IN OTHER
WORLD NEWS:
American students encounter China

Midwest may host ethnic Albanians temporarily

Worldview: Hope for Humanity

“When I saw rabbits and chipmunks running around I was shocked. If you were to see any little animal like that back in China, it would soon be eaten,” said Rose Wang about one of her first reactions to the United States. Adjusting to American culture has been an adventure for both Wang and her family, husband Fan and son Lou.

Wang now works in the Hekman Library, but she is from the Jiangsu Province in mainland China, between Beijing and Shanghai. She was a junior high school English teacher when she met Religion Professor Philip Holtrop in the summer of 1992. Holtrop was teaching at the English Language Institute in China (ELIC) where Wang was taking classes.

“Rose was one of my best students,” said Holtrop.

Later that summer, Wang and her husband sent a letter to Holtrop expressing interest in studying at Calvin. Fan Wang spent the 1994 school year at Calvin then returned to China.

In September 1996, the whole family arrived in the United States. Adjusting to American culture is an ongoing process for them.

“Almost everything is different for me,” said Wang. “I grew up in a small town and coming here was like coming to a totally new world.

“In China, you adjust yourself to become socially acceptable. It is very much about social harmony and about learning to live with others. In America, people value individuality.”

Wang’s other adjustments to American culture include trying to write home about certain experiences.

“I would want to write and tell my friends about going to a garage sale,” Wang said. “But there is no Chinese word for that. We don’t have garages, and people don’t sell their used items in the same manner. It would take a full paragraph to attempt to explain what it was. It’s frustrating.”

Another adjustment was the food. “We don’t have as many cows back in China. When I saw the squares of cheese on the table, I thought they were wooden decorative objects. I didn’t realize they were food. And just the other day, I learned that butter is from cow’s milk.

“Also in China, we don’t really have dessert like you do. After dinner we will have a piece of fruit, or a cup of tea and take a five minute walk.”

Wang seemed to consider this a more healthful alternative to American dessert-eating habits.

The American and Chinese educational systems are different, too. In China, a student chooses a major concentration then the school chooses every course to be taken.

“When I first came to Calvin and saw the course catalog I didn’t know how to read it,” said Wang. “There were so many classes and choices!”

Wang declared her major in English and is the first person from mainland China to do so, according to Holtrop.

“Studying literature in English can be frustrating,” said Wang. “Sometimes I don’t seem to be able to get as deep into the literature as other students.

“In China when we look at literature, we try to learn from it. Here, analyzing the literature (literary criticism) is the way of viewing literature. I’m not used to it.”

Wang will graduate from Calvin in December. Her husband graduated from Calvin last May, and in December he will receive his MBA from Grand Valley State University.

“We are Chinese and sooner or later we will go back to China,” Wang said.

At the same time, she and Fan want to integrate their American education into their lives.

“We want to work in an area where we are bridging the two cultures,” she said, “and in a place where we can benefit and help other people.”