| Hopes
and Dreams of Chinese Students
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Poetry
by Chinese Teachers
I shared numerous English poems with teachers in the 2005 Teacher Training Program, including two by Nikki Giovanni and Billy Collins detailing things these poets liked or disliked. In their poems Chinese teachers wrote about their own likes and dislikes. As you read, see what feels familiar and what feels different. What do these poems tell you about Chinese society today? 
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To My Lovely Son
by Judith, a 5th and 6th grade teacher With the fitful pain, I’m proud of you. You’re so cute. Oh, my darling, |
I Hate School Life
by Huang Bingquian (Alice), a middle school teacher I hate my school life I hate my school life We are not slaves. (Ms. Huang explained she was not writing about teaching or studying in
university. Rather, she was expressing the feelings of her middle school
students about their lives.) |
Quiet Happiness
by Chen Cuihong (Jessie), 6th grade teacher I like sitting in the warm sunshine, I dislike walking in the noisy |
Likes and Dislikes
by Wujing (Donna) Teaching Assistant I like the blue sky. |
Seasons
by Huang Xiaoyan (Stella) primary teacher I like summer best. I dislike autumn. |
Spring
Winnie, 2nd and 3rd grade teacher I like the spring. Spring likes a little girl I like the spring. |
Barbecue
by Sun Li (Maggie), primary teacher I like May I like barbecue And Sunshine, You can see I’m lying on the soft grass |
To My Dear Friends
by Mome, primary teacher How nice you are, my dear friends! I enjoy all your energetic expressions, For me, you are the heroes of a beautiful legend. |
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Postcard and Question Exchange
I asked some of my Chinese students to write postcards to American students about these topics: their names, birthday foods, holidays, and favorite places and activities. Some ideas are very familiar. But do you know what an erhu is, what Children's Day is, who Yao Ming is, why it's good to get red packets, whether football means football, and why favorite is sometimes spelled favourite? Do these postcards give you a feeling for life in China for a teenager? What is the same and what is different from your own life? Make a chart of the favorite activities, holidays and sports of these students, and compare them to the things the American students write about in their postcards on my Life in the USA website! 
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Dear Friend, |
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Dear Friend, My Chinese name is Zhangyuan. My English name is Peter. I am 14 years old. On my birthday, I eat birthday cake. My favourite holiday is Summer Holiday because I can play computer. My favourite place is home because I can sleep! Your friend, Peter |
Dear Friend, My Chinese name is Lin Chongguang. You can call me Paul. I am 14 years old. I was born in Yangzhou, China. I like playing basketball. My favourite place is the basketball court, because there are lots of friends playing with me in it. My favourite basketball team in the NBA is the Rocket Team. My favourite basketball player is Yao Ming. He is also a Chinese person! Sincerely, Paul |
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| Dear Friend, |
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Dear Friend, My Chinese name is Lu Yuan. My English name is Linda. I am 15 years old. On my birthday, I eat a big birthday cake and other nice food. My favourite holiday is Chinese New Year, because I can get many presents and eat much delicious food. My favourite place is my school because I can get much knowledge to catch up on the times, and my school is very beautiful! The teachers in my school are very friendly! My favourite pets are cats because they are good for us, and they are very lovely! Your friend, Linda |
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Dear Friend, My Chinese name is Liu Xuebin. My English name is Hansey. I am 14 years old. On my birthday, I eat birthday cakes, chocolates, candies, fish, and my other favourite foods. My favourite holiday is the summer holiday because it is long and I can spend much time doing something interesting. My favourite place is my home becuase I can sleep there. I like playing computer games. I also like reading comics, such as Naruto and Garfield. At home, I like listening to music and chatting on the Internet. Sincerely, Hansey |
Dear Friend, My English name is Joy. I am 13 years old. On my birthdays, I eat some cake, some juice, and other nice food. My favorite holiday is Children's Day because it is interesting, and I can play some games with my friends. My favorite place is the park because it is beautiful. My hobby is to read books so I can get much knowledge. I like dogs very much because they are lovely. Sincerely, Joy |
