A Short Letter Home

Be all that you can be

I remember, before I came out here, hearing on the radio about people protesting the presence of military recruiters on campuses across the U.S. Well, those folks would not want to be here at the Education College. From what I gathered, military service is mandatory here in China. If you're a young man or woman, you're obliged to do a hitch in uniform. Now I don't know the details. I don't know if one is obliged to put in a length of time as a soldier (as it was for the draftees of my father's generation) or if you simply have to go through military training in the off chance a war breaks out. All I know is that all the freshmen here seem to be in uniform and are doing drills on the streets and basketball courts.

It makes sense, actually. You've got a large gathering of young people on college campuses. Since all of those people have to go through military training, why not just train them where they're at, rather than shipping them off to some military base? So everywhere I look this past week and a half, I've seen young folks in bright green camouflage. Especially at lunchtime in the cafeteria.

One interesting thing about it is our reactions. Nobody I know of is really bothered by the military presence on campus, but Yau Neih says she felt a flash of, oh, I don't know. Not really fear. Just a flash of negativity--which is a poor word for an emotion. Anyway, this reaction harks back to our upbringing in the era when the Communists were the boogie man. Our British neighbor, Michael, also has a childhood reaction. He says he's a bit uncomfortable when he sees a squad perform a goose-stepping drill. It reminds him (and us) of the German army under Hitler. Me, my first reaction is to think how young these soldiers are. My Western eyes tend to underestimate the age of Asian folks, so when I see a group of soldiers walking down the drive to grab some lunch, I immediately think of a bunch of kids in costume. Of course, in one sense, that's the description of just about any group of recruits in any army. (And, of course, any one of those "kids" could undoubtedly whup my aged butt...)

Anyway, one last thought. Michael had said something to the effect that the possibility exists that one day these soldiers may be fighting against American soldiers. I'm not too worried about that possibility, but it is a good reason to try and leave a good impression while I'm here, eh?

posted by John @ 12:44 AM