River Town

As the days grow closer and I start to prepare for going to China, I have picked up an interesting book about living and teaching in China.

The book is River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze, written by Peter Hessler. The work chronicles Mr. Hessler's two years in the Peace Corps teaching English and American Culture to university students in Fuling, which is a part of the Sichuan Provence.

Though Mr. Hessler comes off very arrogant, he studied at Princeton and Oxford, he does a wonderful job with describing his life as a foreigner in China. He writers about the language and cultural barriers that he ran into. He also provides an interesting history of Fuling and what it was like to live along the Yangtze. But what I find most interesting about River Town is the subject of Communism and how he dealt with its presence in and out of the classroom.

Though he is ardently against Communism, he finds himself benefiting from the Communist who are in control of the University he is teaching at. Whether it be getting new appliances or Chinese tutors, Mr. Hessler seems to benefit from the generosities of power. While in the classroom Mr. Hessler has to weed through his students interpretation and assumptions of Communism while trying to teach them about the United States. I find it interesting the balancing act he must keep.

Though I am seven months away from leaving for China River Town has been able to provide me with a glimpse of what life might be like once I arrive.