Day 14, Nanjing

Today was our first weekday with our host family. I was woken up by my host grandparents around 6:30 AM, and within five minutes, I was being force fed more dumplings than any human could possibly consume. I guess grandparents everywhere are the same. I then began my journey to class from my host family's house for the first time. Let's just say riding a bike in China is an experience. One person even described it to me as playing frogger, where you take the vulnerable position of the frog. After safely arriving to class, the day continued as normal. Once we were out of class, we had our second calligraphy lesson. This time we drew lan hua cao, which is a calligraphy drawing of Chinese grass. These paintings reminded me of the calligraphy paintings which westerners are more accustomed to seeing. Maybe westerners are more accustomed to seeing these kinds of calligraphy paintings because they resemble scenery, unlike the paintings which we drew before which were just characters on a piece of paper. It's interesting to see how different cultures view art. A Chinese person could look at a Chinese character and see history, skill, patience, and thousand other words, although some westerners may just see another plain, simple, ordinary word.  

After we finished our calligraphy class, we had our weekly group discussion which we discussed the events of the week, and reflected on the things that we have learned. One of the topics that I found to be most interesting to me was labor right in China. Zoe asked a provocative question, "Who is to be blamed for the poor working condition in China?" There were many suggested answers to this problem, but it seems like one of those controversies which no one is quite sure what to do. Some suggested a worldwide standard for working, but others pointed out that there was one intact but was not enforced. Others suggested we rely on the government of the country, but yet again that brings up the problem that if governments regulate their worker's labor rights, then prices go up, and business goes down, which is bad for the country. More agreed that American consumers bear the responsibility as well. It puzzles me that such a simple human right is violated on a daily basis, and no one has a working solution to solve it. It even makes me angry that I can't think of one good plausible way to solve this problem. Hopefully one day someone more enlightened than I can come across this problem, and have a solution that actually works.

After we finished hashing out our ideas, and discussing our other insights of the week we all went our own separate ways home. Once arriving home, I was greeted with even more food, and a fresh warm towel to wash my face with. I think I can become accustomed to this way of living. Afterwards, I presented my host family with my painting from the calligraphy class, and after a multitude of thank-yous, it earned a spot above their study. 

- Ryan L.