Blog 11

On page 383 Hessler describes his experience with going back and watching the footage he took with Adam. He describes his fascination with going back and watching the video of a man who kept hitting his camera and telling him he wasn’t allowed to film there. He then described his thoughts on all the days he had spent in the city with all the different crowds of people and yet he had never had encounters like he had with that man. He then expresses his emotions as he goes back and watches that incident, he states, “I did not enjoy watching the video. Every time I saw it, something tensed in my stomach and I could feel my pulse race.” This quote gave me some good ideas as to how I should address my own essay. I don’t usually describe my own opinions and feelings as much as I think I should. After Hessler talks about his own emotions and feelings towards the video he goes off to talk about his analysis of the incident and states, “There was much that the video showed. Most painfully, it showed the mistakes that we had made, starting with drawing a crowd in a part of town that we didn’t know well. It also showed that Adam had been too nonchalant, milking the attention, and it showed that he had been disrespectful in tossing the bun across the street. It showed that I was far too quick to anger and use strong language; from the tape it seemed that man might have left me alone if I hadn’t insulted him.” This long quote inspires me so much to write my essay with the same kind of analysis. Hessler’s analysis is very thorough and seems to state everything  Adam and him could have done to prevent the incident from happening. 

375-400 in Hessler

Choose one of these topics and respond in 250-350 words:

In this last section of River Town, there are quite a few feelings/emotions that Peter Hessler describes, both his own and those of other people.  Choose some of these and describe them in your own words, and then describe how reading about them makes you feel yourself. 

or

Choose one "example" that Peter Hessler develops from his experience, in this section of the book.  Explain what the example is and describe the way in which Hessler develops analysis and thought about that example.  How is his method similar to and different from your own way of developing your own essay? 

Post 10

For Peter the only main problem with his father when he visited was figuring out a way for his father to sleep better. Like Peter his father ran a lot. They had run intensely for two days and his father slept soundly but then his father had this continuous runny nose and sour throat. Then he coughed up coal dust and his father decided he did not want to run anymore (328).

Since Peter’s father had come before Adam’s parents he was able to learn from Peter’s mistakes but had still repeated some of the same mistakes Peter had done. However, during Adam’s parents visit he had asked if his parents could give a lecture on American agriculture. He was denied by Mr. Wang, a man who Adam and Peter found very slippery. After giving Mr. Wang many different times that his parents could give the lecture. He then decided to secretly give the lecture during his class time. He even offered the students the decision of staying or not for the lecture. They all stayed and asked many questions (335).

Peter goes into more detail about the Chinese constantly denying them and people from their department from really letting them to get to know one another. There had been an incident when to female Corp teachers, Sunni and Noreen, had be invited to one of their tutor’s house. However the invitation was revoked when there tutor had said the road was dangerous and that they should not come. The two teachers told Peter of what happened. He went to where the teachers were going to take a bus to their tutor’s house. The bus driver said the roads were fine. Peter knew the true reason of this lie. “…more likely the command stemmed from the same shapeless paranoia that had shadowed us from the start—the sense that waiguoren were politically risky and should be kept at a distance (337).”

However, there were times when Peter did not have to worry about this “shapeless paranoia”. On his father’s last day of his visit they had been in invited into a farmer’s home after their hike to Flag Mountain. They talked to farmer and the his family. After their visit Peter’s father was more relaxed and was amazed that they had just gone to peasant’s house and just talked. He then said “If I were you, I’d go up to that place every week.” At first Peter was tired with China but with that one comment he was thankful for the reminder of how open a majority of the Chinese were (333).

Mimi Zycherman

Blog Post #10

Explain the difference between the visit of Peter's father and the visit of Adam's parents.  What is Hessler showing about Chinese culture in this section?  Please respond in 250-350 words. 

It was Peter's first time seeing a family member since he had been in China, aside from his sister Angela. His father was continuously terrified of the random searches from the people of the hotel to come and check the passports and do checks. His father was shivering the entire boat ride to Fuling. His father had a hard time sleeping for about two days in Fuling. He was overwhelmed by the smells, the noise, language, life, and horns out on the river. They began running twelve miles a day to help with the insomnia. Unfortunately this made his father sick after that so greatly worked, but his father had to rest for the remainder of his time in Fuling. The next day, Peter got sick as well and it was the most miserable week of their lives. It was weird for Peter when he could not understand what his father and the priest were saying, because he had come so accustomed to explaining to his father what everyone was saying. They next camped in the high peaks of Fuling and hiked around until they returned to find out that someone on their hiking trip had died. His father was very good at consoling the students and help them deal with the loss of Belinda, while Peter stood around not knowing what to do. On the last day they hiked halfway up Raise the Flag Mountain and made it to a countryside at a home of the landlord. His father had experienced two years of what Peter did in ten days. 

