Cultural Embrace: China's Future

Weixin Middle School’s 60th Anniversary

An English speech contest was held in Weixin (ZhaoTong District), Yunnan Province, China on June 15th. Under mostly cloudy skies, the best speakers from 2 levels of the local Middle School and 3 levels from the High School announced their "Love of our Mother School, aspiration for being outstanding". Seven judges (of which the author was one) sat in the front row of the renovated playground behind Weixin #1 High School. Many students, faculty members and parents were on hand to watch these young Chinese students present a public speech in the open air, using only the english language.
Weixin, China is a small, but growing quickly city located in the center of what is called ZhaXi. High mountains and deep valleys are are dotted all over ZhaXi, with rivers running in all directions. Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, is a grueling 18-22 hour bus ride to the southwest (depending on the road conditions) and Yibin, Sichuan province, is the nearest big city 7 hours away through treacherous mountain inclines. It is said that about 35,000 people live in the city of Weixin and, if this is true, more than half of them are children. Yes, child-rearing appears to be the favored past-time in this mining town, judging from the number of children as well as the mother's sitting along the street fronts. Coal appears to be a major asset and there are piles of coal randomly lumped into piles throughout the city.
23 students participated in the speech finale. The first student to speak was Li Jiao, affectionately called Banana by classmates and foreigners. He titled his speech "Booming Garden" and he opened his speech by proclaiming. "As students, we have two homes. The first one which our parents give us and the second is our school". His english-speaking abilities were very well-polished and he presented his speech speaking in slow and understandable fashion. "I hear the sound of flowers blooming and the heart-beat of grass growing. We share the beautiful scenery in the spring and celebrate the 60th birthday of our second home. Here we are"! He continued, "Come on, boys and girls! Knowledge is a kind of strange nutrition which heartens us to come into bloom. School is a nice garden and we are flowers in it, teachers are the gardeners who look after us carefully. So come on! Make our second home become a booming garden"!
Wow! I thought to myself, what an excellent attitude and well spoken dialouge. This coming from the mouth of a teenage student. One of many hundreds, but one who had a way of expressing his innermost feelings and perceptions like a scholar. I often times wonder about things like "what will the future for these children be like living in China"? And, "If they only knew, and could embrace, the idea of 'living in harmony' with nature what a potential blessed country China could become."

They all were winners

Each contestant in the oral speech competition had developed their own individual personality and feelings in their speeches. But all were focused on talking about their love for their "mother school" and their future dreams. This was very inspiring to listen to. In an ordinary classroom setting, almost every student acts completely shy and are unwilling to become involved in an ordinary english discussion. That must be a major reason that teacher's in China are like 'gardeners' who must practice with patience and faith that their work with come to something of value. Never, in my 16 months of living and teaching in China, had I seen student's act so eager, so outgoing and so enthusiastic. Their love for their school is real...I could hear it in their voice and see it in their eyes. Their attitude and their adept ability to express their feelings in english made every contestant a winner.
But, alas, as a judge, one has to write a score for every contestant. On a scale from 9-10, one student I awarded the 10. Her name is Lu Bao Jian. Her speech was titled "Chasing after your dream." "Dreams! How nice do they sound? I am not talking about the dreams we have when we are asleep but about the life-long aspirations in each of us. I'm sure many of us have goals in our lives. It could be the goal to be the next millionaire or to be a scientist. Even if your goal is something small, you should be proud that you have a goal." As she was talking, the roar of thunder clapped in the distance, the skies were growing dark. "The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that the successful people keep trying and trying until they succeed. Then we look at them and say: Oh, that was easy for you! In fact it was not. Life's battles don't always go to the stronger and faster men, but sooner or later the man who wins is the one who thinks he can. We can only reach the top if we are ready to deal with and learn from failure. So, don't be afraid of hardships or failures, just chase after your dream!" These words were not coming from the mouth of a pop idol or teen phenom, these words were coming from the mouth of a girl living in a small town, far away from the enclaves of modern society. "Even when you do your best.there are no guarantees that you will succeed. You may do your best and still be criticized. You may do your best and still have people laugh at you. But, when you do your best, the reward is that feeling: I did everything I could. We can focus on the journey rather than the destination. Chasing is a process. The process can be interesting and is what makes the goal worth achieving. Our success is in our journey, not in our arrival."
Years of exploring the world by living out of backpack and seeking the "higher knowledge" of nature was suddenly re-lived. Isn't this what the wondrous flowers and majestic peaks of the wilderness teach the searcher? Lu Bao Jian concluded her speech with, "The lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives grand. So, never say your dream will forever be a dream. We need to put our words into deeds and base our vision on reality. Believe that the world always makes way for the one who insists on chasing after his dream. Still achieving, still pursuing. Learn to struggle and wait".
Now, that was really outstanding, so I had to climb out of my chair and give this young lady a standing ovation! There is no doubt that she believes in her mind and heart that she is winner. My score for her speech was 10-on-a-scale-of 10.

All good things must come to an end

All good things must come to an end. That's not some fairy-tale idiom we read when we are in kindergarten. It is a fact and sometimes a cruel, cold fact at that. Yet, true believers in a 'harmonious society', even after their lives are finished, leave a little something for the next generation to grab onto. The famous psycotherapist Carl Rogers is quoted as saying, "Formal education will make you a living; self education will make you a fortune". Blossoming in the mountains of south-central China is a tremendous wealth of fortune waiting to be untapped.
Before the final speaker had finished speaking, large raindrops began the fall all around. We were in for a good afternoon thunderstorm that will, once again, wash the dirt and grime off the town roads. As the darkened clouds approached and the lightning flashes increased, student and faculty members began fleeing. There were no awards ceremony, no after speech banquet. Instead, we simply fled for shelter from the oncoming deluge. The rain persisted falling for over an hour and I knew the speech contest had concluded. In my mind, I was glad that this contest was held and sad that it was over prematurely.
Part of my writing this article is for my TCG.Com community, who help me find answers in an interesting way. The other part is for the students and faculty living in Weixin. Allow me to conclude with what I was going to say at the closing remarks (which never happened).
Throughout history of mankind, the greatest leaders were men and women who took it upon themselves to learn life's lessons. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Helen Keller and, yes, Bill Gates are these type of people. So, the real challenges you students of english have is how to learn more and beyond the classroom teaching. What you have done today shows me that you have this intention, this drive, this way of thinking about how to succeed!

An ancient Chinese idiom reads:
Shi(4) shang(4) wu(2) nan(2) shi(4),
Zhi(3) pa(4) you(3) xin(1) ren(2).

There is nothing too difficult in this world,
as long as you have determination.