One of the major similarities is the strong family bond. Fred spoke of his mother and father frequently and the importance of family. He has called them several times to update them on his experiences.
Fred shared with us that education is very important to the Chinese. I haven't decided if this is a similarity or a difference. However, I thought it was interesting to share. Apparently, many families work hard to be able to send their children to specialized high schools that prepare the students to get into the BEST universities in China. Fred attends one of these high schools in Shanghai which is over 1000 miles away from his home. The curriculum is very stringent and, although there are some sports activities available, the focus is on academics. Fred wants to major in some type of math or science; he thinks probably physics. When we asked him what he and his friends do on weekends to relax, he looked at us with an incredulous expression and responded, "we study."
The major difference for us has been related to religion and politics. As I discussed previously, we just cannot imagine living without the freedoms we enjoy in America. Don and I are Christians and we took Fred to church with us. He went without hesitation but made it clear to us that his religion was science. Of course, this opened the door for Don to have a discussion about creation versus evolution. I am not sure who enjoyed that "debate" more Don or Fred. Regardless, we hope we planted seeds.
The students had an assignment to write an essay about their experiences here in America. We were very surprised that Fred wrote about the food and our cats. Apparently, many of the students really did not like American food. Fred has eaten everything we prepared. He wrote about eating hot dogs and cracker jacks at the baseball game and said he really liked hot dogs. Here is what Fred wrote about our cats:
There are 4 cats in my host families' house. All of them are lovely. In China, I've heard American's regard their pets as their own children. That's true. However, in China, especially in some poor areas, some people feed cats only for catching mice. So maybe cats in America are lucky. I like cats and these days, I spend a lot of time playing with cats. They don't speak English that good.
We really got a kick out of his essay.
Last night we attended the farewell party. The Chinese students put on a show for the host families that included karate demonstrations, games, art, and singing. It was wonderful! Fred gave us a photo of the three of us (taken at the welcome party) in a beautiful frame. Fred leaves us on July 10. I think we will be very sad. We have enjoyed this experience immensely and are considering hosting another student later this summer.
He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." Mark 16:15
Blessings,
Elizabeth
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