MEET THE BAUMANN SCHOOL BUS DRIVERS
SCHOOLS
Wei Xia (pronounced Way Sha) came to Bedford from Shanghai at the beginning of the, school year. He is spending his senior year at Fox Lane as a foreign exchange student.
Lillie Dremeaux: Can you reflect a little on what your experiences have been here, in general?
Wei Xia: If I had to use a word, I'd say 'different.'
Lillie: What kind of things strike you the most?
Wei. The teachers' attitudes toward the students and the students' attitudes, toward the teachers. I don't think you have much pressure to study here. In China, we only have one test for the college entrance, so you either do well or fail. You spend the entire senior year studying for this test.
Lillie: Do you mean pressure to do well, or pressure to act right inside school?
Wei: In China, the teacher would not allow you to do after school activities. If you want to go to some kind of entertainment place, the teacher will follow you. They have spies, model students, and they will get information for the teacher.
Lillie: So the teachers interfere in the students' personal lives a lot more?
Wei: Yes, and they cooperate with parents. We have no idea what parents do with teachers,
Lillie: Would you say that a major difference between here and China is that, in China, students tend to not have much of a social life?
Wei: Well, yeah, we don't have much social life. You can see that, when I came here, I became very, very quiet because I really don't know much about the after school activities.
Lillie: Why did you decide to come here,
specifically? Wei: I think America's a pretty ... different country and the best place for me to learn English. Most people, even the university students, dream to come here and to study here.
Lillie: Why did you decide to come for high school? Was it so you wouldn't have to take the entrance exam?
Wei: Yeah, I skipped that. (Laughs.)
Lillie: Does the strictness of schools in China parallel the family life there?
Wei: In senior year in China, you have a student who wants to prepare for the college entrance test. And, in China, we live in apartments [and] don't have much room. So in the night, the parents are afraid that the students will want to watch TV and not pay attention to their homework. And, also, if the parents are watching TV, it can affect the student's studying. So what they do is hide the TV for a year and they don't watch TV, And, in the night, they know if they are talking in the home, it will probably affect the student's studying, so they go out for two hours and come back. Then the student has two hours of very very quiet conditions to study.
Lillie: So, essentially, the entrance exam becomes their entire life for a year. Do most people pass?
Wei: We don't have as many colleges in China as there are here. If a student would get accepted by four colleges at the same time, it would be huge news.
Lillie: So, then, the colleges there are all very difficult to get into?
Wei: Yes. See, the parents think if you get into an easy college, it doesn't mean anything. If you graduate from there, what are you going to do?
Lillie: Weil, here, the attitude is more than college is what you make of it. If you don't do well in high school, you can go to a community college, work your way through and go on to a good graduate school. There are so many extra chances Wei: People do not think this way in China. You have one chance. They will hope you go to a good college, That their hope and their plan for you. You cannot change their plan,
Lillie: Is the attitude that education important or that success is important, Wei: They think that a good education is to prepare for success.
Lillie: So both?
Wei: Yeah. And I will tell you the attitude of the students graduating from high school. After they take the national entrance exam, they will bum the books Lillie: Well, people do that here, too...so the entrance exam is not a rewarding educational experience?
Wei: No, it's horrible. Everyone is afraid of last year, senior year, all year studying. I know this. Every day, the teachers give you tons of homework.
Lillie: What are your plans for the future? Wei: To get into an American college and study, find the major I want to and -,raduate there. Maybe, if the opportunities in China aren't better, I will decide to stay here.