Leaving Shanghai...

Only a few hours left until I begin the long haul out of Shanghai back to North America. This has been an excellent trip for so many reasons. I have had gracious, generous hosts and have had the opportunity to meet fascinating people as individuals, hearing some of their stories. I still need some time to think about the conference itself, that will come soon. But as I'm getting ready to leave this place, I wonder about some of the things I've seen here.

Shanghai is a city on the move. It is the wild west. Bursting out with life, energy and opportunity, it is not what I expected to find when I first set foot in it. Rolls Royce, Jaguar and Lamborghinis abound. I've seen the cars and the dealerships. Communism 2.0. This is a city that has reclaimed its history and is not stopping to look back. It has burst onto the world stage in a way that most of us in North America are only vaguely aware of. This is a city where the future is being created, crafted and pulled into reality. It is massive in a scale that I have never seen before. Every turn on the freeway brings a new forest of skyscrapers pushed up against tiny traditional Chinese houses. It is international and cosmopolitan. It is fast paced and shiny in ways that our cities aren't. It feels fresh and new while ancient and wise at the same time.

It is Asia.

As North Americans we tend not to get out much. Our nations are so massive that we stay at home while still traveling great distances. International schools and international teachers occupy a privileged space in education. Well funded beautiful schools filled with great kids and families who view education for what it truly is: opportunity. These schools and teachers could give the world a geography lesson and a story about every small waterfall and shop they have been to. Kids grow up traveling the world and become true citizens of it.

I'm envious.

Not that these are all spaces without problems and difficulties. Emerging nations are carving new paths for themselves and redefining global expectations and norms. No one knows where this will lead and maybe that is part of it; we need to get comfortable not knowing. An ever fluid dynamic that is flexing itself in this part of the world is growing. New ways in the world redefining what cities are and what the possibilities are for nations.

We shut our eyes to it and hold our hands over our ears trying to block it out to our own peril. We can be angry about the passage of history, bitter citizens of changing times or we can be global thinkers and doers, joining the stream, unsure often of where it may lead us. I leave here with more questions than answers and even far more questions than I arrived with. In some ways my bag feels heavier and I feel weighed down with new ideas and opportunities, but in many ways I feel the scales once again removed from my eyes, seeing the world in fresh ways and for that I feel great privilege.

Thank you Shanghai.

Tags: learn2cn, shanghai, global

Comments

[Cheryl Oakes]

Thanks for sharing your perspective about your journey. Now for the important work of sharing with your students. Cheryl Oakes

[Toffler]

I think your assessment of Shanghai is one of the most accurate and thoughtful I've seen from someone who has spent only a week here. You made some very good points, particularly that China can leave you feeling overwhelmed and uncertain about world order, but that the best way to prepare ourselves for as yet a very unclear future is to educate and enrich ourselves and open our minds.

Nice meeting you at BloggerCon Shanghai.