After Adam canceled his class and let people to stay to listen to his parents, his parents took over the class. They showed slides and talked about American agriculture. The students were interested asking all their questions and Adam's parents continued to answer and explain more. Adam's parents seemed to want to teach more about American culture and Peter's father seemed to want to learn more about the Chinese culture and lifestyle. 

Mackenzie Ogden

blog 8

Please summarize the points Hessler is making about women in China in this section.  Then respond to what he's saying in terms of your gut reaction (thoughts and feelings) and your more considered analysis of what he's saying. (275p-300p)

When reading even the first few paragraphs i can instantly relate this reality of "gender inequality" back to the American Woman's Suffrage movement. Henslers approach was quite different due to the sensitive matter of why the female population was considered a lesser kind. Due to the "skittish" nature the people of Fuling had towards outsiders yet alone westerners Hensler did not want to cross any lines when asking about the women and their roles. It was almost taboo to ask why in their culture; it was so deeply rooted in time that women often felt isolated from the rest of the world.

response to 325-350

Explain the difference between the visit of Peter's father and the visit of Adam's parents.  What is Hessler showing about Chinese culture in this section?  Please respond in 250-350 words. 

275-300

In this section, Peter talks a lot about men and women, and their roles in society. After reading this, it seems to me Fuling is rather traditional as the men play the business, moneymaking role and the women are hidden and stand behind the man. As Hessler went on though, he explains that women were able to work and make their mark on society and business, so it sounds like their culture is changing just a bit.

Reading this didn’t really strike me as surprising, because our American society was once like this- very male dominant- and still is in some cities more than others. I think every society has some growing up to do as far as prejudices, but it is nice to hear Fuling is in the process of modernizing, and equalizing their culture.

250-275

At the beginning of this chapter Peter Hessler states “Money meant very little to me in Fuling.” This statement seems rather simple and straightforward, but as I continued to read on I realized Hessler would’ve been better off saying, “Saving money meant very little to me.” This makes more sense because obviously money was important to him otherwise he wouldn’t be able to buy books or window shop or eat out every meal like he does. I think Hessler said money didn’t mean very much because he is focused on his teaching and making a change in Fuling, rather than getting paid- especially when he is doing something he loves.

That is kind of my view on money too. I like getting it and having to spend on things for myself, but it’s not what drives me to do the jobs I do or the things I love. For many Americans, though, money does motivate them, and it typically frustrates them too. Money and wealth have so many strings attached now with taxes and temptations, it’s almost as if you wonder whether the wealth and security is all worth it.

Money can be a terribly stressful thing, and I am glad Peter Hessler is smart enough to avoid all that drama. 

Bog # 9

From pages 300-325 the reader starts to see a different side of Hessler. Throughout the book Hessler is more of an observer rather than someone who presents their opinions. However, on Page 318 Hessler describes his frustration when a shoe shiner starts bothering him, he states, “There were two things in particular that could anger me quickly in Fuling. One was any sort of physical violation… The other was when people treated me like an animal, grunting or gesturing bluntly because they assumed that the waiguiren was very slow and couldn’t speak Chinese (318).” This passage reveals Hessler’s anger during his time in Fuling. This is one of the first times we see Hessler describe his anger and frustration with being treated like an animal because he looks different than the locals. Throughout the book Hessler shows patience with the people in Fuling who have different views than he does. However, when the shoe shiner started physically violating Hessler he stood up for himself which shows that he isn’t afraid to fight for his right of privacy and respect.  The identity of the shoeshine man is shown through this quote by him stereotyping Hessler to be an uneducated American. This man’s identity tells me that he is closed-minded and is very judgmental to people he doesn’t know personally. 

