Walking In Wuhan

So, I've been clicking around on the Internet, in total disbelief about what took place in Blacksburg, Va. this week. The shootings have been in the newspapers here and all over the Internet, so naturally my students were curious. First, in China, people don't have guns -- they're illegal. So when a few of my students approached me after class yesterday they naturally wanted to know why guns are legal in the United States.

This year I've explained plenty of things unique to American culture such as Santa Claus (a fat guy who flies with reindeer, breaks into your house through the chimney and leaves presents), The Easter Bunny (a giant bunny who comes into your house and leaves eggs in a basket with fake grass) and Halloween (children dress up and walk around with bags, knocking on strangers' doors and ask for candy). Each time I've explained those aspects of American culture, I thought to myself, 'how would this sound to me if I were Chinese?'

On Wednesday morning I found myself saying the same thing as I wrote the Bill of Rights on a chalkboard and explained the positions of democrats and conservatives on gun control. I talked about conceal-carry laws and droned on about the NRA and Columbine for a few minutes, before stopping and looking for any body language that might show if she understood me. My student smiled, blinked a couple times and asked, "So, why can't the US outlaw guns?"

--MB