Age in China

Today is a public holiday in China, so for once we do not have to work. Bliss. Utter bliss !!!

We grabbed the opportunity and went for a photo reccie and picnic in the park to celebrate a sunny day with James, our photography friend we met via flickr, his absolutely lovely and sweet wife Amy (originally from Mongolia) and Amy's 17 year old daughter Kelly.

This Mom and daughter two-some are so photogenic together, and I could not resist taking several photos of them.

Kelly doing the bubble thing ...

Mom taking a video ...



And them sharing the video ...



Whilst taking these photos, as I do, I also wondered about the cultural story I was photographing. Taking these photos of their shared joy, I again ended up comparing cultures, amazed at the differences between teens here and teens in the West !

What 17-year old in the West would be sitting with a teddy, blowing bubbles for mommy and looking like she is 12? No wonder everybody in America thought China's Olympic gymnasts were underage. However, young Kelly here really is the standard for local kids - in fact, if a kid
here "looks his age" it is very, very strange.

On this same topic: a real story story from one of my 16 y/old students who recently returned from 2 years of High School in America, showing how we are viewed here:

When I asked her what the strangest / most interesting experience was for her, she said that on day one of her going to school in America, she was sitting in class and she saw all these parents coming into class and sitting down. She kept on wondering why she was the only child in class ... until the teacher walked in and started teaching .... only then did she realise the "parents" were actually the other kids in her class.