The lost
art of planning ahead:
Living in a world where people tend
to hold things off until the last moment and hope that things will work out in
the end tends to leave me with a sense of fatalism and ambivalence. I do not like that fact that I can plan
things out and then have everything changed at a moment because an important
official came into town and I need to go out to dinner with him. The other facet of this attitude towards
fatalism is that it leaves a person with a sense of defeat for putting in all
the time and effort to plan things when they realize that at any moment things
could change and cause their plans to change.
The other caveat of leaving things until the last moment is that it
becomes exceedingly more difficult to get everything ready at the last minute
without making mistakes, forgetting things behind, making necessary
arrangements for travel, etc. I do not
know how many times that a student, colleague, or Chinese friend asked me if I
wanted to go on an extended journey only the morning before travel was to
begin.
My theory on why some of my Chinese
friends tend to not emphasis planning into the future as much as Americans do
derives from differences in culture and education. In my mind, traditional Chinese culture
dictates that people need to be ready at all times of day to help a friend,
colleague, or family member. This comes
from a deeply engrained sense of responsibility to maintain and build strong
relationships (guanxi). In some
circumstances people are able to avoid commitments in China but it is necessary
for them to find a way of avoiding blame for not being able to assist that
person. For example, it is necessary for
them to establish a viable reason which would keep them previously engaged
indefinitely. Of course, in situations
where a person of high importance asks you to do something it becomes even more
difficult to avoid not helping them.
In my mind, another reason for a
lack of planning skills comes from the Chinese education system itself. I feel the education system in China promotes
an analytical thought process and values reasoning skills greater than creative
thinking. Chinese children leave their
formative years of education with strong analytical reasoning skills and a vast
amount of information learned through rote memorization. Throughout these years respecting leaders in
society, civic duties, and the importance of competition and nationalism are
all reinforced. To be far, our two
cultures and systems value things quite differently leaving some things to be
desired in both respects.
The total institution approach to
education in China also leads to problems in problem solving and planning. From elementary school to high school many
students will spend eight hours a day in school. After school, they will have homework to do
which will take several hours to finish in time for dinner followed by night
classes. In high school, many students
will live on campus and get less than seven hours of sleep a day due to studying,
homework, and outside of the classroom responsibilities.
The problem solving and lack of planning issue
are also reinforced by the manner in which Chinese children are raised. Furthermore, the effect of the one child
policy in China has worked to exacerbate the lack of planning problem in youth
today. Parents feel strongly that it is
their responsibility to manage every part of their children’s lives in order to
help them achieve success in a competitive society. This along with the importance of helping
others (guanxi) and the “total institution” approach to formative education in
China has created a generation of youth who have difficulty thinking on their
own. It is important to remember that
Chinese parents and teachers believe that they are doing the right thing for
their children as they educate them on how to be successful in Chinese society
today.
Another result of the Chinese
education system is that Chinese students rarely find themselves in an
environment which promotes creativity and usually have under developed problem
solving skills. The influence of the
Chinese educational system on Chinese students compounded with Chinese cultural
norms both contributes to a lack of planning and ability to anticipate problems
ahead of time. Both of these tendencies
are troubling to me since I value planning ahead, my schedule, and
creativity. The long term results have
created several generations of Chinese who do not have the ability to plan
ahead effectively nor evaluate topics through multiple perspectives.
Cultural
relativism’s influence on foreign travelers:
Feelings of this nature are true
for anyone who has lived in a different culture as long as I did. As the world around us continues to change I
feel that people are going to have more and more understanding of what life is
like in different cultures around the world today. Knowing more about different cultures is a
good thing in my opinion; however, it is important to always remember in the
back of your mind that as foreign observer it is never wise to criticize
different cultures. One thing that I
have noticed is that most foreigners who think they know a lot about another
culture are usually extremely misinformed or arrogant.
Remember traveling to another country and
living there are two completely different things. I remember what it was like for me traveling
in Europe and other places before living in China. I thought that somehow I was now a resident
expert on Greece, Italy, and France when in actuality I knew only as much as I
saw on the particular days I was traveling there. Even if you know someone from that different
culture you are traveling in and they were open enough to discuss their mother
country they are only speaking for one person.
As far as cultural understanding
goes I believe that I know only a very little of what it means to be an
American today. Our culture is extremely
diverse and vibrant which are both good things but also make it exceedingly
hard to understand at any one time in my opinion. I cannot imagine a foreigner coming to the
United States and telling me they understand American culture in only a matter
of day(s) or week(s).
I have some first-hand experience
seeing this phenomenon play out with foreigners traveling in China. The type of comment that triggers the most
frustration for me are those which are said to either demean or satirize that
other culture. Travelling is a great
passion to have in life and something that I feel is a great way for people to
visit far off places, meet interesting people, and learn about different
cultures. Unfortunately, people who
spend a few weeks in a different country can also sometimes make the mistake of
returning home and pretending like they are now an expert on that culture. In both cases people are mistaken and can hurt
their credibility when they are called out for being wrong as well as people
from that other culture.
A
difference in processing information:
While back home in the United
States I often was asked questions about differences between China and the
United States. The one thing I always
tried to convey to others was that whether looking at similarities or
differences it was always important to remember that both cultures emphasis
similar results. In my opinion, the
greatest differences between our cultures come from the manner in which people
look at problems. The analytical
processing of information itself is looked through different lenses depending
on what culture you are in.
One clear manifestation of this
phenomenon can be seen when looking at the wording of both the silver and
golden rule. Both authors of these
famous phrases have had extremely important roles in the course of western /
eastern philosophy and have left undeniable marks on the planet. Many people would argue that both Jesus
Christ and Confucius had the best of others in their mind when they made their
ethical statements. First, the golden
rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” and the silver rule,
“Do not do unto others as you would not have them do unto you” both establish
that love for one’s neighbor is of paramount importance. Both phrases clearly have the best in mind
for the welfare of others but go about saying it in exactly the opposite
manner.
