Journal - Library

Entry 1
One last thing concerning my experience with the television show that I wanted to talk about was nationalism and the sensitivity of the media. At our first meeting, we were told that we could not say anything concerning. I was not surprised at this.
What was surprising was the way they kept emphasizing it, and the level that they took this. Obviously, I knew when they were interviewing me, I couldn’t say something like, “Tibet should be a free country,” or “The communist party has more problems than a British person’s dental record.
However, on the day of the recording the tv show, they reminded us repeatedly. I thought that was a little excessive, but was not really surprised.
What was strange was extend that they carried this thing to. They asked me if I could sing any Chinese songs. “Umm, I know this song by a “台湾的各家,” and then I said the name of the song. They said, “Now, we cannot say that on the show remember, we can’t talk about politics or Taiwan or anything like that, at all. How about just saying, ‘I know this singer from China.’” We ended up not doing the song, which was good, because I was not going to say that.
They were asking a guy where he had been in China. Of course, his list included places like Xinjiang.
“No, no, don’t say Xinjiang.”
“But I’ve been there.”
“Well, don’t say it. Where else have you been in China? “
“Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong.”
“No, no don’t say Hong Kong either.” Apparently, Hong Kong, which had been returned to Chinese control over ten years ago, was still too big of a problem to even mention it (even to mention it as a part of China.)

Entry 2
In one of my classes, we have to give powerpoint presentations on books that we read. The teacher gave us twelve books to choose from, with two students doing a presentation on each of the books. These two students are each supposed to take thirty minutes to give their presentation. Then, in the second hour of class, the professor talks about his impression of the book for about thirty minutes. Afterwards, we, the students are supposed to discuss the book.
These presentations have brought some interesting insights into Chinese culture.
As far as the presentations are concerned, there have been two things I thought were strange. The first presentation was fifty three minutes, when it was only supposed to be thirty. The teacher was slightly angry and he said some things intended to cause a loss of face for the student.
Another issue was that one of the presentations was basically just the girl summarizing large portions of the book. Her powerpoint had lots of written material but no pictures, and she basically read her presentation out loud very fast. Not only was this a little difficult for me, but it was also not at all interesting. The teacher nodded off during the presentation, but he wasn’t at all critical of her presentation.
During the question and answer period, there are two things I have found interesting: no one volunteers themselves to answer questions, but the teacher has to call on people (although he insists he expects us to willingly participate). Based on what I know about Chinese culture, I expected this. It confirms what I know about Chinese culture.
The other interesting thing is that, after one student asks a questions and the other student answers it, the teacher inevitably adds his two cents. In the US, the student would be more of a guide for the conversation, not necessarily injecting his opinion after each person speaks. Despite the fact that he is encouraging students to express themselves. But no matter how he encourages the students to express their opinion, the teacher’s opinion is still important.
Entry 3
I am not sure if Dr. Christiansen is reading these or Justin. If not Dr. Christensen, I should probably give a little background. I have had several problems with getting books from libraries in China, so libraries are something that I really pay attention to, particularly how they relate to Chinese culture.
I’ve had some more library issues here. In the next couple of entries, I’ll discuss them one by one.
The main library requires a library card to even get in. It took a long time for them to get this card to us (over a month, more than one fourth of the semester). I was able to use my student card to get in at first. But after a while, I stopped caring and the security guard does not really care. Sometimes when I enter, I let him see my card, sometimes I don’t go to the effort. They haven’t stopped me yet.
The library has a big room full of English books. I knew I couldn’t check them out without a library card, but I thought I could once I got the library card. Nope. They were all ‘reference books’ which meant that they couldn’t be checked out (although they had a machine for checking them out). Most of these books were just regular English books, I couldn’t figure out why they were regarded as ‘reference books.’ I wanted to check out Fitzgerald’s “Tender is the Night’ as relaxing reading, but the copy they had, I couldn’t check out, and the other three copies were all in the English Department (which I can’t check out).

Entry 4
Another issue that I’ve had related to the library is something that I didn’t realize until recently: Every department (系) pretty much has its own library. The foreign language studies department also has its own library.
On the surface, I thought this would be a good idea. I could go to the library in the building where I had classes.
Of course, these separate libraries are really just a big pain in the glutumos maximus.
The department library in our building, like the other department libraries I will discuss, is only open from 8:30 to 11:30 and from 2:30 to 5:30. Most people have classes during that time, so that’s incredibly inconvenient. What I have trouble understanding is how they take off three hours for lunch. Most people in China get off two hours (12-2) for lunch and an afternoon nap. There are no classes from 12-2 at the University. This makes sense. But why do these guys think they are so special they can leave thirty minutes before everyone and get back thirty minutes after everyone.
Supposedly, these departmental libraries are supposed to be more convenient for students of that department, but I think it would be more convenient for them (and others) if they just put all the books in the main library, students could go whenever, during lunch or whenever they were out of class.

Entry 5
One of my classes requires me to read a book and give a presentation on it in front of the class. Surprisingly, ten of the twelve books were originally written by Americans in English. I picked one of the English books, one about the history of the Qing Dynasty, and found that book in the philosophy library. These departmental libraries are supposed to contain more specialized departments, and the philosophy department does certainly have some specialized materials, but it also has a lot of historical books, material unrelated to the department.
I have the same issues with this library as I do with the other department libraries. It’s hours are the same, meaning it’s difficult to get there. Also, if you are not a student in the philosophy department, you cannot check any of the books out, so that just means most of the students at the school can’t use the materials.
I will have to say, that I am glad that they let me read the book. The history department would not even let me into their library since I was not a student in their department (but I am in a history class).

Entry 6
I guess you can tell that I’ve been thinking about libraries a lot, maybe too much.
It’s not just because libraries are important for me, but it’s because I think the structure of libraries is particularly important to understanding Chinese culture and China’s future.
I think there is a tendency in Chinese culture to build something specifically for the purpose of denying it to others, and I think that is part of why every department has its own library.
I’ve already discussed some of the advantages that these departments are supposed to have. They make sure their departments students have books that they can check out, and they are supposedly more specialized, so they are supposed to be more convenient. I don’t think that they are really that much more convenient, but that is my opinion.
What is clear is that these deparment libraries are built in order to make sure your department can check out books and that other departments cannot check them out. I think that this tendency to divide up into little groups and specifically promote that group at the expense of all the other groups.
This tendency, specifically in academia, is a problem. Academia and related fields depend on the willingness to spread knowledge to others . This is what drives knowledge acquisition and technological innovation. I’ve been wondering if this tendency to limit peoples access to libraries will affect China’s ability to participate in the 21st Century even as its manufacturing economy grows at phenomenal rates.
I’ll probably consider this problem more in later entries.