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Student ambassador: USA Pavilion is more than corporate might
By Dan Redford |
June 1, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
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IT is no secret that the USA Pavilion at the World Expo has been receiving mixed, sometimes bordering on harsh, reviews.
Reports from Huffington Post, The New York Times, NPR and countless blogs seem to paint a picture of the USA Pavilion as merely a billboard for corporate America.
So, Mr Student Ambassador, what say you?
I think that the criticism is fair in some regards, but I believe that it is a symptom of an old adage, "We are our own worst critics." The USA Pavilion is more than just the building, and its significance goes well beyond the movies and the interactive exhibit that promotes the sponsors.
Day in and day out, I see thousands of Chinese people with just as many smiles as they watch an eight-minute video of Americans like Kobe Bryant and Tony Hawk struggling to say, "Welcome to the USA Pavilion" in Chinese.
Having lived in China multiple times, I have had the privilege of watching the indelible impression this [seeing American celebrities speak Chinese] leaves on Chinese people.
Later, the smiles are replaced with excited gasps as both Secretary of State Clinton and President Obama address the Chinese guests.
This might not mean much to us in the United States, but to many of these Chinese guests, these officials represent mythical characters. They are able to associate their presence, albeit on the big screen, at the Expo as a sign of friendship and commitment to China.
Beyond the pavilion, Expo-goers get to see other elements of American culture. Over the past few weeks, student ambassadors and other representatives have organized activities, such as concerts and friendship tours to other cities in China, to give the Chinese people an American experience. These events are more than just shows of soft power; they share America's diversity and creativity.
In the '70s, US President Nixon sent ping-pong players to smooth things over with China. Today, we student ambassadors are those ping-pong players. I'm proud to say that most of the news involving my fellow student ambassadors and myself has been positive and accurate.
Certainly, having 70 or so Mandarin-speaking young Americans interacting directly with Chinese people on a daily basis makes a difference for public diplomacy - especially when 40,000 Chinese are filing through the pavilion on any given day.
Recently, student ambassadors have been blasting "Thriller" by Michael Jackson and doing the king of pop's signature moves while making guests feel comfortable and welcome. This shows a unique American quality of being able to mix business and pleasure for a purpose.
Most of the other pavilions here at Expo have had to hire local Chinese people to communicate directly with guests. Our fluency is a big difference and a strong point of our pavilion that should not be downplayed. This intangible element boasts qualities that some of the negative press has ignored: entrepreneurship, individualism, and creativity.
If you just take a surface glance, which is what's provided by well-intentioned journalists like Bob Jacobson of Huffington Post or Adam Minter of Shanghai Scrap, you'll miss what the USA Pavilion is all about.
They are correct when they suggest that corporate America is all over the US Pavilion; however, certain circumstances made this an unavoidable reality. US law banning the use of public funds required that corporations step up to put forth the US$61 million to ensure that the US would be showing up in something other than a tent.
To be fair, the USA Pavilion doesn't have some of the features of other pavilions. There is nothing about our history, our education system or our role in global affairs. It would be nice to include elements explaining American democracy and to show elements of our past and present that have come to define us as Americans.
But the Expo itself is about more than promoting individual countries. Instead, it's about establishing a commitment to creating a better world for us all. We all know these aren't realities. The Expo is about the next step.
Many of the companies that are producing a so-called "poor image" of America at the Expo are likely to be the ones that will make the investment and fund the research to create this innovation.
(Shanghai Daily condensed the letter.)
Reports from Huffington Post, The New York Times, NPR and countless blogs seem to paint a picture of the USA Pavilion as merely a billboard for corporate America.
So, Mr Student Ambassador, what say you?
I think that the criticism is fair in some regards, but I believe that it is a symptom of an old adage, "We are our own worst critics." The USA Pavilion is more than just the building, and its significance goes well beyond the movies and the interactive exhibit that promotes the sponsors.
Day in and day out, I see thousands of Chinese people with just as many smiles as they watch an eight-minute video of Americans like Kobe Bryant and Tony Hawk struggling to say, "Welcome to the USA Pavilion" in Chinese.
Having lived in China multiple times, I have had the privilege of watching the indelible impression this [seeing American celebrities speak Chinese] leaves on Chinese people.
Later, the smiles are replaced with excited gasps as both Secretary of State Clinton and President Obama address the Chinese guests.
This might not mean much to us in the United States, but to many of these Chinese guests, these officials represent mythical characters. They are able to associate their presence, albeit on the big screen, at the Expo as a sign of friendship and commitment to China.
Beyond the pavilion, Expo-goers get to see other elements of American culture. Over the past few weeks, student ambassadors and other representatives have organized activities, such as concerts and friendship tours to other cities in China, to give the Chinese people an American experience. These events are more than just shows of soft power; they share America's diversity and creativity.
In the '70s, US President Nixon sent ping-pong players to smooth things over with China. Today, we student ambassadors are those ping-pong players. I'm proud to say that most of the news involving my fellow student ambassadors and myself has been positive and accurate.
Certainly, having 70 or so Mandarin-speaking young Americans interacting directly with Chinese people on a daily basis makes a difference for public diplomacy - especially when 40,000 Chinese are filing through the pavilion on any given day.
Recently, student ambassadors have been blasting "Thriller" by Michael Jackson and doing the king of pop's signature moves while making guests feel comfortable and welcome. This shows a unique American quality of being able to mix business and pleasure for a purpose.
Most of the other pavilions here at Expo have had to hire local Chinese people to communicate directly with guests. Our fluency is a big difference and a strong point of our pavilion that should not be downplayed. This intangible element boasts qualities that some of the negative press has ignored: entrepreneurship, individualism, and creativity.
If you just take a surface glance, which is what's provided by well-intentioned journalists like Bob Jacobson of Huffington Post or Adam Minter of Shanghai Scrap, you'll miss what the USA Pavilion is all about.
They are correct when they suggest that corporate America is all over the US Pavilion; however, certain circumstances made this an unavoidable reality. US law banning the use of public funds required that corporations step up to put forth the US$61 million to ensure that the US would be showing up in something other than a tent.
To be fair, the USA Pavilion doesn't have some of the features of other pavilions. There is nothing about our history, our education system or our role in global affairs. It would be nice to include elements explaining American democracy and to show elements of our past and present that have come to define us as Americans.
But the Expo itself is about more than promoting individual countries. Instead, it's about establishing a commitment to creating a better world for us all. We all know these aren't realities. The Expo is about the next step.
Many of the companies that are producing a so-called "poor image" of America at the Expo are likely to be the ones that will make the investment and fund the research to create this innovation.
(Shanghai Daily condensed the letter.)
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