Paper a precious commodity in China
To the editor:
In writing about schooling in China, as with so many things, there are a multitude of facets that do not appear at first glance. The push to expand the boundaries of education and to bring society to the top is a driving influence here. Students do get vacation. Summer vacation is two months long.
July and August are the two hottest months and schools are out. Final exams are given in the month of June. National holidays such as May Day (the week of May 1st) and October 1 (Nation Day their version of July 4th) are given lots of time though the school will make up those holidays with Saturday and Sunday classes. There are other holidays through the year.
In the U.S., students have been blessed with an abundance of paper. Paper is cheap in America. It is easy to find paper to write on and draw on. Paper towels, facial tissues, and wipes are considered part of the equipment of the classroom and students are well aware that these items are there. Students are not allowed to write in their textbooks and often time is spent erasing the various marks and scribblings that are in the books. If the teacher passes out paper, students know how to place it, label it, and use it. Our students have access to paper.
Paper in China is a precious commodity. The Chinese do have paper. It is treated with a reverence and frugality that is incomprehensible until you see it in action. Visitors are told to always carry a packet of pocket tissues with them. There will not be toilet paper or paper towels in most toilets. Every convenience store sells them. The rule is “bring your own.”
In the classroom, students here will write in their books. Part of this is for study habits and part of this is for frugality. Students get to keep the books. Each year, new books are printed and given to the students. These text books are not the hardcover type books that most of us remember from the classroom. They are soft bound books and by the end of the semester each student’s book shows the signs of a hard life.
When paper is handed out in class, students will place it on their desks and write on the long side. Tear a sheet of typing paper in half and students here will write along the long side of the sheet. Their U.S. counterpart will write along the short side of the sheet. but like all sheets of paper there is still a magic hidden within the fibers.
Students will draw out the stories and figures of their exercises and dreams to study and share as they see fit. Parents will pin the pictures to the wall and proclaim great pride in what has been done. Each page will be tucked away in a box of childhood only to be rediscovered in the future and marveled at for the memories that come to the mind. Within those fibers lie dreams and stories as yet untold, as precious as the person who draws them out. Those leaves will talk of purchases made, dreams stated, unstated, colored, and shaped into a tree from which new thoughts will grow.
Enjoy the spring.
Orpheus Allison
Guangzhou, China
orpheusallison@mac.com
