“Welcoming”, “Diverse”, “Voluminous”… are the words for China.

On September 1st, a group of 12 American talented high school students were invited to a CCTV program. At the end of the program they were invited to briefly express their impressions on the country after the 15-day visit to China.

All the students are U.S. President Award winners (the program did not tell us exactly which award that is, and it is mostly likely to be the U.S President’s Award for Educational Excellence).

It is inspiring to see how these young American students view the differences in a almost entirely different culture, particularly at the time only just after the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics which has in fact ‘triggered’ a discussion of intercultural mutual learning in the country. It is also interesting to notice the differences between students from two educational system at the time when there is discussions over the strength and weakness of the both educational systems.

Here is the full list of terms we got from the program given by students to describe China:

“Welcoming”, “Diverse”, “Voluminous”, “Intellectually stimulating”, “Many many stories”, “Spirited”, “Crowded”, “Honest”, “Cyclical”, “Inspiring”, and “Amazing opportunities”.

And here is the online version of the program: China in Your Own Words: U.S. President Award Winners.

“China in Your Own Words” is in fact a CCTV program, which, by their own words, invites people “to tell in your own words, in your own way, the China that you know or experienced, regardless of your age, nationalities, or any other background”. And through this report we know that the visit was sponsored by Wall Street English, the biggest foreign English training company in China specialized in business English programs.

Picture source: “China in Your Own Words“, CCTV

I heard this through a program on Phoenix TV today at about 18:50 Beijing time that Thomas L. Friedman, the author of The World is Flat, made some interesting remarks when he was watching the Opening Ceremony of Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. According to the program, the winner of three times of Pulitzer Prize said: look at the strength of this country, and, we shall send our children to learn Chinese. I am not sure if the remarks were true, (I went to the website of the TV to try to find the online version of the program but did not find it), but the remarks remind me of his famous book. Just as what the article on Japan Times Online put down:

There’s probably a lot of truth to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Thomas L. Friedman’s groundbreaking book “The World Is Flat,” an in-depth look at how technology and globalism have revolutionized education, employment, communication and the livelihood of billions. Not surprisingly, China is featured prominently in this thought-provoking book.

China, more than any other nation, will feel the effects (good and bad) of these changes for decades to come.

The Olympics is the biggest example of Friedman’s treatise to date, the true launching point of China’s arrival as a global force. And it has provided endless hours of contemplation for sociologists, political pundits and average citizens in all corners of the Earth.

In regard to the Games, it is true when some people say it is a defining moment in China’s modern history. In terms of intercultural learning, 2008 Beijing Olympics is in fact a valuable chance for China, particularly for Beijing and other co-host cities, to interact with other cultures in a massive and joyful way, and it is also a great chance for the country as a whole to display its own cultural uniqueness to the world.

On August 26, 2008 San Diego Union Tribune reports that the slowing American economy is having effects on intercultural exchange programs. By the title Fewer Open Doors, the reports says that “several organizations in the industry – although not all – said they have found it more difficult to sign up (host-) families this year because of economic uncertainties”.