Cheater's Paradise

The East is incredibly communal. You see the value in community in every aspect of their lives. One of them is in their studies. All of the foreign teachers always have big problems with cheating. Why?! Because the students here have no problem with it, they simply see it as helping the weaker person. Certainly there will come a time when that person will need help too. So they all cheat on exams and taking tests for one another has become HUGE business. Their Chinese professors know that this is normal and so don't reprimand any of the cheating.

We try and get them to understand that it's a big offense to cheat in American universities and that you will be kicked out if you're caught. But they simply reply "that's a difference in the cultures." I had a conversation with my good friend, Iris, who is a postgraduate student here. She's getting ready to start her thesis and was telling me all about it. She said that her supervisor told her to come up with her own thoughts because that would give her a lot of clout. He spoke of this as if it was a novel idea-to come up with your own words instead of copying someone else's thesis. They just figure that if someone already said it well, then why repeat it.

This summarizes a lot of the differences in the cultures. We value individual creativity. The Chinese value saving their own face even at the cost of creativity.