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One might think that the very young are quite different than older folks. I propose that we are all the same in one major way... We love a good story, and the best stories come from real life. History is full of tantalizing, sorrowful, tragic, and wonderful stories. Most exciting of all is the fact that we are all writing our own stories at this very moment. The choices we make will affect others' stories, and in no time at all, we become the stories that will be told in the future. I have had the opportunity to travel the tiniest bit, and each time I visit a new-to-me place in the world, I feel as though I have been changed. Touched by the people I meet and their stories, I can't wait to share those stories with my students, my colleagues, and my family. If any of the discoveries I make along the way are useful to you as well, all the better.

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Lectures, Food, and Fireflies


With a travel day behind me, serious work has begun at Stony Point Center in New York.  Here, my colleagues and I are working hard to be sure we are as prepared as possible to understand historic and modern China.  Our experiences will be richer with this context.  Lectures included, How the Past Still Shapes the Present, The Last Hundred Years or So:  An Historical Overview, Modern Chinese Society, China’s Education System, and our first language lesson.  We’ve also viewed two movies, To Live, and Vote for Me.  One take-away from our lecture about how the past still shapes the present is the idea that there are very few things that the Chinese will not eat.  China has gone through several periods of famine.  During famines, people must eat what they can, and that’s what they did.  I’m not sure exactly what to expect at our meals or what I will be adventurous enough to try.  Stay tuned.

If you know me, you won’t believe it, but I haven’t taken any pictures yet.  If I had, I would surely have tried to get a good photo of the fireflies out tonight.  I’ve only seen them once before in my life, and they continue ignite (no pun intended) my imagination. 
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3 comments:

  1. Barry5kJuly 1, 2013 at 3:49 PM

    Sounds interesting and exciting already,Arlis. I have experienced some of those culinary "delicacies" in the past!!!

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  2. Arlis GrovesJuly 4, 2013 at 7:46 AM

    Barry, Last night's dinner included chicken skin from the chicken foot. I don't know if it had bones in it, because I just couldn't make myself try it. The wood ears were good, though. What was your most exotic menu item when you were in China?

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  3. Barry5kJuly 10, 2013 at 10:15 AM

    Deep fried sheep's eye was on the menu.

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