Shoes and Flags

It is surprising how the American flag is everywhere. Sure, the first thing I see when I arrive at school is the flag of China flying high on the flag pole. And then I see the Chinese flag on the walls of the school. As well as the Chinese flag on text books. But when it comes to flags on clothing, it always involves stars and stripes.

People here are, for a lack of a better word, obsessed with the United States. All any of them want to do is go to the US. And I'm not just talking about my students. This includes the teachers, my students' parents, and random people I've met on the street. They will buy anything that has to do with the United States, or says anything in English on it.

I have seen the American flag on notebooks, t-shirts, jackets, and even a headband. One sighting involved a punk kid who thought that it would be okay to wear an inappropriate shirt displaying a scantily clad girl in an American flag bikini.

However, this was my favorite...yesterday I noticed that one of my students had shoes depicting the American flag, and another had shoes with the Union Jack. They laughed when I asked them if I could photograph their shoes.