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Dear Friend, My Chinese name is Sun Zhuoqi. My English name is Jefferson. I am 14 years old. On my birthday, I eat pizza, bread, and I drink juice. My favorite holiday is the summer holiday because I can go swimming, play computer games, and watch TV. My favorite place is the sea because there are many kinds of animals there, and many seagulls fly in the sky. Sincerely, Jefferson |
Dear Friend, My Chinese name is Wu Xiaoan. My English name is Susan. I am 14 years old. On my birthday, I eat cakes, ice creams, vegetables, fish, meat... They are very delicious! My favourite holiday is Summer Holiday because I can eat snacks, watch TV, play games, and have a rest. My favourite place is the sea because it is blue and beautiful. Your friend, Susan |
Dear student, My Chinese name is Tian Tingshen. My English name is Grace. I am 14 years old. On my birthday I eat pizza, noodles, and cakes. I like the summer holiday best because I can chat with my friends on the Internet and have a trip. My favorite place in China is Hainan Island because it is very beautiful. I like playing the piano and badminton. I also like swimming because I can swim very well. I want to be a doctor when I grow up, and I want to go to France. Sincerely, Grace |
Dear friend, My Chinese name is Wang Jian jie, and my English name is Peter. I am 15 years old. On my birthday I eat cake, sweets, and snacks. My favorite holiday is May Day, because I can play for seven days! My favorite place is the Great Wall, because it is very grand. Sincerely, Peter |
Dear Friend, My Chinese name is Qiu Songming, and my English name is Dick. I am fourteen years old. My favourite holiday is the Dragon Boat Festival, because it is wonderful, and I can see dragon boats and eat rice dumplings. I like it! My favourite place is the balcony, because here it is very tidy and quiet, and I can see sky and flowers. On my birthday I eat my birthday cheese cake and noodles and orange juice. Dick |
Dear Friend, My Chinese name is Chen Suyan, and my English name is Betty. I'm 14 years old. My birthday is on September 24th. I like playing guitar best. My favourite sport is basketball. My favourite place is the sea, because it is very quiet. My father is a teacher. My mother is a teacher too. I want to be a movie star when I grow up. My favorite food is potato chips. Betty |
Dear friend, My Chinese name is He Jingyuan, and my English name is Shirley. I am fourteen years old. On my birthday I eat chocolate, creamcakes, snacks, sweets, and different food. My favorite holiday is National Day because we have seven days holiday! My favorite sports are ping pong and badminton. My mother is a worker. My father is a worker too. I like them. Sincerely, Shirley |
Dear Friend, My Chinese name is Wang Yixian. My English name is Catherine. I'm 13 years old. My father is a designer, and my mother is a teacher. I like drawing pictures very much. My favourite festival is Halloween, because we can have a special party. My favourite place is Shanghai, because this place is beautiful and big. I like playing computer games. I always chat with my e-friends on the Internet. My favourite instrument is piano, but I don't know how to play the piano. My favourite TV show is Supergirl, because these girls are very fearless and efficient. Yours truly, Catherine |
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Dear Friend, My Chinese name is Liu Xianhe. My English name is Mary. I live in a city called Yangzhou. I have many friends here. The city is not big, but it is very beautiful. There are many gardens in it. Some of the buildings are very old. I think your city is big and modern. I'd like to visit your country. Do you like Chinese food? I like it, such as dumplings, Sichuan hotpot, and so on. They are very delicious. I hope we will be friends. Your friend, Mary |
Dear Friend, My Chinese name is XiaQianjun. My English name is Joan. I am 14 years old. On my birthday I eat birthday cake, chocolate, and some delicious food. My favourite holiday is April Day, because I can play some tricks on other people. It is very interesting. My favourite place is the Shopping Mall, because I can buy some special things and eat some nice food. My favourite sport is badminton. My favourite hobby is reading books, because I can learn more about the world. Would you make friends with me? Your friend, Joan |
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Questions Chinese Teachers and
