I walked into the small restaurant and found a booth to sit in. The building smelled strongly of pasta, rice, and chicken which made my mouth water with hunger. 
I work at a newspaper company in New York. My main job is to write interviews and notes to inform and educate the public audience about other cultures, their differences, and what makes them so special and unique. Just a couple weeks ago I had gotten an email from my boss saying that I had a select opportunity for an interview in China. Of course I agreed to the offer and flew over in just a few days' preparation. I knew this was a chance I would rarely find again. I was given the unique opportunity to interview a woman raised in China about what growing up in this culture was like and what expectations she had been held to. I had written down a list of questions based on three major categories: religion, family, and basic education. I was excited to learn about a culture/experience that I had never learned about before.
A voice startled me from my thoughts, “Hello, are you Greg? The one with the interview questions?” it spoke.
I looked up from my booth and saw a middle aged lady standing there. She had her arms straight crossed in front of her with a light pink handbag held in between. Her hair was dark brown and fell a little ways past her shoulders. Her eyes were a dark, calming brown and her face held soft, welcoming features. A cautious smile danced on her lips as she hesitantly asked my identity.
I smiled in return and held out my hand for her to shake, “Yes that’s me! And I’m guessing you are Chu Hua?”, I asked.
I watched her relax a bit as she found she was in the right place and shook my hand. “Yes that would be me,” she smiled happily, “It’s very nice to meet you Greg”.
“It’s great to meet you too!”, I responded. She was very polite and made me feel welcomed in her presence. I could tell this would be a fun, easy-going interview.
She sat down across from me and put her handbag down next to her. She then looked up at me and smiled patiently, “I guess we can just jump right in! What would you like to start with?”.
I grabbed my laptop and opened my questions document. Quickly looking through my questions I decided to begin in the educational topic. “We can start off talking about your educational experience growing up. What was your school like?”, I questioned with interest.
After taking a moment to process the question and think of an answer, Chu Hua replied, “It was strict. Much more so than from what I have heard about American schools. In the classroom we had designated bathroom and drink breaks. If we had to go to the bathroom and it was not break time, we used a chamber pot in the corner of the class. We were not allowed any form of medication in the classroom no matter the circumstances. The nurse would keep it in her office. If we did not finish our meal during lunch, the teachers would yell and tell us to finish it. The classroom buildings were always so crowded and there was not a lot of extra wiggle room. A child was taught to blend in to a crowd and standing out would result in a correction”, she finished.
During her answer, I had been writing down key points that I would like to elaborate on. There were so many differences from the American system and it was intriguing to learn about. “Wow that sounds so different from what I am used to. We don’t use force or rules as strict as those in American schools,” I replied with interest, “You said the teacher’s would tell you to finish your lunch. What would they say to motivate you into doing so?” I questioned.
“Well when I was younger they would sometimes yell saying our mommies would not come pick us up from school that day if we did not listen to the teachers. Sometimes they would threaten to call the police if we did not obey their instructions”, she answered thinking back to her kindergarten years.
Writing down her response in my notes I thought about the teachers in China compared to the teachers in America. In the United States a teacher would never threaten a child with police. The children were taught that cops were a symbol of protection and they would cause you no harm. Apparently this is much different in China. “You also mentioned that the classrooms were crowded. About how many students occupied a room at once?”.
As she repositioned her handbag to sit in her lap she replied with a smile, “Sometimes the classes would reach up to 40 students at a time. Sometimes more and sometimes less depending on the grade level. If a Chinese student had as much space as American students have they would feel so free”.
“That sounds like a very crowded room! Again that is very different from the way classrooms are held in America”.
A waitress stopped by our booth with a couple menus and a friendly grin plastered on her face, “Can I get you two started with a drink this morning?”, she offered politely. We both ordered drinks and continued on with our interview, waiting for the waitress to return.
“I remember you also spoke of the students. You said they were taught to blend in rather than stand out?”, I continued.
Taking a quick moment to think she responded with, “Oh yes! I’ve heard that in America you get praised and applauded for standing out or following your own path. Here in China we get corrected and punished for doing so. We receive praise for blending in the best. I used to get red stars placed on my forehead whenever I did exactly as the teachers asked. The teachers were the authority and we heeded to their every command with obedience”.

        I finished jotting down all the main points from our first topic and I took a moment to review the next, religion. “Did you have any religious beliefs growing up?”, I asked.
        This time Chu Hua took a little longer to think of a response. She sat looking down at her coffee for a few minutes thinking of an answer. 
        Finally she said, “Honestly no I did not. In America children and families go to church and have God or another figure to worship and praise. In America they have the authoritative figure of God but in China our authority was the teacher and education. In my family we worshipped our knowledge and I was raised under my elders’ expectations”, she replied searching her mind for more information. “I don’t believe religious beliefs are very common in China”.

        I sat for a moment thinking. Yes she was right, back in America many people went to church and worshipped God. It was a strange thought to me that here in China teachers were the main authority. It was a foreign image in my mind. 
“Moving on to our final topic, how would you describe growing up in your household? What was your family like and did you have any major expectations?”, I asked, curiosity filling up my thoughts.
Chu Hua smiled as if remembering her childhood years, “In China, there are a few main expectations each family is supposed to follow. A student never challenges a teacher, younger family members obey older members, a child respects their father’s orders all the time, and a wife always obeys her husband”, continuing on she said, “I remember when I was younger I wanted to try out for my school’s dance team. My father believed it was nonsense and it would only distract me from my goals. Nevertheless I talked back to him and he told me that a daughter is never supposed to talk to their father in such a way. I was embarrassed for quite some time after that”.
Taking a moment to process her answer I wrote down her words. It was mind blowing to me that different families in different cultures were so different from each other even despite living so far away. “Did you have any other activities as a child? Any hobbies?”, I questioned.
“Yes! Like many other young Chinese girls I had been playing piano since I could walk. Although sometimes it wasn’t because I wanted to. It was expected of me to do so”.
After a few more minutes of clarifying some information and asking more questions, we stood up and shook hands.
I smiled brightly, “Thank you so much for your time! It was very eye opening to learn about a whole new culture!”
She grinned happily, “Of course! Thank you for being so interested and willing to learn”.
We then said goodbye, parted ways, and I headed back home to write my report.