My student, his English name Golf, is a quiet man. I gave Golf and the rest of the kids in my writing class an assignment a few months ago. It was to respond via an argumentative letter to American sportswriter Dan Wetzel’s recent take on the decision to hold the Olympics in China. In his column, “Fanning the flame of controversy,” Wetzel called the decision “the dumbest decision in sports history,” made fun of squat toilets and said a few other things, such as “no one cares about the athletes,” etc. etc. When I read his words, a blanket of doom smothered my students. But, they turned their anger into thoughtful responses, and none was as surprising as shy guy Golf’s. When he turned the letter in, he worried and became bashful, saying, “It is too aggressive. Should I change it?” No! I told him. Please don’t.

And finally, I mailed Golf’s letter, and all the rest, to Wetzel. My students can’t wait for a response. I sent the letters EMS, so they should be at his office in Michigan in about three days.

Here is what Golf had to say:

Mr. Wetzel:

You and I live in different countries. Different countries mean different cultures. Different cultures
mean different ways of thinking. So I respect your views. You have the right to express your ideas and you also have the right to attack others.

Maybe you are an active man, just like an active monkey, who is always playing with its tail. You must not have studied philosophy. Let me teach you a point in it. Everything in the world has two sides, one positive and the other negative. The things include you, me, the chairman of China and the presidenet of America. Our China has its own shortcomings, however, we are changing, we are improving ourselves, and we have done our best to hold the Olympic game. America has good points, but bad ones too. For instance your country’s hypocritical pursuit of democracy, but this is done by present wars to other countries. Iraq, an ancient country with great culture, is being destroyed by your democratic country.

China has an old proverb: What you see reflects what is in your heart. When you face China, you only see the pollution and the toilet, if that is your logic, what is in your heart is pollution and toilet. If you have such a kind of logic, I don’t think you have the right to criticize others, because you are not a whole man, you are only a half man.

Maybe today’s pollution in China is horrific, but tomorrow it will be terrific, because we know we should improve ourselves. Maybe today’s pollution in your country is just so so, but tomorrow’s America will lead the world to a world full of CO2. That is your country?

Through psychology, I know the reason why you complain about China’s Olympic game; it is a kind of envy. The economy of the whole world is descending now, but only China’s economy is ascending. This is due to our government’s accurate way of leading. If you and your country want to develop the economy of your country, you should learn from us rather than envy us.

If a man who is confident, he faces a man who is more excellent than him, he may learn a lot of excellency from the good man. A man who feels inferior, when he see a man who is more excellent than him, what he will do is only to envy him and tear down him. In that logic, it appears that America is a country that has no confidence.

All in all, there is no perfect country in this world. Though China is a developing country, it knows it must improve itself to perfect itself. While another country like yours is a developed country, what your column suggests is that you only know how to tear down others.

Next time you want to write an essay critical of China, please have a look at yourself in the mirror, then you can write what you say. I hope your heart won’t always be full of pollution and toilets.

Sincerely,

Chinese Golf.