In “Why We Travel” this article, Pico Iyer mentioned travel can be educational to us and others. It means that we can learn more about the world than the newspaper will accommodate. Meanwhile, we teach the locals. This could be unintentional. It is because we walk around streets and interact with the locals have already been the process of learning and teaching. We carry our values and news to the places we go. We are just like the walking video screens and living newspapers to deliver the information of outside world to them. In Rivertown and Burma Chronicles, Peter Hessler and Guy Delisle both have learnt something during the trip, and taught something to the locals, but in a different way. In the following paragraphs, Hessler and Delisle’s
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In 1996, Hessler and his colleague, Adam Meier, arrived at Fuling of China as a Peace Corps volunteer. They were assigned as an English teacher in a local school. In 90s, China, not only Fuling, was keeping on his way to develop and connect with the outside world. However, a lot of information was still closed down in China. Therefore, Hessler and Meier became the “living newspapers” for the locals in Fuling, especially for the students. Hessler described that “This was intimidating, because never in my life had I been watched so closely that every action was replayed and evaluated.”(Hessler, 2006, p.20) Everything they did was like under monitoring, and the students were interested in their behaviors. For instance, Hessler and Meier played the Frisbee could arouse a student’s excitement; Hessler scratched himself with casually dressing was seen as inappropriate manner to students. These experiences symbolize the Chinese students were taking their first step to contact and accept a new culture. Since they were born, the students were living in this little homeland surrounded by all who shared the similar living style and behaviors with themselves. Hessler and Meier became the eyes and ears of the students, to help them take a glance of another life style of the outside world. On the other hand, Hessler and Meier learnt the ritual and manner in China from lots of embarrassing experiences. For example, they dressed inappropriately when attending the welcoming ceremony, yet they were not intended to do so. In classroom, Meier turned a compliment to an embarrassment as he praised a girl, Keller, had very nice freckles. In Western culture, freckles are considered as attractive, whereas it’s not in China. In Fuling, they had a lot of strange but worthy experiences. Yet, they learnt the Chinese ritual and culture which were hardly learnt from any
In 1996, Hessler and his colleague, Adam Meier, arrived at Fuling of China as a Peace Corps volunteer. They were assigned as an English teacher in a local school. In 90s, China, not only Fuling, was keeping on his way to develop and connect with the outside world. However, a lot of information was still closed down in China. Therefore, Hessler and Meier became the “living newspapers” for the locals in Fuling, especially for the students. Hessler described that “This was intimidating, because never in my life had I been watched so closely that every action was replayed and evaluated.”(Hessler, 2006, p.20) Everything they did was like under monitoring, and the students were interested in their behaviors. For instance, Hessler and Meier played the Frisbee could arouse a student’s excitement; Hessler scratched himself with casually dressing was seen as inappropriate manner to students. These experiences symbolize the Chinese students were taking their first step to contact and accept a new culture. Since they were born, the students were living in this little homeland surrounded by all who shared the similar living style and behaviors with themselves. Hessler and Meier became the eyes and ears of the students, to help them take a glance of another life style of the outside world. On the other hand, Hessler and Meier learnt the ritual and manner in China from lots of embarrassing experiences. For example, they dressed inappropriately when attending the welcoming ceremony, yet they were not intended to do so. In classroom, Meier turned a compliment to an embarrassment as he praised a girl, Keller, had very nice freckles. In Western culture, freckles are considered as attractive, whereas it’s not in China. In Fuling, they had a lot of strange but worthy experiences. Yet, they learnt the Chinese ritual and culture which were hardly learnt from any