A Blog on McConnell Center Life

Jeremy Ball Class of 2017 In my travels outside the United States, most have been to countries where English is not the native language. Whether it be Polish, Spanish, German or Dutch, each country has presented unique and challenging experiences in regards to communications. Now approaching my third week in China, I can honestly say I have never experienced a more profound language barrier in a country than my time here. While we have student guides and a truly remarkable professor provided for us on this trip that aids tremendously in communication, my class has often ventured to places where no one but ourselves spoke English. With many points, and often unintelligible gestures, we have managed to succeed thus far; however, to say it hasn't been a challenge would be an understatement. However, this blog is not to complain about the language barrier, or even to speak about the power of nonverbal communication; it's to speak to the importance of learning another language...

Aaron Vance Class of 2017 Looking to title this blog post and to capture what our time in China has been like so far, I couldn’t think of any better way to talk about Xi’an and China, than to harken it back to one of the paramount stories of Chinese folklore. Journey to the West, a novel account of the journey of the Tang Dynasty monk, Xuanzang, might be more widely known in Western culture as Monkey, which is the title of Arthur Waley’s translated and abridged version. And from that spinoffs, T.V. shows, and movies have portrayed this account around the world and captured the imaginations of millions, especially my own with its tale of adventure, journey, and supernatural conflict. Xuanzang, a Buddhist monk from Chang’an (Xi’an), sets off to Tianzhu (India), to retrieve scriptures and other sutras to bring them back to spread the ideas of Buddhism across ancient China. In constant peril from the attack of monsters and demons, Xuanzang as a character is given three protectors ...

Landon Lauder Class of 2017 Vegetables are the same all over the world. Or so I thought.  Around the first of this year (2016), I decided to become a complete vegetarian (no, that does not include fish) for environmental and personal health reasons. Ever since, finding vegetarian food in the United States has been incredibly easy at just about every restaurant. Knowing I would be traveling to the People’s Republic of China this summer, I asked our professor if I could maintain being a vegetarian in China; he said yes, and that it would be fairly easy. I unfortunately did not last more than two full days before having to eat meat. I did not start to eat meat again out of peer pressure or even because I did not like the vegetables. Instead, I ate meat in order to basically survive. I realized that not only is it impossible to eat strictly vegetables and tofu in China (every veggie and tofu dish is cooked with meat of some sort), but it is also disrespectful. The foo...

Jason Jewell Class of 2017 We all visit new places with preconceived notions, whether it’s a new town or state or a country on the other side of the world. Being from a state in which our people are often stereotyped into being shoeless hillbillies, I should have been more thoughtful on my assumptions. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what I imagined China to be, but it surely was not what I have come to see. There are a lot of differences from China and the United States but there are just as many similarities. The biggest similarity is the aesthetics of the city; the biggest difference is the food and the cultural habits that surround it. Shanghai is a city that will quickly remind you of New York City, except it seems as if the city never ends. We traveled from our hotel at Shanghai Jiao Tong University to Shanghai Maritime University - a two-hour drive to what one could easily mistake as the Everglades of Florida. The diversity of landscape and scenery in just the small part o...

Hannah Wilson Class of 2017 Don't want your baby? Put it in the box.  It might sound insane, but this practice is prominent in China, where the genocide of baby girls is becoming a very real issue. China's recent revoking of their one-child policy does not change the Chinese cultural notion that it is better to have sons than daughters, and female babies have died in large numbers as a result. And though having a baby girl no longer depletes one's chances of having a son, decades of Chinese parenting philosophy has left them with a youngest generation that is overwhelmingly lopsided in regards to gender, with approximately 1.06 males to every .91 females.  What does this mean for China's population distribution? Maybe nothing - for now. In the long term, however, there could be some dire effects.  For one, China's aging population could experience an increase in homelessness - something they cannot afford - due to the decrease in marriages among yo...

