GHS208-01 Spring 2020 China and the Islamic Middle East

This week I went to the IPS Newcomer program twice, just to get some more hours in before our and their spring break. On Tuesday, 13 year old Sandy and I talked about her favorite food from America, which was pizza. However, she said that she missed her grandmother’s meals from Guatemala. I did not ask her where her grandmother was now or why she had to leave Guatemala. However, I am so thankful that I have enough Spanish skills to be able to have somewhat meaningful conversations with students like Sandy. I have learned that the kids are much more willing to open up if I speak to them kindly in my best Spanish.

Hector and I talked about how well his week and day were going and got really excited to tell his friends that I was able to speak “poco” (a little) Spanish. My favorite part was that he used the usted form instead of the tu form when addressing me which is a sign of respect. This made me feel so important and proud that he would think of me in such a manner. He was also really impressed and complimentary of my finished art project from the point perspective unit.

The experience of the IPS newcomer students is directly related to and helps me better understand our most recent class discussion and reading of The Cairo House. Gigi says she constantly feels like a chameleon changing her attitude and personas as she navigates different countries and people. I feel that the students of the IPS newcomer program are similar in that they have to be spoken to and are encouraged to speak in English all day during school, yet when they go home they speak an entire different language and enter a whole new culture. On top of this, I found out today that most students are only allowed to stay in the program for one or two years maximum. This means that they will be creating a whole new skin for their chameleon in just a few months.

I feel that every-time I go to IPS and take my very long trek from my car to the entrance of the school, I am in a tired, agitated state. However, there has not been one day where I left the school without wearing a smile. The nature of this community and these kids are helping me learn so much about myself and others by helping me develop my problem solving skills in tough communication situations. This experience only ever heightens my sense of responsibility to others.

I volunteered with the ESL class through Washington Township district. Today, the class started a new unit on careers. We started the class with a new activity packet that promoted reading and writing development for the students. I also led work with a small group in one of the activities in the workbook. With the Level 1 students, we focused mainly on pronunciation of words and having conversation about the careers. The Level 2 students were more focused on writing and reading comprehension and ability.

I learned more about the different cultures that each student represents because of the conversations we had about common careers and different workplaces. Additionally, I recognized different students care about achievements and perfection due to the cultural values that they traditionally hold as important. The head teacher of the class pointed this out to me after I had been working diligently one-on-one with the Chinese students. The value the Chinese students place on achieving perfection is much more evident than the other students in the class. At first, I overlooked their focus. However, when it was pointed out to me that they maintained this focus because of their cultural tendencies and values, I understood more about how the Chinese students learned and functioned in the classroom.

We also discussed the differences of gender in the workplace from the different countries the students came from. In America, we have come closer to gender equality in the workplace and not stereotyping certain careers for specific genders. Although America as a whole is far from perfect in this regard, it was a cultural adjustment for some students to recognize that both genders could be recognized for a certain job. It is important to recognize that the working woman is different in various cultures. For some of the women in the class, it is very important for them to take care of the household. It is important to recognize different cultural differences in this regard but also be accepting of everyone’s views. This idea of blending cultures connects to the idea of being a chameleon in Serageldin’s novel. It is important to accept other cultures while still remaining true to your own roots, which can sometimes be difficult to do.

It is difficult to work with an entire small group when there are clashing types of learners that comprise the group. However, this helps me develop problem-solving skills in how I can help each learner while also progressing the group as a whole. I must listen to each student and understand how I can assist them while still accomplishing the tasks that need to be accomplished.

After last classes discussion about the hijab and how some women may choose to wear it because it makes them feel more comfortable or more pious, I wanted to explore this article of clothing more. The hijab often becomes a symbol of all Muslim women, but there was a lot that I did not know about this symbol. The Washington Post wrote an article about five myths that center around the hijab. The first myth was that the hijab means headscarf, when it actually means “partition” or “curtain.” The actual practice of hijab has many more rules than just attire it can be behavior and interactions focused on modesty. In the United States, hijab has become synonymous with a headscarf which is actually incorrect, and this belief actually undermining the more complex beliefs of Islam. Another interesting myth to me was about the idea that wearing the hijab is oppressive because the articles goes on to explain situations where Muslim women were forced to remove their hijabs, and that is actually more oppressive than their own choice to wear it. Another myth is that all Muslim women wear the hijab. This is actually not true and does not measure a woman’s religiosity. It is an indication of a woman’s belief not of how religious she is or how faithful. It is similar to Christian women who dress very modestly and those who do not. The biggest myth that was debunked for me was that that hijab is only for women. Hijab also applies to men in rules such as dressing modestly and not wearing tight clothing. It also involves not being promiscuous or staring at women. Overall, I realized that our culture perpetuates many myths about the hijab that are insensitive and uneducated.

