Virtual China '98

Blair Austin and Lester Tan

Hey look, that’s me. Oh you are probably saying I am just a boring motor that has no purpose. Well if you are saying that you are wrong. I just happen to be a cookie motor. Since you probably don’t know what that is I will tell you. A cookie motor is a big loud motor that runs a big machine that makes cookies.

I live and work day and night with out pay in a large, loud, smelly, and dirty factory. The factory that I work in is located in a small city in China called Kai Ping. Although I have never been into the city I heard that it was nice. I have lived and worked day and night for 3 years since I was built. Although the factory is hectic and the people do not treat me very well, I still have learned to like it. I am located at the south side of the factory and I run the machine that straightens the cookie dough and also print the logo on to the dough.

Since I am at the end of the factory I sometimes get lonely because all my motor friends are at the other side of the factory where the cooking is done. The thing that I hate most is that I do all this work with out getting paid and no one thanks me after I am done and if you can believe this, I am even mistreated by some little impatient twerp. The way that these people mistreat me is when I stop working for a break they kick me and yell at me for no reason. When I stop working for a long time they take me a part and bang on me with this thing called a hammer. But overall I get pleasure in my job because I know that I am important to these people and I have shelter and I get food.

The type of food that I get is electricity and the black stuff I think it is called oil or something like that. This usually helps me run because it gives me energy and quenches my thirst. Oh, no! I have to go it is time for another batch of cookies to be made. Bye-bye and I will talk to you later I hope. I hope you enjoy my cookies!

Roger Yang

I was blinded by the light as my roommate, Kenneth, turned on all the lights of the room as he was laughing, also at my whining. When we went to my first visit to a large cookie factory. I drooled as I sniffed the sweet odor of the cookies. There were thousands and thousands of cookies, it was very tempting as I looked at the dough being shaped, baked, and being wrapped up.

I felt sorry for the workers as I saw them dripping with sweat and only a one hour break of the eight hours of working. I thought to myself, these people should really get more money for there hard work. After we visited the cookie factory, we took a three hour bus ride to our destination, where we were supposed to ride back. My group raced ahead of me, making me stay alone with my group leader.

I soon became tired and needed a rest, and I finally came to a stop with the others. I gulped down most of my water, and ran like a hungry dog to the bus to eat some of my snacks.

After our break my group and I decided to interview a typical village person about their housing. I was starving at about the time we got to a picnic lunch I munched down all my food and still thought that it was not enough, but this is what I had to live with.

After we I interviewed about four more people and bike 36 kilometers, my thighs burned and were too sore, I had too ask to stay on the bus, which was boring for the next hour and a half. We finally arrived at the Peninsula at 7:00pm.