We have a system here at NSLI-Y: China Edition, called Strive For Excellence, created by the one and only Yang Laoshi. This year is Strive For Excellence's inaugural year, and it was developed as a competition so students do exactly what its name says. Each team (we are team 4, as I have mentioned before) receives 70 points each week for not dying...literally. Aside from that, we can each receive points for doing well on quizzes and tests, helping out others, excellent class participation, making an effort to speak with locals, etc. We are also at risk of losing points for poor test scores, being late to class or lectures, and one point for every instance of speaking English on immersion days. As the leader of my team, I am the only one who is allowed to see the progress of my teammates regarding how many points they have earned and lost. On my team, Merrick has lost us a few points, but Shanna has gained 10 points for helping out and doing really well in class. If it weren't for Merrick's loss of three points, we would have gotten first place this week - group 5 just barely won. The winner of each week gets to go on a trip to one of Xiamen's nicest shopping malls with a few of the teachers/chaperones. Since we were so close to the winning team, we got to go shopping too! Not only did we get to go shopping, but we went with two teachers, Cai Laoshi and Lin Laoshi, who were both experts at the mall, and also rode the public bus there. The public busses (公共汽车, gōng gòng qì chē) only cost 1 元, which is the equivalent to about 15¢ in the United States. Compared to San Francisco's $2.25 Muni fare, this is extremely affordable. On the bus, I saw something I don't think I will ever forget. It was a very busy time of night - the later part of rush hour - and the bus was so full there were people standing on just about every inch of the floor. It was so chaotic - the bus driver would start to drive before closing the door and people would jump on. However, they were much nicer than the busses in America. Anyways, back to the story. A woman, likely in her thirties or forties, got onto the bus using the back door, and she had no chance of getting to front to pay her fare. This was not a handicapped woman by any means, but the other passengers did something that I have been thinking about ever since. She asked someone to pass down her 1 元 bill fare down from one end of the bus to another, probably passing over 50 people. She put her complete faith in those around her to pass down the bill, allowing for someone to steal it without her even being able to see over everyone else and notice. I, however, stood up on the size of the bus and watched the yuan closely as it made its way to the front. Every person who made contact with the fare kept it moving down without hesitation. While it might be incorrect for me to generalize, thinking about this moment makes me feel great admiration for the Chinese values and aversion to the very western individual-centric way of thinking. I don't want to say that if people were asked to do this in America that they would object, but I have not one seen this before nor do I believe it would happen with the same integrity as I saw on this bus ride.
I didn't end up buying anything at the mall except for a chocolate croissant at 星巴克 (xīng bā kè, Starbucks). Even though it was only a pastry, they presented it to me on a nice plate with utensils to eat it. I think it is very interesting how the trashy, or at least fast food chains that we have in America render such higher-end experiences in China. I loved seeing all the different people in the shopping center, and got to walk on the street for a bit outside which was so bright, busy, and exciting. The teachers who took us really didn't care about getting us back in time for regular curfew, so we got to stay out later than normal and even walked along the beach for a while. Funny note: If we even touch the water, we will be sent home immediately. NSLI-Y has a very strict policy on getting in the very polluted ocean water.
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