Chapter 113 Preface to "Experiences in Foreign Countries"

Comrade Dong Yuan, a lecturer at the Beijing Language Institute, showed me a collection of essays "Experiences in Foreign Countries" selected by him, and asked me to write a preface. Knowing that my time and energy are limited, he only circled a dozen of them for my reference. After I read a few articles, I found that most of the foreign places described by these authors were places I had visited half a century or seven years ago.Such as Japan, Egypt, France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy and so on.It's just that the times are different, and the authors' views and feelings about the objects they see are different from mine.

Generally speaking, when we go abroad, we will always have a sense of novelty. Their cultural traditions, national systems, landscape figures, interpersonal relationships, etc., will reflect various feelings in our eyes, such as: Cheng Xiangwen's "In the Quiet Grove" describes a little Yugoslav girl who loves nature and consciously protects it. She is extremely cute, lively and polite. role model to learn from. Zheng Wanpeng's "Carp Banner" is also worth reading.I have seen this carp banner many times in Japan, but one fact in the article shocked me, that is, Japan's recent yearning for "machine civilization" caused a middle school student to catch a live frog and spread it all over his body. Find the switch.This shows how alienated "civilized man" is from nature!

He Ziquan's "Bless You, Little Sammy" tells the distress of a rich Algerian boy who is studying in Paris. Little Sami, a middle school student, is favored by his parents, but they are planning to let him marry his cousin to ensure that the family property will not flow out.Sami knew very well that the marriage of close relatives would have bitter consequences, so he conceived resistance in the distress.The author wishes that "Sami will create a happy future for himself with his own knowledge and creative spirit". Zhang Dexin's "In the Classroom on the Other Side of the Ocean" introduces some situations in American schools.The author can't understand some of the "equality" and "freedom" shown in American classrooms, such as the "equality" of calling teachers by their first names and pointing bare feet at professors, and the "freedom" of not keeping time in class, etc.But the author couldn't help admiring the fact that a Chinese girl who was a teaching assistant dared to refute her professor's erroneous views when discussing China's population issues, and won applause from the whole house.

Yan Dezao's "The Light in Carmela's Heart" describes the author's Italian female student, Carmela, who loves art and especially admires Da Vinci's painting style.Her own drawings also won prizes.But finally, because of his poor family, he had to put down his paintbrush, married a rich man, and became an "unfortunate person" who made "living advertisements".For this article, I have a small suggestion. The author transliterates the water canoe in Venice as "Gongdula". , but the fun came out. Ding Yuan's "Search in Confusion" tells the story of the author who suddenly met a French girl named Baipura when he was teaching in China when he was visiting the Kremlin in the Soviet Union.When she was in China in 1976, it was a difficult time for China. She lived a difficult and painful life with the Chinese people.But she is a history student. She saw the dawn in Chinese history. She finally said: "The road is long and long, and I will search up and down." This is an article full of philosophy.

Baishui's "Wonderful World" describes the Disneyland in Los Angeles, USA, which is a fairy-tale world that combines knowledge and entertainment.I haven't been to this world-famous paradise, only seen it in movies, but my daughters have been there, and they say roughly the same as this article.The author hopes that China will also have a "Chinese-style" Disneyland in a few years' time. Xie Yeshun's "Miscellaneous Notes on Traveling to France", this article contains many things in French history, many people's speeches, and the younger generation's focus on the present, only talking about personal freedom, etc. It is worth reading carefully.But I think of the 100 days I spent alone in Paris in the summer and autumn of 1936. That was a year when my wife Wu Wenzao and I traveled to Europe and America.When we arrived in Paris, Wen Zao was going to Oxford University to study the "tutorial system". I didn't want to leave Paris, so I lived there alone for 100 days.I visit the Louvre Museum every morning, and in the afternoon I sit at the cafe on the Champs-Élysées, looking at the past women wearing the fashionable colors of that year—light blue and light yellow—and I feel that French women are really Know how to dress and wear hats, so pretty!

"They Shouldn't Be Here" by Zhang Dexin made my blood boil! In the winter of 1936, I also visited the British Museum, and I was amazed at its collection of books.But when I walked into the China Pavilion, my good impression of this museum disappeared all of a sudden.Why are our Chinese treasures locked here by them! That was the year I was born—1900, the year of Gengzi, when the Allied Forces of Eight Powers entered Beijing, as if they were in a land of no one, and the palaces and mansions were left to be plundered by them.The British Museum is where the British imperialists collect stolen goods!Now that the Chinese people have stood up, whoever dares to poke his head into China will be beaten to the point of bleeding!Seeing these treasures placed there, every Chinese should think of the past and be extra vigilant.

Sheng Cheng's "The Misadventures of Interest Education" is an experience talk. Professor Sheng has quite some opinions on the interest education advocated by Dewey.I remember that in the 1920s, when I was still in the preparatory course of Union Women's University, Peking University invited Dr. Dewey from the United States and Mr. Russell from the United Kingdom to give lectures in China.We have also invited them to give lectures on campus.I have no memory of what they said. I don't know whether our Chinese education has ever been affected by "interests", but in the past few years, there was indeed a problem of too early division of arts and sciences, and the knowledge students learned was narrow and biased.It seems to be getting better in the past few years, and it is a gratifying phenomenon that it has gradually embarked on the road of cultivating "generalists".

The above are my impressions after reading several articles in "Experiences in Foreign Countries".They are all Chinese people's heartfelt words after seeing life in a foreign country. Each article has its own characteristics and is very true.I hope that every teenager who has never been abroad will read this book to increase their knowledge and broaden their horizons. Due to the tight deadline, I worked hard and wrote as I watched, and it was inevitable that I missed everything. It is best for readers to read the original text. October 29, 1987