The sky is always blue in China

I was asked by a Chinese friend the other day if I ever noticed that every essay I was given by my Chinese students was about the same. I hadn’t really thought much of it. I guess I assumed it was because of their limited English vocabulary and grammar. But suddenly I realized why discussions were also so difficult—because almost every Chinese student had the same opinion. Or rather, every one of them would say, “Chinese people think...” And when I replied with, “but what do you think?” they would look confused and fumble for words.

My friend explained this to me: When the students of our generation were children, she told me, we were always taught to repeat whatever the teacher said. If the teacher said "the sky is blue," then the sky was blue. It didn’t matter if the sky was grey when it rained, the teacher’s word was truth. If a student spoke up and said, "But teacher, the sky is grey when it rains," the teacher would be mad, the student would be chided. So everyone just says the sky is blue (no matter what color it might actually be when it rains.)

So I am mostly stuck with a discussion limited to the difference between what “Chinese people” think and what “Americans” think. Unfortunately I’m not very good at speaking for all Americans. Though now I understand why they always ask me what “Americans” think about this or that. It is an absurd question to ask an American, but they seem to believe it is a reasonable question to ask a Chinese person.

NOTE: And this is not meant to say Chinese people are without creativity. I have met many open-minded and creative Chinese youth. And in class, my students will often surprise me. Like one time, when I assigned my Graduate Students to do a skit about marriage counseling. And most of them came up with the standard Chinese marriage problem story: the husband has a lover, or the wife thinks the husband has a lover, or the husband or wife work too much so they don't have enough time for the other or housework or children. Then, the last skit completely surprised me: it was of a lesbian couple who were fighting because one of them wanted to adopt a child and the other thought a child would prevent them from traveling and enjoying their youth. The solution the "counselor" came up with was that the couple should try adopting a pet, or if they were ready for a bigger step, adopting an older child who only needed a couple years in a home. None of them used a script. It was all improvised. I was stunned. I thought I was back in Oberlin for a moment.
So yeah, you really never know who or what ideas you will meet here.