China

I'd consider myself a fairly well cultured teenager; my mom is from the United States, but my dad was born in Turkey, and as a result I have had many opportunities throughout my childhood to travel and see the world, something I am truly grateful for. And when we travel, my parents hate to simply sit at a resort; my mother making it her goal to introduce us to as much of the local culture as possible. But while I have viewed and observed many countries in Europe, I have never been to a truly Asian nation (Turkey being on the border of Europe and Asia, but with more of a European culture). Learning about Ms. Brownstone's experience really opened my eyes to a culture I knew very little about.I learned of their morals and virtues, which proved to be somewhat different than in the United STates. One key idea that resinated with me throughout the reading was the concept of "Saving Face" or attempting to appear 100% qualified, even when you may be unsure. In China, and the School that Ms. Brownstone taught at, if children asked her questions and she admitted to being unsure, her students would begin to think she was incompetent. This sense of saving face also is carried into standardized academics. Brownstone staed that in China, a child can never achieve a truly perfect grade/test, lest it make them seem important. Qualities like these, a lack of freedom, and a lack of true support from faculty/teachers, make me relieved to be an american student. While at the same time, in an attempt not to be ethnocentric, I can understand why our culture too would be a lot to take in for a foreigner.