Mary Maatta's Journal

Friday May 21st, 2010

Day 13 Today we had our last lecture. We learned about Chinese Media and then had a recap of everything we had learned this trip. I was very involved in journalism in high school so when I heard that journalism was the second most dangerous job in China I was shocked. I couldn’t believe how much control the government has over what is published and what isn’t. If they’re not flat out saying that you can’t publish it, they are scaring you into not publishing it with death threats or bribes. I like how it is in America with the freedom of press. We also went over the recent front page stories. After lecture Frank, Devin and I went back to the Pearl Market to pick up some last minute gifts. I love how easy it is to bargain at that place! That is definitely one thing I will miss when I am back in America. I am so good at bargaining, that I might be tempted to try it again in American markets. Tonight is the last night and we had our farewell dinner. It was really nice to recap with everyone what we liked about the trip. After dinner we all went out to Propaganda for one last night. It was a lot of fun. Tomorrow we are waking up early to head to the airport and start our long journey back to America. Hopefully nothing goes wrong and we all get home safe and sound, and with no delays!