Now some teachers will write about their students, sharing odd or quizzical bits from papers and exams for the sake of humor. I wouldn’t do that to my students, but OTHER people’s students…sure, why not?
From an op-ed on China and North Korea in Student Newspaper from the University of Southern State, USA*:
The Chinese mentality is nothing new. If one delves deep into the history books, they can find that the Chinese have possessed such a thought process since their earliest days. They were, and remain, “The Middle Kingdom” or “The Central Nation.” (In fairness, the Europeans have often thought of themselves as “The Middle Earth,” but they at least have the geography to back it up.)
Ok, I’m not a Europeanist, but has anyone not named J.R.R. Tolkien ever used the term “Middle Earth” when thinking of Europe? And exactly what kind of maps do they use at this school to geographically “back up” Europe’s location in the middle of the earth? (I’m not even going to get into the whole “let’s read WAY too much into the ‘Middle Kingdom’ translation of Zhongguo,” more experienced journalists than this kid have made the same mistake.)
Since the rise of