Some Pandas, A Buddha, and Me

The campaign trail continues and the inevitable issue of race comes out again. I find it funny that it seems that Obama is trying to not be the Black candidate, but maybe Hillary is trying to be the Woman candidate; it seems that race is more volatile than gender. I wonder what you all think. Anyway, whenever a Black, especially a male, achieves something great, the obvious next question is what should we do about affirmative action. I was reading an article on MSNBC.COM about AA's relevance. Many say that it should really be based on socioeconomic status and not on race at all. I have never had a strong conviction for or against affirmative action, but I do feel that it is an institution whose necessity or lack there of will not be realized until it is vanquished. Seeing that things have changed in many sectors of our country, and that the Black Middle class is increasing, I think, is AA necessary?

Well, it seems we only have two choices: either reverse discrimination (which I think is a funny term, excuse my bias) or normal discrimination. Of course, dissolving AA based on race or gender is assuming that our educational system from elementary to higher learning, and our labor system, professional or other, is beyond race and gender, and that AA based solely on socioeconomics will not just show preferential treatment disproportionately towards poor whites. I guess that is easy for me to say, being a Black male, that is if an employer doesn't decided to kill two birds with one stone, A Black Female or Latina. Anyway, if your bet is yes, we have transcended such trivial things, then let us dissolve race and gender based AA and see what happens, but please wait until I get a Doctorate degree and a career first.

On the other hand, maybe race and gender are still issues in our land and that AA is not the most efficient way to approach it. Laws can not change the attitudes of people directly, but it can force them into a situation where an opportunity to see something differently is placed right in front of their eyes. Whether one takes advantage of that opportunity is another issue.

To be honest, I have an easier time writing about what I feel than simply writing what I did on a certain occasion. I know, I am weird guy. The reason this blog has taken so long is that I have had a really hard time being disciplined about giving you details concerning my travels, so I am sorry but I am going to be skimpy on the particulars.

I was in Cheng Du, China staying in a comfortable four star Hotel room with an uncomfortable bed. We arrived in Cheng Du (Sarah and I) on an afternoon flight. Sarah gave her passport to the airport official, and he proceeds as normal. After she is done I go up to the counter and hand him my passport, and suddenly I get a couple of questions, probably because I am not Asian, remember Sarah has an American Passport. He asks if I am traveling along, I said no I am here with my friend, the one who just left your counter. At this point, Sarah had headed to the baggage claim belt, which was very close, but still she was out of sight. Thus, another lady comes over and asks where she is, and I have no idea. Finally, she comes into view, and she says, "the girl in the green?" I say yes. Then she asks me if she is Chinese, I say "no, she is American." I don't mention that she is Korean, I don't know how the Chinese-Korean relations are, so I decided to play it safe. Anyway, I make it through the check point with no problem, and the officials were not harassing me or being rude, they were just, well I don't know, I guess doing their job, but it is interesting how I always seem to get the third degree in China.

Now, there were two main sites that I wanted to see. The first was the Panda Reserve.

The next shots are of the unappreciated Red Pandas. In fact, for about 8USD, I was able to hold one of these suckas. Although it mentioned in a travel guide that holding the pandas was possible, Sarah and I felt a little strange about how we were approached with the opportunity. It was done somewhat quietly, as if it was against the rules, but regardless, I HELD A RED PANDA!!!

As you can see, the panda reserve was wonderful, there is nothing more hilarious than watching six giant pandas eat in unison on their backs. While in the park, I received a lot of attention. If you didn't know, the Chinese enjoy staring at Black folks, tall folks, and people with bright hair. Not to mention, other Asians or cultures that they are not use to seeing. Thus, I got stared at a lot, so much that it became really irritating. I actually told some of the students here, who will be studying in US this summer that staring is a big no no in the US. In some cases, you will get cussed out. Anyway, some students wanted to take a picture with me because I am dark and foreign, so I did.

My next destination was the Leshan GIANT Buddha. My goodness, someone had too much time on their hands, because this thing is enormous. The park was nicely decorated with shrubs and brick pathways. We had to stand in this long line, while being stared at. The line was somewhat intense, because there were these guys in military like uniforms yelling Mandarin into the crowd trying to keep the line organized and moving. I felt like a refugee in line for grits or P.O.W walking to my death. The experience was all too great. Did I mention that English is barely spoken in Cheng Du? The funniest things is that since Sarah is Asian (Korean not Chinese), people only talk to her. In some cases, I will ask a question and the person will turn from me and just start rambling in Mandarin to Sarah. Then Sarah will look confused and says she doesn't understand, then they will pause and just keep talking. In many cases, people don't even look at me, they just hold conversations with her, as she stares blankly at them.

So, how am I doing now? Well, it's all good. My work is pretty slow at the moment, but I have had some wonderful encounters with students. I was losing my motivation in this job, but then I sit down with some students and I remember what I liked about being here in the first place. Forget the disappointment, the frustration involved with expectations being crushed, forget the cultural conundrums and difficulties, forget the fact that students are always going to be 20 minutes late for anything I do and they will assume that it is ok. Forget that dessert in HK is usually something that is lightly sweet and not really sweet. Forget what we were fed and what we really ended up eating, and forget that most students will not take my time or my fellow ETA's time seriously, ever. In the end, all that matters are the many good moments I have had chatting with students, sharing my thoughts, hearing their concerns about life, travel, and English. I hope I can leave this place with such a feeling. I actually went to a poetry reading the other night and performed. It was wonderful, I was well received.

All the ETA's will be in Nanjing China later this month, I will be sure to tell you all about it. I hope that I have not kept you waiting for too long. Blogging gets more and more difficult as the months past. I hope your Easter was wonderful and blessed. Until I blog again.