Ingrid Gao

When I first moved to Oklahoma from Beijing in 2012, I was not only shocked by the number of cows and hay bales in the empty fields, but by the difference between how Americans and the Chinese express their political opinions. My fellow Oklahomans often asked me about my opinions on China’s foreign policies and government structure. Their openness and directness caught me off guard, and I didn’t know how I should answer their questions about censorship and such. More importantly, I didn’t know how my answers might further deepen their misconceptions about China—so most of the time, I ended up not answering their questions at all.