Chloe Knuth Chinese Pen Pal Fall 2015 - Spring 2017 Chinese Culture
Explain where you went, what you saw or what you experienced. During my time at Notre Dame Academy learning Mandarin Chinese, our class had the opportunity to become pen pals with high school students living in China. I’ve been writing to a boy named Han Yonghe for the last two years. He lives in Tanggu, a city not far from Beijing, and is a sophomore. Having a pen pal lets me learn and explore China’s culture more in depth because I am able to read firsthand about a student’s life in China. We both send Chinese and English letters so that we can both understand each other. The best part of having a Chinese pen pal is that I can relate to him because of how similar our ages are and the fact that we both are in high school. He’s very friendly and likes to tell me numerous things about his hometown.
What did you learn about the country/religion/culture you experienced? I learned that in China, the food is very spicy and inexpensive. There are 8 parts of Chinese food, and they are all unique in their own ways. Chinese people think that salty and spicy things are the best kinds of food. My pen pal says that he is so busy with school work that there’s no way he can get a job. He cannot drive yet, but he really wants to. His favorite cartoon is the Simpsons, which I thought was hilarious. I didn’t even realize that they can watch American TV shows. He never likes to talk about politics in his letters, and is wary of saying negative things about China. He has a mom, dad, and a sister. His sister is 11 years older than him, so they aren’t very close. His dream college would be the University of Beijing Foreign Studies. He is also learning Japanese in addition to English. I have learned all of this from my pen pal and he has aided me in understanding the Chinese culture better.
How did this activity broaden or deepen your understanding of the world? Writing to my pen pal has helped to create a connection between two countries thousands of miles apart from each other. I believe that this activity has broadened my understanding of the world by informing me of the Chinese culture and the reasons behind certain traditions in China. It has deepened my knowledge of China’s culture and opened up my views of the world to include different cultures.
How is this culture the same or different from your own? China’s culture is very different from America’s culture. For one, I believe that Chinese students are motivated, hard working, and their education system seems to be better than America’s based on my pen pal’s letters. Another difference is the obvious government types. America is a liberal democracy and China is communist. I have noticed certain restraints my pen pal letter has placed on what he has mentioned and what he hasn’t mentioned. This is most likely due to the fact that the teacher reads their letters and can decide based on government regulations if they are allowed to leave China’s internet.