What's in a name?

I just learned from a student's journal entry that Mo Yan (the Chinese winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature) was born to a family of poor farmers and that his name means "don't speak".  My student wrote, 

"The name comes from a warning from his father and mother not to speak his mind while outside because of China's revolutionary political situation from the 1950s."  

 His pen outlasted Mao's sword.  Mo Yan was born in 1955 in a very small village in Shandong Province, the same province as the city in which we are living.

Nobel Prize for Literature

All of China is excited about Mo Yan being awarded the the Nobel Prize for literature. His books are flying off the shell. In fact, there is a copyright war going on now while various publishers are clamoring to make money from this good news. I find it interesting that all the mucky-mucks are so proud of this honor for China when in fact he wrote about the down-an-out area of his hometown that officialdom forgot.

One of my students is also from Mo Yan's hometown and this is what he had to say in his journal entry on the subject:

    "When I heard that Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize for literature I felt a little disappointed.  I am not joking.  Mo Yan and I lived in the same town called Gaomi.  Many of my classmates who also came from Gaomi excitedly declared, "Mo Yan is my fellow villager!"  Well, it never came to their mind that Mo Yan has already made full use of our hometown.  He has wringed every legend, myth, folklore and story out of this land.  If someone else wants to become a novelist, what else can he write?
     "Honestly speaking, Mo Yan is a really clever writer,  When he began to write, he had great trouble finding out the material.  He tried to compose a novel about his life in the army, with which he was not familiar.  He dared to do that because he believed in his imagination.  Of course, Mo Yan failed.  Puzzled and disappointed, he began to suspect himself.  Then he came across William Faulkner's Sound and Fury, and the Muses began to come to him from then on  It dawned upon Mo Yan that one could become a great writer by drawing upon the stories from his hometown, even though it was 'as small a a stamp'.
    "After reading some of his works, I have to admit that Mo is really an excellent writer.  He has the qualification to be 'king of literature; in Gaomi.  Mo Yan is a man of keen observation.  He saw frogs, he heard the rain, he smelled the air.  I saw, I heard and I smelled them, too, but I never cared or admired the beauty in them.
    "However, I don't feel inferior to him because I believe in Emerson's teachings. 'There is a God in every soul' and 'Trust yourself.'  But still, I show great respect to Mo Yan and there is a great deal I can learn from him."

The People On The Bus

I have to take a 40 minute bus ride to get to church on Sunday. It's an interesting adventure. Most of the time I must stand the whole ride in a very crowded bus. Other times a young person will stand up and offer me a seat. You see this happen all the time, but maybe not as much as it use to. It's very refreshing to watch young men and young women stand up and give their bus seats to an elderly passenger who just got on the bus. I guess I don't look too elderly because it doesn't happen that often to me. Thank you very much.

Yesterday was an good bus ride. I got a rare seat for most of the ride. And I got to see some people who profoundly affected me.


First was a woman, probably in her late 50's or early 60's who looked like she worked hard for a living and had such a kind, accepting face with an unusual feature: a slight smile. This is rare enough on the bus and even rarer in China. You could almost see into her soul, and it was beautiful.


Then, an elderly couple got on, and, as luck would have it, there were two seats available right across from me. The gentleman had a full head of white hair and the humblest eyes that were generally in a downward glancing position, however he did look up and around enough to let me  look into his eyes. It struck me that this very gentle man had seen quite a lot of the horrific history and changes in China and it was reflected in his demeanor. His wife was with him and she seemed to be the go-to person in the relationship, albeit slow and deliberate. He was wearing an overcoat which seemed to protect him from the outside world. He face was not withered and worn, but quite smooth for someone his age. However,  his eyes were worn. He had obviously seen a lot, maybe too much of the human condition; and change had taken a toll on him.

My heart goes out to the good people of China. They're not all dog-eat-dog, king-o-the-hill, dodge ball aggressors. They seek a harmonious life. There was harmony in the faces of these fellow bus riders and I got to experience it

Happiness

Last week we gave a Free Write journal assignment. For the first time in two months our students could select whatever topic they liked to write about rather than write on an assigned topic. After reading about 40 journal entries so far, I am surprised to see how many college students chose to write about happiness; what it is and isn't and how much it depends on money and material things. This seems to be weighing on their minds what the uncertainties they are facing in the future and the general difficulty finding employment in China right now.


They all have interesting things to say on this subject and each student defines happiness differently. But one thing seems to be a common thread is that happiness is a state of contentment rather than the acquisition of wealth.
        
Here is what one student wrote:

      "Living in the world, I think the most important thing is that you feel happy from the bottom of your heart. The problem is that, how do we define happiness?  For the patients who have long been tortured by the illness, health is happiness. For the poor who are always starving to death, a delicious meal is happiness. For the people who are wanted, a peaceful life is happiness. The definition of happiness varies from person to person. 

      "Many people have good health, eat delicious food and live a peaceful life, but they don't feel happy because they always want for more.  A famous philosopher once said: 'Nothing is bigger than a man's desire.'  It does make sense.  It seems that we can never be satisfied and happiness is always waving to us at a distance. Seldom do we know that happiness is around us, like air.  Our happiness lies in others' eyes, but we can't feel it.  While others are envying us, we are complaining about our life.  Until one day, when we lose one of the most important things we have always possessed such as good health, we will start to realize how happy we were, and begin to miss the old days and sink in sorrow. 

      "Man is always foolish.  we wish ourselves to be happy but we never allow us to feel happy.  Think of what we already have: good health, a harmonious family, a good university to study in, some close friends.  We are truely one of the happiest person in the world. On the way to pursue our dreams, never forget to bring a contented heart!"

Glasses

Over the past few years I became aware that I was a member of a minority of folks who still wear glasses. Contact lenses and lasik eye surgery seem to have put eye glasses on the shelf....but not in China. Glasses are a serious fashion statement in China. I have been surprised to see the number of young people wearing very stylish frames...with NO lens; just open space. Go figure. And the plethora of frame styles is eye popping (pun intended). I only saw a lot of people wearing sunglasses a lot on the "money" side of town.

Young gals wear funky, lens-less eye glass frames as an accessory much like belts, scarves and jewelry  I've even seen a few guys who are into this kind of fashion statement.  Makes people watching even more interesting.

Squat Stats

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Blessed avoidance.  Wouldn't mind it if there was toilet paper which there isn't (or soap or paper towels). It's strictly BYOTP in China, especially on campus. And the TP ain't flush-able. So you can only imagine the odoriferous experience as one passes by the WC. All hail the western throne.

When It Rains It Pours

We got a call Tuesday afternoon from our Chinese co-teacher. The Foreign Language Department is starting 2 new English Writing classes for seniors next week...in the middle of the semester... and has asked us if we would teach them until the end of this semester. There will be 30 students in each class, which means 60 more Journals and 60 more Quick Writes to read and correct each week. They want us to use the lesson plans we've already created.  We've never met anyone in charge and they've never met us, but for some reason there's a hole that needs filling and "they" think we're the ones to fill it.