The Community Service Program (CSP) was a wonderful experience. It had profound impact on my life, further strenghening my sense for mutual responsibility, promoting my ability to negotiate and expanding my capacity for understanding other people. It taught me valuable lessons about Chinese culture and family life that are now part of me. Taking part in the CSP, I furthermore took a great leap forward in my command of the Chinese language and finally got to know the biggest city of China, Shanghai.
The CSP comprises two aspects: family and work. My host-family took me on as one of their own and my workplace was a friendly and lively place.
My host-family lives in a rather traditional living arrangement. Grandparents, parents and the little child, three generations together in one house. This meant there were always people around, taking care of me and with whom I could communicate. Specifically the grandmother and the three year old son of the family. There was a constant giving and taking, I would play with the child while the grandmother would prepare food. I enjoyed this a lot, because I thereby quickly turned from a guest into a part of the family. Arguably a difficult transition, especially for Chinese, who, in their superb courtesy towards guests, appear to draw a thick line between the two.
In my host family everyone takes responsibility for the other and helps out wherever possible. Everything is to a great extend shared, from food, to rooms, to time – individual plans are always to be reconciled with the interests of the others and the family as a whole. For me, as a 26 year old having lived in Germany largely on my own for some years, this was definitely something I had to adjust to. And I was actually surprised how easily I adjusted. This was, for one thing, because the members of my host family take on their obligations with a positive spirit, work ethic and lack of complaining that are rare to find in Germany, where the sense of ‘my own private space’ prevails and defines social life. Mutual obligations in my host family were fun rather than burden. Another reason for why I adjusted well, was the open and frequent communication within the family. Contrary to my preconceptions, Chinese people can be very direct to each other. It was always possible to discuss problems and resolve them. This was arguably the most important factor in creating a atmosphere of home for me, establishing this Chinese sense of being part of a greater whole. Of course, there still were problems. For instance, plans to do something together, to go on an excursion, were often only communicated on short notice. And also just as quickly abandoned if conditions were unfavourable. It was sometimes difficult for me to plan ahead for myself, because things could change very quickly. But again, to this different way of organizing, of dealing with future arrangements, I got used to and thereby learned that there are many different ways to manage life.
In all, the biggest conflict essentially occurred between my sense of being an individual with a private space and the sense of being part of a tightly integrated Chinese family. To reconcile both was difficult but possible once I realized that in lack of felt freedom lies the reward of the growing sense of mutual responsibility and care. A living arrangement like the one I enjoyed is rare in Germany and would probably be regarded as difficult to realize. Thanks to the CSP I know now that it is possible and can actually work out quite well, and happily so.
My workplace was the Hongwei school for children of migrant workers. I taught various grades which meant teaching students being four to ten years old. This was difficult sometimes, because the small children required a different style of teaching than the older ones. Whereas the ten year old ones were eager to learn and had respect for the teacher the four year old children just wanted to play, cry or sleep. Therefore, I did not only learn how to teach children, I also needed to learn how to catch their attention, and how to call them to order – school teacher and kindergarten teacher in one. It was challenging and highly rewarding to make the experience of teaching 60 small Chinese children and mastering their social dynamics. Luckily, in class I was also always accompanied by another teacher. My relations with the teachers were very good, I learned a lot from them and was amazed how much they respected my work from the outset, given the fact that I had received no prior formal training in teaching. Generally, my work as a volunteer at the Hongwei school helped me to develop my teaching skills and the social skills in interacting with children and people from very different cultural and social backgrounds. After all, working at Hongwei allowed me to get to know Chinese people without higher education or middle-class income, people from the basic strata of society. Thus, through the CSP I believe I learned a lot about Chinese culture and society as it mostly is.
At home and at work I was able to use my Chinese language abilities on a daily basis. Needless to say, I have made great progress in speaking Chinese during my time here. This ultimately helped me to get easier in touch with people, resolve communication problems, adjust to cultural sensibilities and, of course, order food in a restaurant. The CSP, among others things with its one-month language course, brought me to a level of Chinese language skills that allow me now to manage everyday life in china on my own and without using English.
Through the CSP, specifically through the first friends, I got to know Shanghai and got to establish a social network in the city. I went to art exhibitions, museums, tourist sites and even karaoke places which I would not have gone to would it not have been for the first friends. It was good to spend time with Chinese people my age who are or have been studying and to learn about their lives. The CSP enabled me to do so.
Coming to China on the Community Service Program I already had some prior knowledge of the country and its culture. Now, at the end of my stay, my experiences have not only expanded but also transformed this knowledge. I have shed many stereotypes and acquired a sensibility for the depth of the Chinese experience. However, from what I take home from participating in the CSP knowledge is only second in importance. Most significant are the personal relations that I have build, the friends I have made here and whom I hope to visit again in the near future.
Philipp Lassig
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Freiwilligendienste 
