Conversation 5

I took advantage of our time off this afternoon to catch up with my conversation partner Tiffany at the BLUU. One of the first things we discussed was the bombing at the Boston Marathon Monday. Much like Vonnegut in Slaughterhouse V, we both agreed it was a senseless and tragic act. I was curious if similar incidents happened as often in China as they seem to in the United States so we discussed similar incidents in China. Tiffany remembered a bombing that had happened last time she was home in China in which one girl was killed, but it had happened far away from the region where she lived. She said these types of tragedies happen in China but they seem to be much more frequently in America. She mentioned the shootings in Aurora, Colorado and Newtown, Connecticut as examples of other horrific incidents that had taken place since she has been in America. It is sad to think that these things seem to happen more often in America than many other places around the world.

After talking about this difference for a while, we agreed one reason for the difference is the different types of cultures in China and the U.S. China is known as a collectivist culture and places a greater emphasis on family and group well-being than individual needs and desires, unlike the U.S. which is a more individualistic culture. Even though this isn’t true for every person in either country it could mean that most people in China are less likely to try to strike out at society.

After that our conversation turned towards the nature of politics and government in China. Even though both of her parents work for the government Tiffany does not take much of an interest in the Chinese government but was still able to explain the basic structure and state of things. She explained that China is divided up into provinces much like the U.S. is divided into states and each province has their own government. However, the provincial governments have much less power than state governments here, for example they cannot make their own laws. Another major difference is that four of the largest cities in China are not in a province, but are considered part of the federal government much like Washington D.C. Tiffany couldn’t remember all four of the cities but knew Beijing and Shanghai were two of them.  Tiffany said the voting age in China is eighteen just like the United States, but the drinking age is also eighteen which many visitors to China enjoy. We both laughed and agreed the drinking age didn’t seem to stop too many people in the United States.