Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Culture Shock

Most of you know that I am teaching English for Academic Purposes 140 this term. All of my students are from the International University in China and most of them have 3 or 4 years of post secondary education under their belts. This, I might add, is before they come here to start their 4 year Bachelor's degree. I mention this so that readers may glimpse at how incredibly committed a person must be in order to learn another language. Even with 3-4 years of post secondary education, the majority of them would not pass an introductory English class without some formal training in writing.

Today is the Moon Festival or, more correctly, the Mid-Autumn Festival for the Chinese. Because I knew nothing about this celebration - only that the students were very homesick to not be in China to celebrate with family and friends - I googled it and found that a special treat that goes along with the Moon Festival are moon cakes. So at 9:30 in the morning I set off to T&T to find some moon cakes. The squeals of recognition and appreciation made the trip totally worth it. They did laugh at me, however, when I asked if there were any special recipes for moon cakes, or any particular way of preparing them that is a family tradition. One student explained that they were laughing because it was as if I had asked for the recipe for a Ding Dong or a Wagon Wheel. In short, apparently moon cakes come from a factory. There is no such thing as 'homemade' moon cakes.

This week we have been working on Canadian history, so I thought that we would discuss Terry Fox considering that it is the 30th anniversary of his run. I downloaded an interview with Terry prior to his leaving Fort St. John, just as he had dipped his artificial leg into the Atlantic ocean. In the interview, he said that if he failed in his mission to run across Canada, it would be because of an act of God - nothing short of that could keep him from his goal. After the interview, there was some footage of Terry running with his characteristic double hop. At this point, the entire class burst out laughing.

You have to understand that in China, disability is regarded as something very shameful - something that should be hidden away. The fact that we idolize a person who only had one leg is, in many senses, incomprehensible to them. But I have to admit, their laughing got to me. One student, struggling to understand, asked why we look up to someone who did not finish his task. Is it because he was disabled? Is it because he died of cancer? I paused for a moment to think, and answered that Terry Fox appeals to Canadians because he represents to us strength through adversity and a purity of intention. Terry looked for a way that he could contribute no matter what life threw at him and he did so in an honourable and courageous way. I then explained that the Terry Fox award in sports is one of the highest honours an athlete can receive. I told them about recent winners Joannie Rochette and Petra Majdic and the reasons they were given the award in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Slowly, my meaning started to sink in.

At the end of the class I assigned their homework for the night. I gave them an article about a new video game that is causing controversy because it re-enacts the Dawson College massacre where the player can select whatever rifle they want and start killing classmates. I asked them to research the Dawson College story and then write a response to the outrage over this game. Their assignment was to consider the idea of 'free speech' versus something can be argued to be hurtful and in very poor taste. Can we consider this game to be 'art' as the creator suggests that it is? A single hand went up amongst the confused faces: "Miss," the student asked, "what is free speech?"
One thing is clear: none of us are in Kansas anymore.

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