Last Conversation

Today Cheng and I met for the last time. We met up in the library and chatted about the year ending and finals. I asked him what his favorite part of TCU was, he said breaks. In other words, he likes NOT being at TCU. I laughed and asked him about his roommate, he said he was transferring to San Diego and that he was going to miss his roommate a lot. This surprised me, a chinese student and a brazilian playboy being close friends? I never considered their bond to be more than roommates. I asked about who he hangs out with and he said he didn't really like the middle eastern people in his classes, which was a bit uncomfortable, but that he really liked the Russian guy because he was wild. He said that he didn't like drinking with him though because he got "f**ked". I thought that phrasing was hilarious and we broke out in a fit of laughter. He didn't like the middle eastern students because it was hard to communicate with them and they are extremely religious. In China the government is against religion, they see people with strong faith as people who desire power, so they see them as a threat. Because of this, in China if you are buddhist you are not allowed to vote and have limited rights. I thought that was absolutely absurd and Cheng agreed, he thinks that people should have the freedom of religion like in America.

I asked him about his plans for the summer and he's being forced to come back at the beginning of july to complete the last month of the IEP program! I thought that was horrible! His only time to be back home and he only gets a month and a half? He complained a little more about that and then I asked him about Shanghai. He compared Shanghai to New York and I pictured dangerous mob men. I asked him about the mafia and he said it's an underground business but the "governmenters" are the heads of it. This got us on a government talk and he told me that in 2011 two politicians ran against each other and the one that won ended up accusing the other of murdering people long ago and had his wife and him put into jail so that they couldn't run against him ever again. I was shocked at how easy it was to destroy other people when you're in power in China. He said that was why everyone wanted to be in power. He also said it's really important to vote for the "right" person. Cheng told me he just found out about three years ago that his grandfather used to be a policeman in 1960 and he voted for the wrong guy in an election. The government took him away from his wife and no one knew where he went, he just showed up at home 10 years later a completely different man and the government forced him to be a farmer. All because he voted for the "wrong" guy. I was flabbergasted as he told me this story.

Cheng said that in China they don't teach students about Tiananmen Square Masscare. He only just found out about the event in recent years. He just kept emphasizing the fact that politicians in China are extremely dangerous. I was utterly shocked to discover all those crazy facts. I was sad when we had to say goodbye. I told Cheng that we should catch up when school resumes in the fall and he agreed.

Overall, I am really glad that this IEP partnership was a part of the class. I found it extremely interesting to learn about someone else's culture and I never would have know even a fraction of what I know about China if I hadn't met Cheng. It was a wonderful experience that I won't soon forget.