Why Hello There..

So here I am finally starting a blog. Well, okay, it's not like I've been planning to do this for that long. I'm only 18 so I can't say I've been planning to do anything with any perspective of length of time. Did that sentence make any sense? Probably not. Moving on, so I'm 18 and a senior in High School. Yes, I know that doesn't exactly give me a ton of life experience, but I'll be the first to admit that I don't. I'm not exactly the most interesting person in the world, nor do I have a special expertise in any area. I know that there is no good reason for anyone to read this blog. But here's the thing: I'm not starting a blog to have readers. Honestly I just want to write, to be able to finally put into words stuff I've been thinking or wondering. I thought I might as well put them on the internet just in case someone is interested. If so, great, if not, I'll still have a blog I'm proud of. So I'm going to write about books and movies, fashion and food, and I know whatever happens I'll be better for it.

Adventures in China

Shanghai, China

                Last week my school group ventured to the distant land of China. We went in with all kinds of ideas of what we would see and what it would be like. I for one had watched Mulan one too many times and was still hoping to find everyone wearing silk and carrying fans around. Well that dream quickly died as we entered the large, smog-filled city of Beijing. It may not have lived up to my Disney expectations, but real China was so much better.  I actually really appreciated that China wasn’t quite what you expected it to be. Going in we had heard all kinds of things about the huge population, sweatshops, the rising economy, the one child law, respect for elders, advances in education, “weird” food, and list goes on. It seems you could hear everything about China without really understanding China because it’s such a large and diverse place. For this trip I decided to focus on the changing role of women. Going into the trip it seemed like common knowledge that women in China were not held up to the same regard as men. Men passed on the family name, they worked in the fields, and they could take care of the parents as they got older. Confucius ideas, foot binding and the recent high rate of abandoned girl babies contributed to this preconception. 

Future leaders of China

What I found in China surprised me. The first thing I noticed was the general attitude towards women. I expected it to feel different from the “advanced” society we sometimes think we have in America. Instead it was like any other city. Men, women, and children rushing to work and school; there was no visible distinction between women’s and men’s roles. Also, I heard at least two jokes from our guides about how women are always right. The general attitude was one of equality. Almost any job we came across had both men and women employees and every school provided equal educations. It seems that if the male dominated society was still around it definitely wasn’t in urban China. The director of an art gallery in Xi’an explained this phenomenon very well. She said that although having a boy is beneficial for farm work, there is no real benefit for having a boy while living in the city where boys can even be more expensive than girls. She showed us a painting of a women in a fancy dress sitting in a dainty, submissive pose. “That’s the way women used to be” then she stood up straight and placed her fists solidly on her waist, “Nowadays they’re more like this, right?”With the rapid modernization of China has caused a rapid increase in equality. In fact, by 2015 about half of the Chinese population will live in urban areas. While this may be bad news for the air quality and the environment, it will only increase the opportunities for women. I talked to one of my teachers about this issue and she told me that even the need for international adoption from China is decreasing as people are growing more accepting of daughters. It seems that when it comes to equality China is definitely on the right track and I am definitely excited to see the changes in the coming years.