Su Tai Tai (Look her up at www.culpa.info) and what American exchange students in China may need to take into account

This is a post dedicated to one of the most memorable professors of my college career, Su Tai Tai. As mentioned, Pilar and I met in her class, and she's probably one of the reasons we became friends, because talking about Su Tai Tai and her particular antics was so much fun.

The thing that the other American students I had the priveledge of calling classmates never understood about Su Tai Tai is that she couldn't be any other way even if she tried. She doesn't think that she is a lunatic, because her idea of being a teacher extends beyond the classroom. This is a quaint Chinese attitude, and personally, I believe Su Tai Tai carries it off with great aplomb.

Chinese professors, especially older ones, do feel the obligation to mold their students into responsible, ethical adults, which is a digression from the average professor at Columbia or Barnard, where the assumption is that you already are (though, from what I've seen... haha nah just joking.) Su Tai Tai also expects an unquestioned amount of respect above the threshold of respect that the average professor requires from his/her students, which I also think is Chinese. She meets with a lot of resistance because of her concepts and expectations of us, her students, and I feel bad for her sometimes. She gets outraged occaisionally, but she really is a sweetheart.

I recently talked to my professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong about the respect issue, and she admits she hates it when foreign students, mostly American, troop into her class wearing flip flops or tank tops, or when they put their feet up on the chair in front of them. She says that it reflects a total lack of respect for the class, their classmates, and herself, who put a lot of effort into putting the class together, encouraging discussions etc. I don't know whether to agree with her or not. But let this be a warning to all American exchange students in China: shoes and shirt are required, preferrably one with a collar. That, is the lesson of the day.