A New Appreciation

       So you may be wondering why I have a picture of my brother and me in Boston when I am in China and this blog is suppose to be about Shanghai. Well it actually has a lot to do with China.

       Today I had one of my elective courses, Political Economy in China. The topic of today's lecture was the Chinese population. Of course, it is impossible to talk about the 1.3 billion population without at least mentioning the infamous one-child policy or "family planning policies" as my professor called, and our lecture quickly moved to the justifications of the policies. Though I would love to stand on my soap box and express my outrage about the moral injustice of these laws and how sickening it was to sit and listen to a man preach the lies of its noble merits, I will resist the urge. 

       But I will say this: as I sat through class, my anger and frustration built as I listened to the propaganda being taught on the subject, but near the end of class I had a change of heart. Not a change of towards the policy, but a change concerning my feelings about class that day. With only about a ten minutes left in class, as the professor was wrapping up his lecture with facts about fertility rates and regional policies and the need for such a law, my Chinese classmate, Jane, who sits in front of me, turned around and asked if I had any brothers or sisters. I told her yes, I have one older brother. By the look on her face you would have thought that I told her that I came from Oz, the excitement, wonder, and since of awe and fascination evident on her face as you could her mind pondering what it must be like.  "Awe," she said, "That is so cool," completely enraptured with the idea. I teared up just a little bit. I quickly pulled out my iPod and flipped through my pictures to a family photo, and tapped her on the shoulder and showed it to her. She simply could not believe it. 

      I quickly realized the significance of the conversation, and my attitude quickly transformed from outrage and frustration to a sense of sympathy and deep appreciation for what I have, a brother.

      Activist, and even I, am quick to look at statistics and ratios and the many social problems caused by these "family planning policies," but often forget that the problem is more than a number or an issue, it has millions and millions of faces, going through life not even fully realizing their deprivation. As my professor droned on with his speech, spewing data to prove the excellence of the Chinese policy, the ultimate disproof was happening in the back of the classroom, as a Chinese girl stared at the picture of complete strangers dreaming about how wonderful it must be. 

      So the point of this post is not to make you an activist or even inform you of outrageous Chinese policies, but that you may share in my new appreciation for your siblings. Through the good times and bad, you have them. And that itself is something to be thankful for. 

      After class Jane told me that she thought every girl should have an older brother, someone to protect them for their whole life. I told her yeah, it's a pretty awesome thing to have. 

      So to my protector and life-long pal, Bubba, I love you, and I am truly blessed and thankful to have you. I miss you and I'll talk to you soon.