Pg 300-325

In this section Hessler gets into a confrontation with a local shoeshine man. The argument does not lead to any physical fight but does reveal some things about Hessler's identity and the shoe shine man. From the reading that leads up to this particular section, I would have never guessed that Hessler would be the one to retaliate against some of the ignorance that went on in Fuling. He was always the type to ignore the ignorance that some the the people from Fuling had towards waiguoren. The altercation reveals that there is a limit to Hessler's patience. For a year and a half he has dismissed anything that would normally upset him but this time he just got tired of dealing with the unnecessary treatment of being a waiguoren. I think that his actions were justified out of anger because he had no intenions of physically fighting that man but would if he got hit first. I think it is perfectly fine that he finally stood up for himself but he didn't not have to taunt the man by insulting him.Towards the end of the sections his feelings towards his unexpected action changed. Although he finally stood up for himself, his concluding reflections show that he has a good conscience. Hessler was educated and had enough common sense to know that the man knew no better than his actions and Hessler fell to the shoeshine man's leave of ignorance. This shows that Hessler is able to point out his mistakes while he is in the act of making them but not quite that strong to correct them just as fast as he notices them. In reference to the shoeshine man, this shows that he has insecurities about himself but chooses to mess with other people to cover them up. This is very apparent when he says that he has many friends that are bigger than him and his anger increases when someone calls him short. He lacks confidence in himself and brings down others in compensation for what he lacks.

Blog Post #9

What does the incident with the shoeshine man reveal about Peter Hessler's identity?  What does it reveal about the identity of the shoeshine man?  How does your own identity affect the way you respond to these questions?  Please answer in 250-350 words. 

I think Peter Hessler's incident with the shoeshine man reveals that Hessler was fed up and was not going to take anyones crap no matter if he was wrong or right. The shoeshine man was completely out of hand and needed to be put in his place. I know that if I was in that situation, I would have done exactly what Peter Hessler did. The fact that the shoeshine man was shoving food in Hessler's face and heckling him just made it seem like the shoeshine man wanted to be messed with. The shoeshine man was looking for a fight or confrontation because he was either really bored or has major issues. Although you could look at it from other directions and see that Hessler was wrong for stooping to the level of the shoeshine man and insulting him right back, but if you're asking my opinion, Hessler did exactly what needed to be done. 

When answering these questions, I realized that I do not enjoy taking crap from anyone. In the end, I am a lot of talk and not much action, so I probably would have brushed the shoeshine man right off my shoulder, unless it was the straw that broke the camels back. I clearly was not in this situation, but I have been in "similar" situations and usually I do not ridicule the person who is ridiculing me. Because that is just stooping right down to their level, so I just choose to either make them understand how much of an asshole they look like right now or something. I like to make the heckler feel as though they are nothing because they are the one stooping very low. That way they realize it early on and apologize and then you do not have extra problems.

Mackenzie Ogden

Post 9

When I first began to read River Town I thought Hessler as the observer. He never really got to personal about how he really felt about China’s culture. Until, he started to talk more about the history of China and how it has affected their culture. However, how he reacted to the shoeshine man was a bit surprising. It was the first time Hessler got really angry. He is usually a very calm and relaxed person. When the people of China do tease him he usually ignores it. However, this was his breaking point.

“There were two things in particular that could anger me quickly in Fuling. One was any sort of physical violation…The other was when people treated me like an animal, grunting or gesturing bluntly because they assumed that the waiguiren was very slow and couldn’t speak Chinese (318).”The shoe shiner seemed to think that the waiguoren he was messing with didn’t know any Chinese and would not be bothered by his teasing. Most of the people who teased Hessler were poor, uneducated people. The shoe shiner was defiantly both of those characteristics. The way he teased Hessler also showed that he thought he was better than Hessler and that Hessler didn’t know anything about the culture of China.

“The person he had angered was somebody I myself really didn’t know, because that person had never existed at home. Part of what Sichuan had changed about me was that in many ways I was more patient and tolerant than before there was also another part that had neither tolerance nor patience for more abuse of this sort (320).” I think Hessler had every right to act the way he did. The first time the shoe shiner bothered Hessler it was the common teasing of “Hahh-llooo!” which was something Hessler could ignore. However, when the shoe shiner started to treat him like an animal by shoving food in his face and telling him to eat it; that was pushing the limit of his tolerance. It was extremely disrespectful and Hessler had every right to tell that shoe shiner off.

After Hessler had proved himself and insulted the shoe shiner many times. He instantly felt bad and embarrassed because he knew he had money and had a better education level than the shoe shiner. In some instances he probably shouldn’t have insulted the shoe shiner that much but he needed to show the shoe shiner that he was wrong about not needing waiguoren around China. The situation was complicated, like most situations that Hessler is either put in by someone or himself. Like Hessler, observing seems a lot easier to me because I can see both sides of the situation and I do try not to pick a side but the shoe shiner was defiantly on the wrong side of this argument.

