China, The Chinese People, and Chinese Culture POHS 2020

       In the morning we had a presenter, Mr. Liu, come and speak to us about the Chinese government and freedom of religion in China. Mr. Liu is a devout Catholic whose from China and he shared a lot of valuable and interesting insight in the cultural regards of  religion (specifically Christianity and Catholicism) in China. He also told us about the Human rights activism being done in China and some well known Chinese activists. He emphasized the importance of us as the next generation to learn about the world and global issues in order to have to knowledge to change the world.          After our talk with Mr. Liu, we went to a Buddhist Temple. We went inside the temple and we did a mental excercise. Some nice people there told us about some of the groundworks of Buddhism like the 8 fold paths and the 8 noble truths. It was really neat to get to learn about a religion I don't really hear a lot about in the mainstream, and it was inte...

Today we prepared for our immersion into Chinese culture by discussing how to respect the world's differing belief systems, and empathize with others. We began the J-Term by sharing stories about winter holidays, and reviewing our busy, yet exiting schedule. After this, we read about the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and outcomes associated with intercultural competence, and discussed how this relates to our upcoming outings. For example, it is important for people to be aware about their identities because family backgrounds, upbringings, challenges, and relationships strongly influence people's views of the world, and their resulting ideologies. Also, I found it interesting that a person's ability to perceive cultural relativism does not develop after a single experience, instead it takes a lifetime.  Following this, we read an article about an American teen who wore a qipao dress to prom, and the variations of backlash and support she received. It was intriguing to lea...