Experiencing Athens and Beyond

My blog has focused on the Chinese students. That was not my original intention, however, a majority of the students in OPIE this quarter are from China and so I met many more of them than students from other countries. Plus in most of my interviews with officials from the program and others who work with OPIE, my interviewees have talked to me about the Chinese students. I decided that it would make sense to focus my blog on students from China.
A few of you have commented that you wanted to learn about the differences between cultures. Some of you also said that you wanted more photos of the international students experiencing Athens for the first time. That was initially something that I wanted to look into because cultural differences fascinate me. Surprisingly, it was much harder to do than I had thought. In this post I am going to try to explore a few of the culture differences between China and the United States. I’m also going to talk about a few students’ experiences in Athens.



A chat in Baker
I sat down with Pan, Li, Jiang Tianchi and Lu. I met Pan and Li when we were bowling. I sent out an email to many of the students asking for an interview; Pan and Li responded and brought friends to Baker to talk to me. Li did most of the talking but the other women jumped in when they had something to say.
I asked them what kinds of things they liked to do in Athens. Li told me that they like to go to ping and play badminton. Apparently it’s really popular in China. I found a site that is all about the badminton open in China. Li said that basketball and soccer are also popular in China.
I told them that I was bad at all three sports because I did not have any coordination. I then tried to explain what coordination meant. Speaking with them, not only helps their English but it helps mine. My brain had to work to think of synonyms that would help explain coordination. I finally explained what grace was, and then I explained that I did not have any grace.
Once we got over that obstacle. I asked what other things the students liked to do. They said they like to play games and cards together. Sometimes they eat at China King, but as Pan told me, it’s not real Chinese food; it’s American Chinese
Li told me that they like to take the bus to Walmart and Kroger. They seem to love to shop in general. They are going to New York City over spring break, so I asked them what they were going to do and they all responded with, “Shop!”
I commented that when people in other countries think of the U.S. they think of New York City. Li told me that it’s just like how many people know Beijing in China, but nothing else about the country.
New York will not be the first city outside of Athens that OPIE students have visited. A few weeks ago OPIE students went to Columbus to see the statehouse and go shopping. Lu told me that the statehouse was small compared to the one that she visited every year with her school in China.

But where are the Americans?
I mentioned earlier that there are not many Americans living in Scott Quad. I also noticed that the activities that the women were describing were things that they did among themselves. It has to be difficult to meet American students when you live with and take classes with other international students. Plus they speak Chinese among themselves, which can make it hard for American students to talk to them. I found myself feeling left out when they began speaking in their native tongue.
They wanted to talk to me about my major and their majors. A few were thinking of changing majors or at least wanted to look into it. I didn’t have all the answers, so we walked over to the arts and sciences building for help. The employee at the counter was helpful, but she spoke quickly, so I had to do most of the talking and listening. I realized how much of a struggle it must be for international students to understand everything. Most people don’t think about how quickly they are speaking.
I invited the students to come to a Singing Men of Ohio concert with me the following night because music is a universal language. I thought it would be fun for them to see the performing arts side of OU.

SMO
Li, Pan and Alex, another student from China, came to the concert. I had also met Alex at bowling. I have a picture of him swinging the ball back at the top of my bowling post.
There were a few jokes in the lyrics of the songs that SMO was singing. I would whisper to Alex what they were saying and he would whisper it to Li and Pan. Then the next time they heard the joke or pun in the lyrics they would laugh. I don’t know about the two women, but Alex could hear many of the jokes without my help. I was impressed because it can be pretty difficult to understand singing in a foreign language.
Li, Pan and Alex told me that they enjoyed the concert. I think I'm going to invite them to some events next quarter.

Culture
I know that I have not given you an in depth analysis of the differences between Chinese culture and American culture, but I hope I have provided you with a few interesting facts. It was a little difficult to discuss cultural differences in depth with students who are learning English. I couldn’t always find the right words to explain my questions and they couldn’t always find the right words to answer me. They also seem to stay with other Chinese students, which affects how they view the United States.
Still, I wanted to learn more about cultural differences between China and the U.S. I found an interesting Web site for Chinese students who are going to come to the United States. It shows how behaviors and concepts are different in the United States and China. I also found an article that describes the standards of gift giving in China, because there were some comments about it after my last post.
Kerry a student in the other online journalism fundamentals class is doing a blog on cultural differences. Her blog does not focus on China specifically, but it provides a good depiction of how people from other countries view the U.S.