This is a photo taken by me during my stay in China. No, I didn't go to any theme parks or any sort of tourist traps. I went with my great uncle and some of his colleagues on a philanthropy trip to three mountain villages in the south of China, some that few visit. Their houses were not lit by swirly light bulbs screwed into the ceilings, or fluorescent industrial lights. They used natural sunlight, what there was, and a few scarce lamps. They did not play music from an iPod or stereo, they sang and used bamboo poles instead. They made all their own clothes, threw a festival for us when we arrived, and took us on a hike to their sacred temple. It was nice in the thought of bringing us there, but there really was nothing there. Afterwards we ate, but I was feeling ill and decided to skip on the food, taking photos instead.
But the most impressive thing of all was that when we provided them with food and money for the next 6 months, at first they began to decline. They said that it was too much for them to accept, when they had given us nothing in return. It was simply a gift, but it is astounding to see how giving people are when they are born with so little.
A man born with no food can be sat next to a man born from riches. Starve both for three days come along two men with a sandwich each. If these two men offer the starving men a sandwich, their responses will be different for sure. The man born from riches will thank them and gratefully eat it, having starved for three days.
The man born with no food will say that they can share it.
People astound me. When placed in the right perspective, looking at the world through a different view, it is amazing to see what passes you by and what you don't see. You don't see from the beggar's dirty spot in the street, looking up at people walking past, nor from the 60th floor law firm, from the eyes of a lawyer looking down at the perfect city skyline. Your view of the world is not unique in situation, but so unique in person that it is what defines you.
Hope you are feeling better and that you'll be joining us regularly soon. Please keep reading my blog to know what is happening in the class. I think you have the right idea here. In class we talked about having a sociological imagination. That is realizing that people are shaped by their the other people in their environment. People are shaped by their family, their village, their country, religion, friends, school etc... ANd they are shaped by what time period they live in. Realizing all of those influences is having a sociological imagination. I think thats what you were writing about in this post. You were able to experience how different those people were and you realize that they are different because they are living in somewhere else in the world.
ReplyDeleteNice post - what an interesting experience!