Mimi Zycherman

responding to 300-325 in Hessler

What does the incident with the shoeshine man reveal about Peter Hessler's identity?  What does it reveal about the identity of the shoeshine man?  How does your own identity affect the way you respond to these questions?  Please answer in 250-350 words. 

Blog 1

Up to page 25 the story slowly develops and unravels an entire world unlike anything Adam Hesler had experienced before. What stood out to me was at the very beginning how there was almost a forbidding of outsiders for so many years and then all of a sudden there was an allowance of outside influence amongst their community. When Hesler first arrives they are surprised to learn of the differences of culture between the eastern western sides of China. Western Chinese women can do as they please and marry and divorce whenever they feel the need.  Eastern women are more conservative and don’t have the same freedoms as the westerners do. This creates mixed tensions between the two parties whenever they interact with one another. The more orthodox Eastern China almost treats women as a lesser breed, they expect them to not undress or shed clothes in the public view.  This difference was made clear when Hesler unknowingly embraced a little girl by complimenting her freckles. The perception of making public note to these skin defections is embraced as an insult in the delicate Chinese culture. This type of culture shock came unexpected to Hesler and his colleague; others would come and assist the two in trying to correct them of their cultural mistakes. Having several friends who have served I have come to hear of the odd insult in the middle east (Iraq/Afghanistan) that exposing the underside of your boot is an ultimate insult because it shows superiority by force. Many soldiers and high-ranking officers have made the mistake of sitting cross-legged when in discussion or interview with a native, thus unknowingly insulting him.

Blog #2

From pages 25 to 75 Hesler talks about a variety of differences in the culture between America and China. The way the schools teach the text is in such a way that one does not question the legitimacy or context of the material being taught. Another difference is the language barrier that Hesler and his partner encountered. Terms and references that would be deemed as an insult of derogatory in the United States is a common reference in China.  Anyone who is called a peasant here in America will most likely take that as an insult or some sort of derogatory gesture. In China a peasant is a hard working farmer who isn’t socially adjusted into the metropolitan lifestyle.  It seems like social classes are more apparent and visible where as in America the working class is merely divided between blue and white collar working forces.

Blog 3

Pages 75-100 mainly focused on the topic of the ritualistic habit of the Fulings communities’ binge drinking. Their views on the ability to consume quantities of alcohol are similar to those of the Frats here in America. Being socially accepted is based on how much you can consume in a certain night. Baijiu is the drink of choice for the community; and just by the name I’m guessing that you only need one, MAAAYBE two to get you going. What I found interesting was that the Chinese viewed alcoholism as an honor that few can attain due to the fact of which the Chinese are such lightweights. Hesler was more respected throughout the community after he showed how he could hold his own booze at the party.

Blog 4

On page 116 Hesler describes getting time off for the Spring Festival Holiday and being able to go out and actually see what the true heart of China looks like. I found it interesting that Hesler and Adam chose to ignore the advice of his colleagues and take a passenger ship downstream to see what the culture and everyday life was like in the countryside. From the depiction given it sounds absolutely stunning and full of life. I could definitely relate to when Hesler woke up and couldn’t depict if he was back in Mississippi or in China; I’ve experienced times when I was hiking out in the desert that I would wake up in bed only to realize I was still out there. And now that im in civilization I wake up in the wilderness only to open my eyes to society.

Blog 5

In my travels I have seen many sights, some good some bad. Most of which were a combination of the two; at the same time every moment is perceived by where I’ve come from and where I intend to go, living breathing reactions with a pair of eyes to judge every moment of reality. After re-reading pages 193-200 I am reminded of my 8-week exodus through the Sonoran desert. Guided by Anasazi trail-walkers and spiritual guides I was taken through lands that few have seen.  Growing up in Chicago I have become accustomed to the cosmopolitan way of life; the everyday fast-paced, in your face culture has been my reality everyday for the last 19 years. In the month of June I found myself on top of a mesa overlooking a valley I just walked through, the ability to see everything the light touched was a sense that I just couldn’t and still cannot comprehend. The ability to see as far as the horizon let me hypnotized me, it was like my mind and body stretched throughout the entire body but yet I still was on the mesa. This sight was very grounding to me, the feeling of being universally connected this land was something that almost scared me. Being this desolate and surrounded by pure nature, I was in a constant state of awe as I tried to believe in what I was seeing. The real weirdness came from when I would wake up at night thinking I was home in bed only to realize I was still out there. And yet years later ill wake up in bed thinking I’m out there. Sometimes I wish I still were.