I just finished writing this report and I wanted to share it with you. Comment below and tell me what you thought about it (be honest).
China VS America
Going to China has been one of the most spectacular things that have ever happened in my life. In this report I will tell you my favorite things that we experienced in three of the cities we were in and compare life in China to life in America.
Beijing was a really neat city. I had two favorite things to do there. One of my favorites was the acrobatic show which we did on our first full day in China. It was amazing seeing a girl dance on someone’s head and somewhere between 5 and 7 motorcycles driving around in a ball. Another one of my very favorite things that we did was go to the Great Wall of China. It was amazing seeing something that was built way before Jesus was born. I climbed pretty high and the view was colossal. The leaves hadn’t fallen off all of the trees so I could see hills and trees everywhere. Of those two things, I think the Great Wall was my favorite.
Cheng Du was the city that we had been waiting to go to for a very long time. This is the city where we got Rae which was most definitely one of my favorite things. We arrived in Cheng Du around lunch time. We went to our hotel for a little while and then were driven to the civil affairs office where we would see Rae face to face for the first time ever. We had to walk up many stairs. We were told that Rae would be there before us so every time we reached a landing I would think “Is Rae there?” but she never was. We finally got to the fourth or fifth level and were led into a room that had hanging pictures of fruit all around us. It was a glass room so we could see Rae once she was up the stairs. It seemed to take forever before we finally saw the little girl that we had been waiting to see for 18 months. She was wearing an ugly mustard yellow jacket and holding the hand of her nanny. Mama, Emily, and I went out into the hallway to meet her. She was really shy at first but she eventually warmed up to us a little bit. We played with a few things and asked some questions. When it was time for the nanny, the orphanage director, and the orphanage director’s assistant to leave Rae was most certainly not happy. She cried, screamed, and kicked all the way down the stairs as we left but I won’t continue on with this part of the story because it wasn’t my favorite part. My other favorite part of Cheng du was going to see the pandas. We had bough Rae a panda outfit so I dressed her in it and we all went out in a van. We saw many pandas, including red pandas. My favorite part was where there was one panda hanging over a branch and another panda at the bottom and they were playing with a branch or something like that. Cheng Du wasn’t a glamorous city like Beijing or a scenic city like Guangzhou but it was where we got Rae and that’s why I liked it.
Guangzhou was our last city before leaving China (unless you count Hong Kong where we only stayed for one night). Guangzhou was easily my favorite city. The weather was great and everything was so beautiful. Our hotel there was the best hotel I’ve ever stayed in. It had the best breakfast. At the breakfast there was an oriental section that I checked every morning to see what weird food was there. The weirdest things were red bean and green bean cake. There were also things like a gym, pool, play area, tennis court, and basketball court. Seeing everyone else in our groups’ kids was also really fun. All of the other kids were so sweet. There was Mia who was nine and got along with Rae pretty well; then there was Lily who was seven and very loud. Last but not least was Alexis (we called her Alex) who was two. It was neat that all four of us families got special needs girls. Shopping was also pretty fun. On Shamein Island there were many small “junk shops” as I called them. They all sold pretty much the same thing. There were several fake things such as pearl necklaces, North Face jackets, and jade chess sets. Shamein Island was where Emily and I bought our gifts for our friends. One of the most memorable church services I will ever have probably was in Guangzhou. They don’t have an English speaking international church there so we went to a part Mandarin and part English Christmas service. We sang some songs in English and Mandarin and listened to a lady translate the sermon into English. There were also presentations from some Chinese kids. They first did a skit and then at the end sang some Mandarin and English songs. It was so funny listening to little kids trying to speak our language and having a hard time with their accents. I really like Guangzhou and hope to visit again.
China is similar and different compared to America. I am going to talk about those similarities and differences in the next chapters.
First, I will describe for you the non touristy part of China. I’m going to tell you about how people actually live. Most people in the cities that we were in seemed to live in apartments. If you know a little bit about China you would think this is reasonable because of the One Child Policy. Now if you know a little more about China you wouldn’t believe how cramped these people are since three generations usually live in one apartment. You may also wonder about the Communism. It seems like such a big deal to us but to the Chinese people it isn’t. They don’t really understand what freedom is. Our first guide, Ms. Sherry, told us that the Chinese people were allowed to vote but there was only one person that they could vote for. I couldn’t imagine not getting to choose who was to run my country or having the government decide when I could have a child or how many. I describe the Communism in China this way. The streets of China are very clean. There is hardly any trash there. Now there are gates along the roads and if you look through them you see all of the trash that is hidden from view. In Communism the government seems to tell the people that everything is great and they have plenty of freedom. But if you look behind the gates you see all of the trash and harshness of the government. So this is how I describe the non tourist part of China.
Now I will describe for you America. First I will describe what families in America are like. Most families in America are split in half. The parents are divorced. Even families that are together are so busy that they rarely spend time with each other. There are few families that spend time with each other now days in America. I described the government of China so I might as well describe the government of America. America has strayed from what it was when we were first founded. While we are still a Capitalist country we seem to be slowly sneaking away from it and closer and closer to Socialism. More and more power is being taken away from the people and being given to the government. This could be a sure sign that in ten years or so we could be a Socialist country. The de-emphasis of the family and the freedom being taken away could eventually destroy the United States of America.
It is now time to compare China and America. I will begin with the family life. I know that I didn’t describe the family life in the paragraph I wrote about the non tourist part of China but it will be described in this paragraph. The family life in China is great. Part of that could result in three generations living together. Children respect their parents greatly. Our guide, Ms. Sherry, told us that she let her parents choose her husband and that they presented her with her job options. There is trust and respect between parents and children that people in America can’t understand. The families in America are falling apart while the families in China are just growing closer. I think America could learn from the example of Chinese families. Now I must compare the governments. If you just looked at these two governments at a glance you would think that they were complete opposites but they aren’t. They are, in fact, more similar than they were twenty years ago. I believe that America was a whole lot more free twenty years ago then now. Why is that? Because our government is wanting too much power and the only way they can get more is if they take it from the people. I think that this is how Communism started. America has been an example for other countries around the globe yet we are diving head first into something that we have fought against. I would like to use a biblical illustration. God warns us in the Bible about being “luke- warm Christians.” That means that God either wants us to be completely on fire for Him or be focused on the world. God does not want us to be in the middle, going from the things of the world to Him over and over again. Now compare this to our government. We could be a completely capitalist country with the perfect amount of freedom for the people and government or we could be just like China was under Chairman Mao, no power to the people and all power to the government. Let us not be in the middle on the line between Capitalism and Socialism but let us be full on Capitalists. I will conclude with this. Is America all that different from China in this day and age? If you look at the Chinese and American families, yes; but if you look at the governments you have to wonder. And will we be any different from China in another twenty years?
My Life is Turning Chinese! 