In the beginning of the year, the parents sign a general permission slip that grants us the ability to take the children to the zoo whenever we want (why else would parents send their child to the school at the zoo?). I try to take my kids weekly just to get out of the classroom and explore a bit. The older kids go to the zoo for projects and activities, and sometimes the special teachers take the kids to the zoo to paint outside, or play soccer. Wait, wait… let me get back on track. The point of this is not to talk about how awesome the zoo is, it is to tell you about how frustrating a zoo visit can be! Let me explain.
Now, I am the first to admit that I have the most adorable class at RBIS – then again, I probably have the most adorable class in all of China (yes, they are that cute). I understand that when I take my children to the zoo that people will admire them and aww at them the way any adoring adult would do in the US from a distance. However, what really annoys and upsets me is how I feel like my children are an exhibit at the zoo, on display. I swear, Miki and I spend more time telling strangers to stop talking to our children, stop touching them, and stop taking pictures of them then we do actually interacting with them on our field trip. I am pretty sure that I have written about this before because I had a problem with it with my last class as well, but it is pretty much out of control. Let me tell you about our trip today…
Spur of the moment, we decided to pack up and head out. The weather was beautiful and our kids are doing great (even the new ones aren’t crying anymore). Within the first five minutes of being in the zoo, we had to yell at several people trying to take their pictures and had to shoo away a crowd that was forming around us as we walked. Once in the alligator house, the pictures continued and we had to yell at three different old ladies who kept touching our kids - touching their faces and playing with their hair (it is always the blonde and curly hair kids that they like). It only got worse as we walked to the snack room when some guy actually tried to pick up one of our kids. You have got to be kidding!
Now here is the thing to understand, up until the 1980’s foreign expats were not allowed access into China, so for the majority of their lives, they never encountered foreigners, which is why the older generation is so fascinated with foreigners (the ones that really throw them for a loop are blondes and blacks). Additionally, Chinese culture is very different in regards to personal space and children. It is not considered rude to touch another person, or take their pictures, and it would not be odd for a Chinese person to walk over to a stranger and ask to hold their baby. Although problems still exist, they don’t have the same paranoid worries about child abduction or inappropriate child conduct.
Well anyway, while our kids were sitting on a bench, minding their own business, just eating their snack, a group began to form around us, just staring at the kids. Although I knew it was “harmless” I still wanted to yell at them all for being creeps! I said to Miki (who is my Shanghainese assistant), “How do you think they would feel if they were in a foreign country and people just gathered around them to stare.” She stared laughing because she knows how Chinese culture is, but she also knows how opposite American culture is. She told me, they just stare because they think the kids are beautiful, and when they see something beautiful, they want to take pictures. Sometimes it just baffles me. I mean, there are plenty of Asian kids in the US, and we don’t start taking pictures of them just because they are Asian in America…
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