In Ancient times...

Every time I have even a short conversation with a Chinese person I'm amazed by how much they know about the history of their country.  It is very humbling.  They have 4,000 years of history to learn.  In the US we have barely 300 years of history.

I hated history in school. It was always my least favorite subject.  Even simple questions about presidents or states are hard for me to answer.  It's embarrassing.  Obviously I couldn't walk around Chicago and say 'In Ancient times....' but I don't know anything about dates or much history about the buildings or the river or even the famous fire.  I have immeasurable respect for the Chinese people.  I don't think I have met one person who doesn't at some point in the conversation say 'In Ancient times...'.  

Obviously when I was in school I didn't think I'd be traveling the world or living in China one day.    The old story about digging a hole to China just made it seem even further away and out of reach.  But if I could go back in time and have a chat with little Joy I would tell her to pay attention in history class because she might find it interesting.  The world is huge and knowing the history of your own country shows a sense of pride to be from that country.

On the other hand the Chinese history is a wonder in itself and there's not much in comparing it to American history.  It seems the Chinese people have never done anything on very small scale.

Regardless of who's history is more interesting or spans a greater amount of time, it's a bit sad that I'm going to leave China in 8 months knowing more about Chinese history than I know about my own country.