Students Ask about American Teachers and Students 1. How can a person be a teacher in your country? |
Classical
Chinese Poetry
It is hard to pinpoint the source of my fascination with Chinese culture. However, it may have come from my love of reading Chinese poetry in seventh grade, when I discovered Kenneth Rexroth's 100 Poems from the Chinese. These poems are vivid and plaintive, depicting nature, friendship, and love, as well as war, loss, and sadness. Since seventh grade, I have continued to discover and treasure Chinese poetry and have branched out to study Chinese philosophy as well. Here are some of my favorites. |
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| Introduction to a collection
of poems by Liu Ying-shih Now what is poetry? |
Night Rain at Kuang-K'ou by Yang Wan-li The river is clear and calm; a fast rain falls in the gorge. At midnight the cold, splashing sound begins, like thousands of pearls spilling onto a glass plate, each drop penetrating the bone. In my dream I scratch my head and get up to listen. I listen and listen, until the dawn. All my life I have heard rain, and I am an old man; but now for the first time I understand the sound of spring rain on the river at night. |
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Overlooking the Desert |
Moonlit Night |
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Spring Night |
Autumn by Su Tung P'o The water lilies of summer are gone. They are no more. Nothing remains but their umbrella leaves. The chrysanthemums of Autumn are fading. Their leaves are white with frost. The beauty of the year is only a solemn memory. Soon it will be winter and Oranges turn gold and the citrons green. |
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Waterfall at Lu Shan by Li Po Sunlight streams on the river stones. From high above the river steadily plunges-- three-thousand feet of sparkling water-- the Milky Way pouring down from heaven. |
Parting at a Wine Shop in Nanking A wind, bringing willow cotton, sweetens the shop, |
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The Way of Life |
17 A leader is best When people barely know that he exists, Not so good when people obey and acclaim him, Worst when they despise him. 'Fail to honor people, They will fail to honor you.' But of a good leader, who talks little, When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, They will all say, 'We did this ourselves.' 47 There is no need to run outside for better seeing, Nor to peer from a window. Rather abide At the center of your being; For the more you leave it, the less you learn. Search your heart and see If he is wise who takes each turn: The way to do is to be. 49 A sound man's heart is not shut within itself But is open to other people's hearts: I find good people good, And I find bad people good If I am good enough; I trust men of their word, And I trust liars If I am true enough; I feel the heart-beats of others Above my own If I am enough of a father, Enough of a son. |
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Chuang Tzu and the Butterfly by Li Po (This poem of Li Po's playfully refers to the philosopher Chuang Tzu, who lived around 300 B.C.E. Chuang Tzu thought about Confucianism and Taoism, and left a body of writing that has become the foundation for today's Taoism as well as Zen Buddhism.) Chuang Tzu in dream became a butterfly, and the butterfly became Chuang Tzu at waking. Which was real--the butterfly or the man? Who can tell the end of the endless changes of things? The water that flows into the depth of the distant sea Returns in time to the shallows of a transparent stream. The man, raising melons outside the green gate of the city, Was once the Prince of the East Hill. So must rank and riches vanish. You know it, still you toil and toil--what for? |
The Man of Tao From The Way of Chuang Tzu by Thomas Merton The man in whom Tao Acts without impediment Harms no other being By his actions Yet he does not know himself To be "kind," to be "gentle." The man in whom Tao Acts without impediment Does not bother with his own interests And does not despise Others who do. He does not struggle to make money And does not make a virtue of poverty. He goes his way Without relying on others And does not pride himself On walking alone. While he does not follow the crowd He won't complain of those who do. Rank and reward Make no appeal to him; Disgrace and shame Do not deter him. He is not always looking For right and wrong Always deciding "Yes" or "No." The ancients said, therefore: "The man of Tao Remains unknown Perfect virtue Produces nothing 'No-Self' Is 'True-Self.' And the greatest man Is Nobody." (xvii. 3) |
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