THE CHINESE PROFESSOR’S GIFT

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Last Spring, a team of professors from China visited the Colleges and Universities in Western New York. One of the professors requested to “sit in” on a Marketing class. The Chairman of my department asked me if she could observe my class. “Sure,” I said. Zhen showed up in February and observed my teaching methods until the end of April. She never missed a class. Zhen laughed often at the interaction of my students. Apparently, that doesn’t happen in a Chinese classroom. When Zhen was about to leave to fly back to China, she gave me the gorgeous cross-stitch that Diane and I had framed. What a wonderful gift! And, what a pleasant professor! Her students are very lucky!

18 thoughts on “THE CHINESE PROFESSOR’S GIFT

  1. Jeff Meyerson

    Yes, but George secretly passed on disinformation that has resulted in the recently Chinese stock market crash.

    Seriously, nice one, George. Your praises are now being sung in the far-flung corners of the world. Nice gift.

    Reply
  2. Deb

    A lovely gift! Hopefully, what Zhen took back to China was the idea that a government can’t continue to lower the value of its currency indefinitely!

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Deb, China is going through plenty of social changes. I’m sure Zhen will bring back the message that one of the best ways to deal with change is through democracy. It’s messy, but it works.

      Reply
    1. george Post author

      Jeff, we had an artistic friend help us pick the matting and frame for the cross-stitch gift. It really looks great! I can’t imagine the hours of work that went into it.

      Reply
  3. Beth Fedyn

    The powers-that-be obviously chose the right class for her to audit.

    A lovely remembrance of an experience she valued.

    Reply
  4. Lauren W.

    What a lovely picture! There are several students in my department from China, and they definitely have difficulty adjusting to the American college classroom style. Aside from somewhat of a language barrier, many find it difficult to talk in class as they are used to classrooms in which the professor lectures the entire time and student input is not valued.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Lauren, you are so right! The Chinese professor was amazed at the amount of student interaction in an American classroom. And, you know I encourage students to speak their minds!

      Reply
  5. Lauren W.

    You certainly do encourage students to speak their minds. You even manged to put up with my tirades when I was young and a bit of a pain in the ass.

    Reply

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