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Eye-opener for Chinese girl in NZ
By Chen Li |
December 13, 2010, Monday
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BEFORE I arrived in New Zealand, I anticipated that I was going to a place world-renowned for its stunning scenery, delicious Kiwi fruit and, of course, numerous flocks of sheep wandering casually around vast ranches.
I guess I'm not wrong - but neither was I 100 percent right.
Yes, the views, no matter where I go - mountains, harbors or just simple small flowers along the roadsides - are absolutely breathtaking. All kinds of creatures, especially birds, seem to live in harmony with humankind and never show fear when I approach them.
This is a place where almost everything - trees, seas, sunshine and smiles on strangers' faces - gives you a feeling of serenity, peace and contentment. But this is not the whole picture of New Zealand, as I've learned after a month's stay in Wellington. Everything has two sides, or maybe even more. Behind these marvelous views and comfortable lifestyle, there are social problems the country is struggling to cope with.
A widely accepted drinking culture, for instance, has led to repeated drunk driving tragedies, street fights, alcohol and drug addictions - as well as young mothers-to-be who can hardly take care of themselves but now are responsible for another life simply because of a drunken night. Not to mention drunken people who yell, shout or vomit on streets at midnight while they can barely walk.
These are things I'll never learn from alluring New Zealand tourism commercials frequently aired on Chinese TV or from what I hear from friends who have traveled here for a week. These are things I learn only after getting close for a while.
Objective opinion
So I ask: is it possible to reach an objective opinion about something when everything you think you know about it is from words written by others or video clips edited by professionals, rather than what you see with your own eyes and feel with your own heart? I guess the answer is probably not. So it's highly likely that some Kiwis have misinterpretations of China, too, either in good or negative ways.
One of the most frequently asked questions I get here is about censorship. The question is asked seriously: "How bad is censorship in China? You will be persecuted or in serious trouble if you criticize the government, right?" No, I heard myself reply repeatedly. But there are lines you need to watch out for.
Lawrence's lesson
Just as these four weeks have helped me see the more real faces of New Zealand, people here need chances to see China for themselves if they want to have more influence in the world's largest market, to get to know their second-biggest and probably soon-to-be their No. 1 trading partner.
If more Kiwis have the chance to see what is happening outside New Zealand, I guess they will probably find the same things I've learned during my stay here: human beings, no matter where they come from, what language they speak, are all fundamentally the same.
We laugh when we are happy, cry when we are sad. We want to love someone and also be loved by others. The only difference is the way we do things. I learned this when my landlady's 8-year-old son, Lawrence, was down with a fever a couple of weeks ago.
She didn't take him to hospital, because she was assured that he would be fine within 24 hours. Instead of giving him medicine, she gave him iced Sprite, juice and ice cream. Despite the fever, the boy still wore his shorts and T-shirt and happily ran around the house in his bare feet. The next day, he was fine, quite recovered.
This really shocked me, because everything I've been taught in China about how to deal with a fever is just the opposite.
The first thing most Chinese parents will do if their kids get a fever is to send them to the hospital, to get shots or a medical prescription. If not, they will bundle the children in heavy clothes or layers of quilts, while giving the kids hot water so that they can sweat all over to cool off the fever. Anything cold is strictly forbidden.
But as extremely different as the two ways may seem, surprisingly, they both work.
All people need is the chance to know there are other paths, and to jump out of their boxes to feel a bigger world out there.
(Chen Li is a Shanghai Daily reporter on a journalists' exchange program in New Zealand.)
I guess I'm not wrong - but neither was I 100 percent right.
Yes, the views, no matter where I go - mountains, harbors or just simple small flowers along the roadsides - are absolutely breathtaking. All kinds of creatures, especially birds, seem to live in harmony with humankind and never show fear when I approach them.
This is a place where almost everything - trees, seas, sunshine and smiles on strangers' faces - gives you a feeling of serenity, peace and contentment. But this is not the whole picture of New Zealand, as I've learned after a month's stay in Wellington. Everything has two sides, or maybe even more. Behind these marvelous views and comfortable lifestyle, there are social problems the country is struggling to cope with.
A widely accepted drinking culture, for instance, has led to repeated drunk driving tragedies, street fights, alcohol and drug addictions - as well as young mothers-to-be who can hardly take care of themselves but now are responsible for another life simply because of a drunken night. Not to mention drunken people who yell, shout or vomit on streets at midnight while they can barely walk.
These are things I'll never learn from alluring New Zealand tourism commercials frequently aired on Chinese TV or from what I hear from friends who have traveled here for a week. These are things I learn only after getting close for a while.
Objective opinion
So I ask: is it possible to reach an objective opinion about something when everything you think you know about it is from words written by others or video clips edited by professionals, rather than what you see with your own eyes and feel with your own heart? I guess the answer is probably not. So it's highly likely that some Kiwis have misinterpretations of China, too, either in good or negative ways.
One of the most frequently asked questions I get here is about censorship. The question is asked seriously: "How bad is censorship in China? You will be persecuted or in serious trouble if you criticize the government, right?" No, I heard myself reply repeatedly. But there are lines you need to watch out for.
Lawrence's lesson
Just as these four weeks have helped me see the more real faces of New Zealand, people here need chances to see China for themselves if they want to have more influence in the world's largest market, to get to know their second-biggest and probably soon-to-be their No. 1 trading partner.
If more Kiwis have the chance to see what is happening outside New Zealand, I guess they will probably find the same things I've learned during my stay here: human beings, no matter where they come from, what language they speak, are all fundamentally the same.
We laugh when we are happy, cry when we are sad. We want to love someone and also be loved by others. The only difference is the way we do things. I learned this when my landlady's 8-year-old son, Lawrence, was down with a fever a couple of weeks ago.
She didn't take him to hospital, because she was assured that he would be fine within 24 hours. Instead of giving him medicine, she gave him iced Sprite, juice and ice cream. Despite the fever, the boy still wore his shorts and T-shirt and happily ran around the house in his bare feet. The next day, he was fine, quite recovered.
This really shocked me, because everything I've been taught in China about how to deal with a fever is just the opposite.
The first thing most Chinese parents will do if their kids get a fever is to send them to the hospital, to get shots or a medical prescription. If not, they will bundle the children in heavy clothes or layers of quilts, while giving the kids hot water so that they can sweat all over to cool off the fever. Anything cold is strictly forbidden.
But as extremely different as the two ways may seem, surprisingly, they both work.
All people need is the chance to know there are other paths, and to jump out of their boxes to feel a bigger world out there.
(Chen Li is a Shanghai Daily reporter on a journalists' exchange program in New Zealand.)
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