I am really enjoying China!

One thing that I learned on our tours of various temples and monastaries was that the preservation of the ancient structure is very different than our culture's. To the Chinese it is better to tear down and rebuild an ancient temple that is rotting than to try to hold on to what remains. In that way they maintain the presence of a structure but are able to make it out of new materials. For our group it seemed so destructive and wrong to build something new and still claim that it had the same value as the structure built hundreds of years ago.

One stereotype of Chinese people that I have heard is that they are very family oriented and look out for each other. I have also heard that they place a lot of emphasis on education as a means of success. I think that the American stereotype of Chinese people is that they are all very intelligent and determined. I think that as I travel in China and learn more about the people and their culture, I will realize more stereotypes that I have and see that they are not true of the whole Chinese population.

Until last Thursday, it seemed like the trip to China was a long way off, then I realized that I will be in China in less than a month. Scary. I have never traveled to a foreign country with people that I don't know very well and I am a little nervous. It is going to be very interesting to watch the dynamic of our group change as we get to know each other better.