Hannah Wilson Class of 2017 In the nooks and crannies of languages, influenced by cultures and peoples of various ideologies and modes of being, there exist slews of derogatory slang terms for transgender peoples. In the United States among English speakers, it is not uncommon to catch wind of “tranny,” “transvestite,” or, a more general slur for LGBTQ+ individuals, “faggot” being used in reference to those who identify as transgender.  Varieties of Chinese languages also house words for transgender peoples. In Mandarin, kuaxingbie translates as “to go beyond sex,” and is considered to be the literal translation of the English word “transgender.” However, the word is not popularly used outside academia.  In Hong Kong, slang terms used towards transgender peoples are numerous. Bin tai is used as an insult to non-normative people, such as cross-dressers, homosexuals, masculine women, feminine men, and transgender people. Jan-jiu translates to “human monster.” Yan ...

Jeremy Ball Class of 2017 Nearly 3 weeks ago I left the United States for a journey - one I will not return from until early August. Rewind five years, and I would have never imagined I would be spending my summer before senior year traveling to four countries. In fact, as a first generation college student from the Appalachian mountains of Eastern Kentucky, it would have been hard to imagine a world beyond my gaze at the highest point of land on the farm my papaw owns. But here I am, in China, at the start of what will be a lifetime of adventures across the world. My adventure began in Germany, and my travels have since taken me to the Netherlands, and now to China. My month in China, which only began a week ago, has already become one of the most uniquely amazing opportunities I have ever had, and one I owe the McConnell Center immense gratitude. Whether it's eating food I never imagined I could eat, to exploring Shanghai, one of the most vibrant cities I've ever ...

Jacob Abrahamson Class of 2017 After the initial culture shock of arriving in China, one of the first things I noticed was how similar some things are to America. Of course, it's surreal being this far away from home in a place I never thought I'd get to see. Very few people speak English, and I speak zero Chinese beyond "thank you," so it is certainly hard to communicate and go through all functions of daily life. Yet, there is certainly a sense of familiarity that has come from years of erosion of pure communism into an interesting hybrid. For example, visitors to China from America who fear Chinese food (don't, it's better than ours), need not worry about never finding Western-style food. The beer tastes the same, Shanghai's French concession has little bistros, you can find bars with pizza and burgers, and every fast food restaurant is there with slightly different menus. Big Mac, I learned the other night, is a phrase accepted in both Chin...

Hannah Wilson Class of 2017 All the young people laugh. All the old people scowl.  In the laughter there is a swirl of nervousness, a breath of curiosity. The young people hold their faces with the care of cars on the highways, swerving in and out of dangerous spaces, unencumbered, unbothered by near accidents of language. They reach out like the roadways, far beyond where they might have intended to go when their plans were drawn, stretching their hands and minds and wonderment at the world out across continents and cleavages of oceans and cultural notions to find us.  And they find us. In WeChat, an app for iPhone. In a mutual dissatisfaction with barriers of human communication. In a mutual love of rice noodles and sweet watermelon. In taking too many pictures. In a bar around the corner where beer is 50 cents a bottle. In a need to spread out and see. In ambition, in a striving for perfection, in a love of learning. In name brands and shoe styles and ...

Colton Stinger Class of 2019 I have been pondering the concept of credibility. It seems like a simple concept, but what I have been trying to understand, is how one can establish credibility in the eyes of the world. How can I speak with world leaders about the philosophy of running a nation? How can I offer another questioning mind my input with some level of believability? I meet so many interesting people: authors, diplomats, scholars. But I have not been able to establish a true dialogue. And so I ask myself: what have I to offer, and what gives me the right and authority to speak on any topic? It really is a question of identity. I am a nineteen year-old high school graduate. I lack the years of education that some of these people have. But I wonder sometimes if there are experiences I have had that may be worth sharing and afford me some credibility. For instance, I have been in seven different schools since the first grad...

Natalie Smith ('16) By Natalie Smith Class of 2016 Now that my four years have come to an end, and thus, I’ve become very wise and experienced, I thought I would make a handy list of the things I’ve learned during my time as a McConnell Scholar. Here’s my advice for future scholars: Etiquette is key.  It’s easy to shrug off the importance of etiquette, but people pay attention to behavior. Polite or impolite actions subconsciously play a role in the way that you are perceived. Always be courteous. Kentucky is worth exploring.  Our annual retreats at different Kentucky state parks are among my favorite memories. You can and should travel internationally, but there’s so much worth exploring in your home state, as well. Our retreats always made me feel more connected to Kentucky and more invested in local history. Become the best version of whatever you want to be.  It doesn’t matter whether you want to be a doctor or a musician or a lawyer—the most importan...