summercomfort | (no subject)

A lot of things have happened in the past few days that are worth thinking about, so of course, I resort to livejournal to sort out my thoughts...

On Sunday I went to my cousin's house, so I missed out on the world cup. (She's preparing for the college entrance exam, so she wasn't watching). But oh well. The end of the Korea-Turkey was really moving, with everyone swapping shirts and dancing together and all that. I love the multi-cultural-ness of the World Cup this year. It's so awesome that so many underdog teams made it into the top 8. Brazil-Germany is a much more traditional team. I hope they ended in such good will. Someone tell me the general atmosphere of the game? Did Germany put up a good fight?

Anyway, back on topic, I am now utterly horrified at the current conditions of Chinese students.

(now I talk about Chinese school scariness)

Here, there is no application process. One entrance exam decides everything. Different colleges set different entrance point levels, and what you get on this single test decides your fate for the next 4 years, and probably for the rest of your life because college prestige is much more vital to your carreer than in America. The test takes 3 days and has 2 parts: one combined knowledge part where they test you on all the academic subjects (Chinese, English, Chemistry, Physics, Math, etc) And then there is a "subject test", where you get to choose from 4 based on your major. History, Government for humanities and something else for science.)

This test also determines a school's prestige (how many students can get into top name colleges). Therefore, the majority of their senior year is spent in review. In fact, my other cousin, a sophomore, is already reviewing at school. And how do they review? Memorizing and doing exercises. My cousin has five 1-foot tall review books on her desk. These are all assigned by her teachers, and the problems are 10 times more ambiguous than the SATs. One English problem that she asked me about goes something like this:

The policemen questioned the ________ workers about the ________ thief.
(a) retiring... escaping...
(b) retired... escaping...
(c) retiring... escaped...
(d) retired... escaped...

The correct answer? D.

They spend so much time and effort of mind trying to memorize doing all these stupid problems that are of no use in the real world.... They're not advancing their learning, they're hindering it with too many extraneous details, small things that don't really matter... I'd rather they read some literary works in their English class. Knowledge should not be choked to death like this! Her history book is filled with underlined things that she has to memorize... This is like the saying "swallowing a date whole". Without any digestion, any analysis and space for personal thought and exploration. And this date is so big that it leaves no room for other things. You can't study and not think! (I love Confucious... so many of his teachings are still true today) ::so horrified by the situation that is speechless::

As the scholar we visited today said, all this is economic pressure... You want to lead a good life, to survive in this world, so you need a good education, so you drive your mind into a small useless corner so that you can come out and get a job. So much intellect squandered. There is no use for true scholars here anymore. Schooling and knowledge has become just another necessary step to a prosperous life...

And now, on to the scholar that we visited tonight. He said some things that really enlightened me. Well, at least they're things worth thinking about...

(on the history and culture stuff...)

History -- he raised the idea that studying history is like studying a footprint... the point is not in the footprint but the person who left the footprint... the overall ideas of society and humanity and culture that caused this mark, this event, this era. Wow. 2 sentences that summarized what I've been thinking/pursuing for so long... "The events may not accurately reflect the concepts/trends, but the concepts/trends do exist"

Culture -- He talked about the distinctions of the Chinese culture: the ability to tolerate others, the lack of religion and nationalism, the strong link between language and culture... and I'd like to add, the inability to judge itself. And then there is so much that is lost in the past century: The respect for scholars (now the respect for money), the loss of faith in our own culture (history offers merely a mirage of the glamourous past, and have no relation to the present), sincerity (it existed in the Mao reign, but was unhealthy. Before, was in the teachings, but now is no longer taught)... But on the other hand, a lot still remain: the overall government-people relationships, the individualism, the value of relationships/friends.

Society -- he said that since I'm going into humanities stuff, I need to understand the Big Concepts. Those going into Science/Tech only need to understand the Small Concepts. Small Concepts deal with material living (how to live in prosperity, how to earn money, etc. practical stuff), Big Concepts deal with spiritual living (the meaning of life, the trends of humanity, religion, etc. yeah. thinking stuff). I think he stated it a bit harshly, because I think it is part of human nature to pursue some Big Concepts, but I guess sometimes it's really easy to get caught in the Small Concepts, that there is no time, or you forget, to pursue the Big Concepts.

Anyway... lots of things to absorb...

And now, onto a lighter topic.... Les Mis was amazing. They really caught the soul of the novel. The desperation, the hope. Great music, great tech (I want the set! does anyone want to give me a mini-one? The bridge scene was awesome, and I really liked the idea of the lighting from behind the wall, and of course, the spinning stage...) I would worship the Jean Valjean actor if his bio wasn't so pretentious and 3 times as long as the others. Yes, I know you're great, but really, 1/2 a page of credentials? I wish the actors wrote more about their understanding of their character, or their acting experiences in their bios.

So anyway, it's 11:30 now, I promise to talk about more general stuff next time, and read other people's journals. But now, I really gotta go and get some sleep...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

World Cup final: The Brazilians were overjoyed; they were so happy they were crying. It was like a big party, too (people were jumping up and down, some wore flags, the 'keeper put on this blue wig...) The Germans... well, they looked glum, naturally; the camera was mostly on Brazil, though, so I couldn't really tell. But it didn't look like there were hard feelings. The referee was very fair, and from what I could tell, there was good sportsmanship. Germany did put up a good fight until the second half. Things were more exciting (more near misses, etc.) in the second half. I think the German keeper injured his hand before the first goal, but I'm not sure if it had a big effect on his mistake. After the second goal, though, the tide had definitely turned.

Is the scholar you talked to a relative or a teacher...? Just wondering how you met him. Interesting discussion.