Post 2

When reading the next 50 pages of the River Town, I noticed that the people who are poor and work on a farm are called peasants. In America we might have peasants but we don’t use that word. We just call them farmers. The Chinese culture still uses this old word which gives you additional insight into their language and how it affects their culture. In America calling someone a peasant sounds disrespectful and degrading. However, for the Chinese it’s a normal label for someone who is poor and owns a farm.

Can a peasant breakout of their class in China? How about American peasants or farmers? Is there a difference?

At the Fuling College, students are fined if their classroom is dirty or they miss a class or a morning exercise. Most of the students don’t have a lot of spending money. However, most of these students probably wouldn’t miss a class because they are trying to improve themselves in society. With this motivation to work hard in school and to go to every class the students appreciate the value of education. If we miss a class we don’t get fined and I have never thoroughly cleaned my class room. However, this doesn’t bother us. We care more about making the grade then the values we get from being educated. In Chinese culture I think education takes you very far in their society.

Do less developed countries appreciate education more than the more developed countries? Why? When did we stop appreciating education as much as we used to?

Mimi