I went to a presentation on the Incarceration, Nationalism & Religious Identity in China. The first speaker was Dr. Timothy Grose, who is a professor at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. His main focus is on Chinese studies. He explained a moment during April of 2016, During an April 2016 speech, China’s General Secretary Xi Jinping made a speech that demanded that all of the religious groups merge their religious practices with Chinese culture, but it must abide by Chinese laws and regulations, and the people must devote themselves to China’s reform. Because of this, there were a lot of temples, churches, crucifixes, and mosques that were destroyed due to the merge of “religious freedom”. I believe that the merge contradicted what religious freedom really means because it doesn’t necessarily allow people to follow what they want to believe. He then went on to talk about Joseph Stalin’s four characteristics of a nationality which were Common territory, Common language, Common economic life, and Common psychological nature.

The second speaker was Dr. Elise Anderson, who is currently involved with the Uyghur Human Rights Project, which is regarding the destruction of Uyghurs mosques. Uyghurs are a Turkic ethnic group that makes up most of the Northeast part of China. She talked more about the oppression that was going on in the Xinjian Region like the Silencing of Religious Life and China’s campaign of repression.

The third speaker focused his studies on religion in the United States. It was regarding how many people’s religions in the U.S. view each other’s religion. There has been oppression, especially with Islamic citizens in the last 15 years. Overall, I really enjoyed these speakers as they created a nice bridge into what we have learned over our discussions regarding Chinese culture through religion and nationalism. These speakers created a nice closing to the Chinese topic, and I am looking forward to the second part of our class regarding India’s culture.

During the Lion Dance practice today, our dance instructor incorporated the switching of the tail and head positions in the dance. As I mentioned in earlier blog, holding the lion’s head during the dance for long periods of time takes a lot of strength. This need for strength for long periods of time is tiresome. Even though I assumed I would be able to hold the lion for a long period of time, I learned quickly I would not be able to hold it without for a long period of time.

Today, Kwan (our instructor), taught us how to switch from the head position to the body position. We were able to do this by passing the head off by the head turning and the body staying stable. Through this technique, we were able to switch positions to save energy.

Even though we are still working on this technique, the group has gotten much better at the lion dance through our practices. Kwan has been made many comments complimenting the group about how many improvements we are making. As we have learned a new technique each week, I have felt that I have been able to improve on other techniques, ultimately improving all aspects of the lion dance.

On Tuesday, March 3^rd, I went to English as a Second Language course through the Washington Township school district. In class today, we started a new unit on careers. We began the class with a worksheet that helped students with their reading and writing development. Next, we worked on pronunciation of key words in the unit. Today was also a day that students who had reached a certain hour threshold needed to complete a reading and listening test.

The speaking component of the lesson was the most difficult for the students. In Leila Fadel’s speech, she addressed the difficulty of people from diverse community groups blending their two groups in traditions, practices, behaviors, and attitudes. The Cairo House also addresses this difficulty of blending the different community groups. The speaking and conversation piece of the ESL class demonstrated this difficulty firsthand. Students have a hard time understanding how to break their native language pronunciations. Certain words have different associations in the English language versus the many other languages that the students in the class speak. Learning a second language (for some students English is their third or fourth language) is a difficult task. Understanding how to blend the two languages and learning the unique elements of the English language demonstrates these diverse individuals trying to blend the two community groups they share an identity.

The students are very dedicated to learning English. I understand this is a very difficult task for anyone, especially someone who has spoken one language for their entire life and has come to a new country recently. Witnessing the students trying to blend their tradition and culture with the traditions and practices of traditionally American life is very inspiring. I love serving the community through volunteering with this ESL class because it shows me the importance of cultural diversity and the challenges that many individuals face when trying to adopt a new culture as part of their lives, which helps me develop a deeper appreciation for the student aiming to blend their traditions with new ones.

As soon as the narrator began talking about what it means to her to be a “chameleon”, I instantly made connections between Ha Jin’s “Woman from New York” and the movie “The Hate U Give”.

In “Woman from New York”, Jinli was definitely trying her best to be a chameleon and juggle her two worlds even though her efforts proved unsuccessful. It was clear that once she left China for the United States, she never felt quite at home in either place. In the United States she was a Chinese American and in China she was the mother who left her family. When slipping back into her life in China, she was ostracized by her in-laws and the community for things ranging from her behavior to her physical appearance.  She tried to juggle both parts of her life, but it was the environment and people around her that made it so difficult to “make those around [her] comfortable”, thus making being a chameleon a truly challenging task.

