there was another matter that the worldwide media paid attention to: the human rights issues of the Tibetan people. Today, though the Beijing Olympics has ended, the struggle of the Tibetan people in exile continues.

This summer, 15 UA students and two faculty members including Geshe Dorjee, a Tibetan monk, visited the Tibetan refugee colonies in India as the first group to participate in the new study abroad program called "Tibetan in Exile Today" or TEXT. Students found the compassion and struggle of the Tibetan people by interviewing them.

"I wanted students to have the experience of sitting down and talking face to face with those who have walked all over the Himalaya Mountains, gone through the hunger strikes and worked hard to body compassion and non-violence in a daily life," said Sidney Burris, an English professor and director of Fullbright College Honors Program and Religious Studies who helped organize TEXT.

The main purpose of the program is to record an oral history of the Tibetan people in exile. Students interviewed and recorded the Tibetan people in exile and are working on making the interviews available to the public online.

"Our students learned principles of the Tibetan people's compassion and non-violence that they can carry back successfully into their individual lives, no matter what spiritual tradition they come from," Burris said.

Through their three-weeks stay in three different places in India, students talked with a variety of Tibetan people including monks, nuns, other Geshes, kids and political prisoners.

"If you show up just as a tourist who's interested, you are not going to get those people stop, sit down and talk to you," said graduate student Rachel Williams. It's such a unique opportunity only found here at the UA, she said.

Student Matthew Sample said Tibetans consistently amazed him with their ability to cope with difficult circumstances, all while maintaining their seemingly reflexive compassion and kindness. "I realized that a single system of belief can actually unify people and encourage societal well-being without broadly hindering open-mindedness," he said

"The Tibetan people surprised me," said Amberlie Jones, a junior English major, "because they are not angry. They don't hold hostility against China. They don't hate China. The only thing they want … is to be left alone in their country. They just want to be home."

Dorjee said through the program every single student was exposed to the Tibetan culture, and the first TEXT program turned out to be very successful.

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It would be good, if successful Chinese entrepreneurs and companies could sponsor group tour prizes to US schools for winning annual essay competitions organised by Chinese or Chinese-related non-government organisations, business or other associations on the basic knowledge and understanding of China and the Chinese people with the Chinese Government topping up any needed deficits. This would encourage US schools to help in the organisation of these essay competitions with group tour prizes of varying values and types. The clear benefits of this program would be cultivating generations after generations of friendly Americans who know China and the Chinese people far better than it is and, at the same time, a tremendous boost to the tourism sector of the Chinese economy.

I am all for expanding cultural exchanges to forge better and deeper understanding and dispel misconceptions about China and other countries outside the radar of most Americans and westerners. For many years, bilateral and multilateral levels seasonal camps have been organised by the Chinese government for overseas Chinese language students. Some of them are children of mixed parentage, Chinese children adopted by American families and white Americans who take up Chinese language studies, dance, martial arts or painting. Students only need to pay for airfare plus a nominal sum which covers accommodation in youth hostels, boarding schools, hotels, food, tours, transport and admission tickets to museums, places of interest and science centres. .....

I think lpc1998's suggestion of essay writing contests is a fantastic idea. Why is there no concerted effort by successful Chinese entrepreneurs to finance such projects? There are various possiblities such as individualism which "orange blossom" and "lpc1998" have mentioned, indifference or apprehension from being identified as pro-China. Yet, not all overseas Chinese are in agreement on the perception of what China because it is conditioned by their personal experience.

...... I can forsee resistance to promoting objective research on China wtih some Americans characterizing this as propaganda. It would take a long time to start and grow these programmes over time and to be nurtured by a conducive and encouraging environment.

...... I can forsee resistance to promoting objective research on China wtih some Americans characterizing this as propaganda. It would take a long time to start and grow these programmes over time and to be nurtured by a conducive and encouraging environment.