This is my first time contributing to a blog and it feels a lot more formal than the other internet alternatives…like twittering or updating your status on facebook…but very cool nonetheless! Props to Meredith for setting this up!
My name is Andrew, from Beijing, China. I am currently in Guangzhou, China, studying Chinese literature-related subjects as an auditing student at Jinan University. It may not be as cool as Wushu or Calligraphy, but it is just absolutely fascinating to learn of the forces that have shaped Chinese history and the reflections of history through literature. I chose to take a gap year for multiple reasons: to volunteer, to study Chinese literature-related subjects, and to better understand the society as a whole.
This is my second stop during the gap year. I spent the first 8 weeks as a volunteer for the Qianqiu Reading Aid Project (qianqiuzhudu.cn) in Mao County, Sichuan. It’s been only a year since the disastrous earthquake struck the region but the recovery has been impressive. I was in charge of delivering the donated books and other materials from the project to the surrounding villages and organizing activities to get the villagers borrowing books. It actually turned out to be much more difficult than expected. Some of them had a completely different notion of studying, in the sense that to them, every extra month spent studying is lost income. Nonetheless, most villagers fervently welcomed the idea and their friendliness was just touching. As of this point, the libraries are maintained by local villagers and I will probably return next year to check on the situation.
Though I am thousands of miles away from Palo Alto, I cannot contain my excitement every time I think about Stanford. (or hear about the alums, like Brook Lopez, who absolutely kicked butts in the first NBA game of the season). I lived near Palo Alto (Concord) during my four years or so in the States and Stanford was the only university I had ever visited. I was in elementary school when I first visited and was quite surprised to find students reading books on the grass in…a relaxing manner. Studying…is FUN?! That was quite inexplicable to me, but the aura of mystery around it has cleared up over time. I can’t wait to see everyone there!
Hope all of you are having a fantastic gap year
Andrew
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Hi Andrew!
ReplyDeleteI'm happy you posted - it's pretty quiet on this blog. Chinese literature is something I know absolutely nothing about! The reading project you mentioned sounds really cool, too...I'm working on volunteering with two organizations in Ithaca, New York that do similar stuff. One is called Prisoner Express, and it sends books to people in jail who request them, organizing writing and art projects by prisoners, and publishing a newsletter of prisoners' writing.
It's nice that you have a specific structure (taking academic courses) to your gap year! How did you end up auditing classes? I'm living near two schools, Cornell and Ithaca College, so maybe I should audit an interesting class.
Enjoy the rest of your year, and looking forward to meeting you in 2010,
Chris Frederick
Hey Chris!
ReplyDeleteWow, the work you're doing sounds amazing. The impact of these books on the prisoners could be life-changing. It somehow reminds me of scenes in the Shawshank Redemption, where Andy was trying to expand the prison library. Anyway, I just searched on the internet and did not find any NGOs or ongoing projects like the Prisoner Express in China. I'm going to raise this issue to the NGO I volunteered for and see if the organizers there know anything about such organizations in China.
As for how I ended up here, I have to say I'm very lucky. I was introduced to the school through a friend, and there was this class of Juniors from a college in Guizhou coming to the school here as exchange students. The teachers informed me that the courses they were taking were similar to the subjects I wanted to study, and I could join and stay with them while still maintaining the ability to choose the courses I want to take and the work I need to do. I immediately accepted and paid the fees for my stay here.
From what I know of Chinese universities, if one wants to listen in on the classes, he/she just has to find out the schedule and the location of the classes. Most classes here are way too large for teachers to check on the students anyway. I did more work because I'm devoting an entire semester just for this, and I had to find a place to stay. I can't imagine the universities in America requiring ID or badges for every class so it really depends on what your goal is. Hope this helps:-)
Andrew