In the film “The Hate U Give”, the main character, Starr Carter, finds it difficult to maneuver between the two different lives she lives at home and at school. Her friends from home in her impoverished neighborhood are predominantly black, while her friends from her private school are wealthy and predominantly white. Starr’s actions smoothly change depending on which world she is living in, just as Gigi from Cairo House changes depending on her location and the people she is around. Both Starr and Gigi realize that is not just about making the people around them feel comfortable, but also that”it is a matter of survival” (Serageldin 2).

On March 3^rd I attended an event put on by Butler’s seminar on religion and global affairs. This event was part of their series about incarceration.  Specifically, tonight’s event talked about incarceration nationalism and religious identity in China.  Unlike the other seminars in this series, tonight’s presentation had three speakers who all spoke for an equal amount of time.  The first speaker was Professor Gross.  Professor Gross is an associate professor of china studies at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.  His work has been published in the China journal and also on CNN.  One of his more well known pieces is a book titled Negotiating Inseparability.  He started off his presentation by going into detail about a significant event that greatly impacted how religion was looked at in China.  In 2016 Xi Jinping delivered a speech in which he demanded all religions in China merge their doctrines with Chinese culture and laws.  This speech had a great impact on religion in China. Since this speech mosques have been destroyed in the Gansu province, religious buildings were destroyed in the Sichuan Province, and more than 1,700 crucifixes were removed from churches across China.  Professor Gross then pointed out that China’s constitution states that people are allowed to enjoy freedom of religious belief.  However, the constitution says nothing about the freedom of expressing these beliefs. This gives the government a way to control the religious ideas of the people without implicitly saying so.

The second speaker was Professor Anderson.  She has dual PHD’s from Indiana University in which she recently graduated in the last year. In her introduction it was mentioned she is a vocalist, musician, dancer, and even had an appearance in a musical reality TV show in China.  She is currently working at the Uyghur Human Rights Project and wanted to really focus more on Uyghur.  She talked about the individual oppression that is currently going on in the North West part of china (Xinjian region)

The third speaker was a professor from Purdue.  He has focused his studies over the years on the sociology of religion and immigration/religion in the United States.  It was interesting to hear his ideas on the various topics and how they relate to what we have talked about in class this semester.  I really enjoyed the three speakers and it was really interesting to see how their speech differed from Dr. Fleet Mauls that I attended earlier in the semester.  This series that Butler put on exposed me to new and different ideas that I most likely would have never heard if I had not attended event.

Today in class when we were discussing the Islamic Society of North America it really got me thinking about my experience of different Muslim communities. As I am from Plainfield, Indiana I know a fair amount about the Islamic Society of North America and I drive by it almost every time that I’m out and about. I’ve visited at least once and I know several people from my high school who were Muslim and commonly attended the prayer services held there. However, Plainfield is a prominently white suburban area and I think this definitely influences the types of families that attend there. Many of the Muslim families in Plainfield are upper class and even though they’re Muslim, they’re still very similar to many of the conservative Christians in Plainfield. However, this is completely different from the Al-Fajr mosque where I volunteer for my ICR. As this is a lower income area the type of people who attend are much different from the Muslims in Plainfield. The people at all Al-Fajr are all very friendly and welcoming and they’re very humble. This is a bit different from Plainfield where the Muslims act more like a typical christian. However, both areas also have their similarities. Both are very tightly woven communities and it seems like everybody knows each other. I think it’s important to realize that most Muslim communities have their differences, but many of them also have their fundamental similarities.

In my last blog post, I discussed how basketball has become a huge part of the Chinese culture, and how the NBA is widely watched and loved in China. There has been a bump in the relationship between China and the NBA, however. In 2019, the Hong Kong protests against the human rights violations from the Chinese government gained national media attention. This happened to coincide with a trip that several NBA teams made to China to play against teams in the Chinese Basketball Association.

While in China, the players and management of these teams got a closer look at these protests and their impact in China. This led the general manager of the Houston Rockets to tweet his support of the protests.

This tweet led to a huge controversy in the US, forcing people to take sides with either Hong Kong or the Chinese government. The Chinese government was not happy that the Rockets allowed Morey to tweet this.

China decided to cancel all showings of NBA basketball in China. This cost the NBA a lot of money, as China was a huge portion of their revenue. This prompted the NBA to come out on the side of the Chinese government, attempting to lessen their revenue loss. Many people were very upset with the NBA for this, saying that they have chose to side with money rather than human rights, which I can’t help but agree with.