The Shanghai Science and Technology Museum.... Field Trip.....

Of all the days I picked to go to the Shanghai Science World, I picked the day when 50+ schools from all over China also decided to go to the museum. The screams and hollers of 10,000 kids, parents, chaperons, and teachers was a culture shock. At lunch time, everyone decided to picnic inside the building. Chubby kids gorged themselves on nothing but chips, chocolates, ice cream and other junk foods. Garbage and litter everywhere. Kids roamed free and wild. They sure were happy though. I'll let the pictures do the talking. It is something you'll never quite experience outside of China. I'm glad I was there!

One more thing. Freedom is a funny thing. I've never seen people more free to act the way they are, free to appear how they appear, and free to be who they are, than in China. You can see it in the children. You can see it in the adults. There is much social faux pas and indecencies in China that we would never get away with in Canada. We Canadians are self conscious, vain, and judgmental. We scowl at strangers who stand too close to us. We expect a thank you when we hold a door open. We care about appearing nice to the rest of the world. A lot of self imposed courtesies that doesn't really exist here. It is chaotic, yet the society works. It is rude yet without true malice. It is not perfect, but it is improving noticeably every time I visit China. There is a naive innocence about not caring or not realizing how others view you. I'm not speaking for all locals here of course, there are many who already think like us. But I think perhaps with more social conformity and etiquette, the less "free" one becomes? Should societies strive to be a Japan or a Britain, where everyday minutiae adhere strictly to invisible social norms and deviations will be met with prejudice and judgement? Should a population be homogenized culturally and behaviorally like that? Wouldn't it be liberating to just fuck social conventions and almost do whatever the hell you want? Well you can here, sort of. You can spit, you can curse, you can bump into people accidentally without saying sorry, you can run red lights, you can not wash your hands, and you can picnic inside a museum. Welcome to China. 

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