Perspectives, backgrounds and experiences.
The viewpoints we adapt are built on a foundation of experiences. Sometimes over a long period of time that viewpoint changes because the experiences we continue to have shape that viewpoint.
My brother-in-law and sister-in-law have had foreign exchange students several times over the years and the last time hosted a couple of girls from China. These two girls were as different from each other as you could get. One from a more well-to-do family and one basically working class. The working class girl was taken at about age four and put in training for volleyball. She grew tall with large hands very well suited for the sport and destined to play on the Chinese nationalist team going to the olympics. Her nickname here was Phooey, from the cartoon character Hong Kong Phooey. The other girl from the well-to-do family was shorter but also played volleyball, her name was Ami.
When these girls were here they were older teens, ready for the transition to college. When asked what was the biggest difference between China and the USA, their answer was in agreement, “In China, everyone has the same color hair.” It was a simple answer, but I don’t know what we were expecting. Maybe we thought it would be political systems or economic systems but I don’t think they felt those things had any real effect on their lives. They were very much like any teenager anywhere in the world. They had smartphones and laptops and talked to friends on social media, even though their language setting was in Chinese. Their perspective didn’t include politics or economics, although Ami moved on to be an accountant at a major accounting firm in Houston.
Phooey’s path was different. She went to college, studied fashion design but after she graduated she wound up as a volleyball coach at a junior college in the small town of Borger, Texas. That job didn’t last long. She discovered, you can’t talk to your players at a US school the same way they do in China because it hurts their feelings and their parents complain to the school and you get fired. I have been to a couple of her team’s games and she gets pretty vulgar. She was under the impression the school wanted to win and that was her perspective but the school was more interested in appeasing the parents. They had a difference in perspective but the college had more clout and her perspective didn’t count.
Phooey got married while she was still coaching to a guy who lived in the Borger area and had a couple of babies. Her parents came to visit from China once and I met them. They seemed to be nice people, concerned about their daughter’s welfare, not unlike any parents anywhere on the globe. She seemed to be built for motherhood but I will never forget how well she could smack a volleyball.
My brother-in-law and sister-in-law have had foreign exchange students several times over the years and the last time hosted a couple of girls from China. These two girls were as different from each other as you could get. One from a more well-to-do family and one basically working class. The working class girl was taken at about age four and put in training for volleyball. She grew tall with large hands very well suited for the sport and destined to play on the Chinese nationalist team going to the olympics. Her nickname here was Phooey, from the cartoon character Hong Kong Phooey. The other girl from the well-to-do family was shorter but also played volleyball, her name was Ami.
When these girls were here they were older teens, ready for the transition to college. When asked what was the biggest difference between China and the USA, their answer was in agreement, “In China, everyone has the same color hair.” It was a simple answer, but I don’t know what we were expecting. Maybe we thought it would be political systems or economic systems but I don’t think they felt those things had any real effect on their lives. They were very much like any teenager anywhere in the world. They had smartphones and laptops and talked to friends on social media, even though their language setting was in Chinese. Their perspective didn’t include politics or economics, although Ami moved on to be an accountant at a major accounting firm in Houston.
Phooey’s path was different. She went to college, studied fashion design but after she graduated she wound up as a volleyball coach at a junior college in the small town of Borger, Texas. That job didn’t last long. She discovered, you can’t talk to your players at a US school the same way they do in China because it hurts their feelings and their parents complain to the school and you get fired. I have been to a couple of her team’s games and she gets pretty vulgar. She was under the impression the school wanted to win and that was her perspective but the school was more interested in appeasing the parents. They had a difference in perspective but the college had more clout and her perspective didn’t count.
Phooey got married while she was still coaching to a guy who lived in the Borger area and had a couple of babies. Her parents came to visit from China once and I met them. They seemed to be nice people, concerned about their daughter’s welfare, not unlike any parents anywhere on the globe. She seemed to be built for motherhood but I will never forget how well she could smack a volleyball.
