| Eastern Region Chapter representatives met on September 6, 2003 in Albany, New York. The meeting began with a round-up of Chapter news. New England Chapter has English Conversation classes almost every afternoon and evening at its office in Cambridge. Years ago attendees were mostly students, mostly men. Today they are wives and parents and other family members, mostly women and many attend more than once a week. In the summer, outings are arranged. How do people find out about the classes? By word of mouth.
New York City Chapter meets in its office (also the Association's National Office) in downtown Manhattan. The office was maintained by an intern this summer. The chapter hosted two delegations from China in the past year and its last meeting last spring was a panel discussion of the new leadership in China. Chapter officers attended receptions at the Chinese Consulate for the out-going Consul-General and the in-coming Consul-General this summer. Carma Hinton discussed her new film, Morning Sun, during its two-week showing at the New York Film Forum.
Northeast New York Chapter has had a busy fall with a "Welcome-to-School"/"Back-to-School" picnic, apple-picking and picnic, Halloween potluck party, the Annual Aaron Shaloum Memorial Lecture and preparing for a delegation from China to visit Albany in November and our Annual Holiday Bazaar in early December.
Portland Maine Chapter began its fall schedule with a Moon Festival Potluck. The Chinese School begins its seventh year in October with an expanded curriculum of Mandarin, calligraphy, traditional dance, art, games and drama, with classes for three-year-olds, four-year-olds, kindergarten and first graders, second graders and advanced students of Mandarin.
Richard Chapter presented an excellent panel discussion on Hong Kong in the spring, to be followed up with another discussion on Hong Kong this winter. The fall programs began with a TaiChi Workshop, a Sister Cities video, a program on teaching in China and the Annual Christmas Party. In the spring the chapter will begin a study of Madame Mao and the Cultural Revolution.
Regional officers were elected; Rezsin Adams continues as President and Richard Pendleton continues as Treasurer. Representatives to the National Board are Al Abati and Rezsin Adams. The National Board honoree from the Eastern Region is Mel Horowitz, Northeast New York Chapter and Irving Zuckerman, New York City Chapter, and Lloyd Hebert, Northeast New York Chapter, are the Eastern Region members to be honored at the National Convention. A resolution to be presented to the National Convention proposes that a percentage of the interest from the Endowment account, above what may be needed by the National Board, be distributed annually to the Regions on an equal basis.
Michael O'Shea told us of his experiences in China. He has visited China seven times in the past seven years, most recently completing a ten-month teaching assignment in a small Chinese city. There is an explosion of educational facilities in China so that every city, even small cities, has at least one college or university. The problem is that parents have to pay but in the poor parts of the country they can't. Who will pay is being hotly debated.
Computers are everywhere. PUblic buses in cities have TV's and the subways in Beijing and Shanghai post the latest information in Chinese and in English. A lot of attention is being paid to public transportation. Airports are being rebuilt and planes upgraded. The gem of the public transportation system are the trains. China is rebuilding all of its rail lines replacing the wooden ties with concrete bedding so that even the older trains can be put back into service and are smooth and fast. Every rail road car has an attendant who checks tickets, sells food, keeps the car clean and, moreover, keeps the bathroom very presentable.
Another particularly noticable change in the past seven years is the explosion in religion. Churches have been restored, are open, are packed, have many services every week. Almost all of O'Shea's students said they believe in religion, most are Buddhists.
As individuals, people speak openly and critically about government but not in organized groups. The poor still respect Chairman Mao because of the "safety net" but young people are proud to be modern and Chinese and a part of the world scene. Chinese people know quite a bit about the outside world. CNN is everywhere, in English and not censored. Chinese people like Americans but they think our administration, while powerful, is arrogant and they wonder why we don't help the people in the rest of the world more.
China has an underclass--the construction workers who come to the big cities from the countryside, who are poorly paid but make more than they made back home. Unemployment is probably China's biggest problem.
Jian Hui, a student in the United States and now working in the United States, spoke of travelling in China for his job and that visiting the inland provinces was like tranvelling "in another world." Life has become harder for many people, especially rural people. When he went to school from 1988 to 1992 in China, his tuition was paid and he was given a stipend to live on. Today this is not true for most students although situations differ in different parts of the country and if the school is public or government-supported or private and supported by student's parents. Automation and lack of government support for factories has had a big impact. It's a long process to become a Communist Party member but it is still helpful in developing one's career. Most of China is westernized but the government is still not elected. Leadership is still inherited.
|
|