Seeing
the world through a new lense:
I made it a mission of mine to try and analyze
as many things as possible while back home in the United States last
summer. After two months living back
home I noticed many different things that I never noticed as much during my
previous life in the United States. Some
things were small such as the beauty of Minnesota’s blue sky, the emotion of
holding an embrace with family members, and the quit efficiency of life in the
United States. Other things that I
noticed were not always so pleasant and certainly left room for thought in my
opinion.
The effects
of complaining and sarcasm in American culture:
One of
the things that I really noticed that I both enjoyed and was revolted by was
just how sarcastic people are back in the United States. I too enjoy once and a while be a little
sarcastic but at what point does a person need to draw a line? I think that in any situation where the
comment could be misconstrued as being actually true sarcasm can actually be
worse than telling someone your true feelings however hurtful they may be.
Are we that sick as a culture that
we feel a need to be sarcastically downgraded someone or something else all of
the time? This trait makes American
culture look extremely disingenuous.
Unfortunately, one of sarcasms latent effects is to create in people an
aversion to telling the truth. Instead
of telling the truth which might be painful and reveal someone’s true feelings
people would rather deflect the real problem by sarcastically labeling
something as ridiculous, funny, stupid, etc.
I know that sarcasm is not something
that effects the older generation of Americans as much as my own generation
which makes me questions when did sarcasm become the accepted modus
operendi in popular culture?
Likewise, I noticed that
complaining is also a rampant phenomenon in American culture. At a certain point complaining becomes so
ridiculous and rampant in everyday life that I become apathetic to a person
even if their claims are valid. As all
people know at no point in time does complaining solve problems. I would hate to see what would happen to
American students in China when they were told that they would not have
free-time to play, would have two real hours of homework every night, and be
forced to go to night classes in order to pass their upcoming classes.
Some of sarcasms and complaining
latent effects hurt America’s image abroad.
For example, a person who is spoiled enough to make fun of others and
complain about waiting in a long for gas tend to seem out of touch with the
problems of most of the world’s population.
Most people would just be happy with living in a place where they were
safe from war, famine, and disease. As
America’s influence continues to reach the globe it is important to remember
that people have a connection with that world around us. If we get too far out of touch with the world
around us it is going to be to our own detriment and will have disastrous
effects for Americans. America has stood
long enough to start transitioning from the hero to the villain in certain
areas of the world. Look no further than
the Middle East to see the reality of their love for American culture and
Americans. With so much riding on our
image abroad (remember how much we count of labor abroad to help fuel our
consumerism) it is extremely important to keep helping people out abroad in my
opinion unless Americans want to start buying less things.
The
evolution of my world views: Idealism to realism:
My own
political views have changed with my experience in China as some readers might
be able to see by reading through the lines.
I now look at the world in a much more practical manner and tend to try
and find ways of avoiding political problems instead of hoping for the best
through treaties, foreign aid, investment, the U.N. etc. All of these tools are the necessary
evolution of international politics; however, they rarely seem to deliver
lasting results in situations which need special considerations (every
situation has a need for special considerations when dealing with international
politics).
I think
that in a lot of ways my life back in the United States can be likened to that
of a fairy tale where the most crucial problems are whether to eat at Pizza Hut
or Dominos and most people cannot even tell something more about another
country than it is a friend or enemy of the United States. In my mind, there is no better time to get
abroad than now if people in America are going to wake up to the reality that
the world cannot sustain itself if everyone where to live like we do in
America.
I think
that people need to wake up to the realities that the outside world is not as
idyllic as life in the United States. If
the United States is going to remain in a position of dominance and continue to
consume the world to death the world will respond. Therefore, is of critical importance for
people across the world to start a working dialogue on the best ways of
avoiding such a crisis over resources which is will be an impending doom for
all people in the world. Such a crisis
would make the Great Depression seem tame in comparison as war, shortages,
famine, and disease would inevitably wreak havoc across the world.
Fortunately, I believe in the power
of dialogue amongst individuals and cultures to help break down some of
physical and political barriers that separate us. Let us work together to start a better future
which can promote growth without destruction of the world around us.
The power
of fear in American culture:
I find that many of my friends and
family are intensely afraid of things that I find both interesting and unavoidable
at the same time. In Chinese culture
there is a great sense of letting certain things go without showing that they
frustrate you. I think that in many ways
people back home could really use this lesson to help them deal with everything
that goes on in their everyday lives in the United States.
I feel that people should instead
focus on promoting self-confidence and a realization that even if you do lose
your job, promotion, friend, family member, or possession things will work out
in the end because you trust yourself. I
feel that too many people back home have so little self-confidence and are too
exposed to fear on the news that they feel paralyzed to act. Life is going to through bad situations to
all of us during our life-times. It is
those of us who have a will to survive and the self-confidence to trust
themselves which will in the end break free from the fear inside of us.
Putting yourself in experiences
which will test you is one such way in which you can find the self-confidence
you are looking for and also help you break the fear machine. The reality is that the answers never come
easy in this life and at first you will actually fail trying to do what you so
desire. Through the process of learning
how to fail you will inevitably do your best to next time make sure that you
will not fail; therefore, achieving success and self-confidence in one fell
stroke.
I think that partially our fear
paralysis steams from the fact that many of our lives are so perfect back in
the United States that we actually find ourselves creating fear in our lives in
order to feel we are doing are best to avoid whatever it is we created. For example, not getting accepted into a
prestigious college will somehow hurt your chances of being able to live a
happy life. In fact I have heard many
stories of people not getting into Harvard and being happier than the ones who
did get accepted.
