America 101

There are some aspects of American culture that I'm still adjusting to that I've noticed in the past few days. The first one is church. I attend a church that is extremely missional and internationally focused. The congregation is made up of tons of internationals, the sermons and worship are amazing, and it seems like God is really glorified. I'm just still amazed and thankful that 500 people can openly meet in a building like that...

Another aspect is the fact that it's okay I don't have a boyfriend in America. In China, my students were very concerned about this, especially when I reached the advanced age of 23. Yesterday, my Chinese classmate and I were discussing my lack of a boyfriend, which transported me back to China in my thoughts.

I saw her talking to a tall Chinese guy, so I asked her in Chinese if that was her boyfriend. Of course she got all flustered and turned the question on whether or not I had a boyfriend. I said, no, I didn't, and she couldn't believe it. Then she switched to English as we walked into our classroom, and our classmates could clearly understand us. She said, "What about 'George'?" with a knowing look. "You sit by him a lot."

Yes, I do sit by George a lot, who could probably hear our conversation by now. But how could I explain that George is gay and thus couldn't be my boyfriend? This would be awkward, and she would be confused--in a traditional society like China you don't really run into that situation much. So I just tried to manuever the conversation in another, less potentially embarrassing direction. I just told her that I liked to sit by many different people...

Then I experienced yet another side of America that doesn't exist in China. I went to a political debate last night with some of my friends, including the aforementioned George. It was sponsored by IU's School of Public and Environmental Affairs, where I'm a student. It was held downtown in a cozy old theater from the 1920s. The theater, the people, and the debate seemed all very old-fashioned.

I sat in the balcony to listen to the three candidates for Congress. At first it was rather boring, but then the candidates and the audience were interesting to watch and interact.

The Democrat: He is the incumbent, and has been around for millions of years. He's pretty old school, and got riled up a lot for no reason. He seemed rather conservative for being a democrat, and had all the right, expected sayings.

The Republican: He is a Naval Academy graduate, a lawyer, and a little too smooth. He also said all the right things, but never really said anything at all. He also got very worked up. And his suit and tie matched the democratic guy exactly.

The Independent: He isn't married, and you could tell, because he wore a splotchy looking gray suit with a purplish tie. He was pretty much the comedic relief. I probably agreed with him more on the issues than the other two candidates, but he wasn't as well-spoken. He also kind of went off the deep end towards the end of the debate, when he dramatically called for the Democratic congressman's resignation, who was standing right next to him. The audience just laughed.

The Moderator: He had actually coached the University of Kansas last year, which won the national debate championships. Now he's teaching at IU. He was pretty cool, and didn't get too ruffled when the audience and candidates did unpredictable things.

The Rest of the People: The theater had a lot of media, which was the only thing that reminded me we weren't in the 1940s, because of their laptops. The audience was an interesting mix of people from the university, farmers from the surrounding areas, and people from the small military base nearby. They all embarrassed me, because at some points they would applaud loudly, or boo, or stomp their feet on the floor, even though the audience was told to be well-behaved. I didn't understand, especially because the candidates weren't really that different from each other. Two police officers dressed in uniforms like Mayberry, watched the audience to make sure they didn't go too crazy.

All in all, it was a fascinating exercise on American society and politics. Now I have to finish studying for yet another midterm, which isn't a rarity in American or Chinese life...


The Buskirk-Chumley theater downtown. What a name!


The outside of the theater.


The debate.