Three times a week, at 9 a.m., the doors of the Ritz Tour bus open, and
a flood of chattering Chinese tourists pour out, cameras in tow. On a
six-day tour of the Northeast, the group works from Niagara Falls to
New York City to Boston. They save the best for last. Much-anticipated
Harvard Yard is their final stop.
The eager East Asian tourists who populate the Yard usually
get little better than a grumble from Harvard students. In fact, Chuck
Houston, head teaching fellow for Psychology 15, “Introduction to
Psychology,” said that a recent study found that Harvard students are
much more likely to walk in front of a tourist taking a picture of John
Harvard if the tourist is Asian.
“It was suggested that there is a stereotype that [Asian
tourists] take photos 24/7. So [people think] it’s no big deal to
interrupt their picture,” says Houston.
But the Ritz Tour travelers seem awestruck by Harvard Yard
nevertheless. The visitors, mostly lawyers, doctors, teachers, and
architects, shell out over $800 for the privilege. Pointing to passing
students and smiling conspiratorially on a recent visit, they seemed
happy to remind FM why we’re all here.
“It is hard to talk to people at Harvard because they are at
the top of the ranks,” said Dorothy Chu, admiring the John Harvard
statue. Given an all-American nickname in her grade-school English
class, Dorothy said, “In the United States you are thinking you are
kind of eager to go to University, but it is hard to graduate.”
“The building style looks like University of Southern
California,” said Amy Chien, a graduate student at USC. She felt the
H-bomb impact, making sure to snap pictures that people back home would
recognize as uniquely Crimson. During her visit, Chien insisted on
taking a picture of this reporter (a real Harvard student!) in front of
John Harvard. Chien critiqued his pose with an eye well-trained for
digital photography. “The way you stand. Why like that? It’s not a nice
pose. You Photoshop it.”
She couldn’t articulate why she wanted so badly to see Harvard. But it was important to her.
Another Ritz tourist, Betty Liujiame, told FM about her studies
at Guanxi Teacher’s Education University. The school, one of the most
diverse institutions in China, may be more inviting than Harvard. In
fact, Betty extended an invitation to FM to visit China. “They are nice
to white people because they’re totally different,” she said.
Before climbing back onto the bus, Wanjun Gao recollected the
infamous three lies of the John Harvard statue for FM. “The statue is
wrong. The time is wrong. The founder is wrong,” he said, correctly.
Then, tipping his cap, Gao disappeared into the bus, satisfied.
So the next time you’re rushing to class and happen upon a
tourist snapping John Harvard’s picture, just walk around. It means
more to them than it does to you.
