The last couple of weeks have been the season of activities and competitions! Last week, I had three different activities at my school or other schools. So what are some of the activities that foreign teachers here in China might be expected to or asked to attend as speakers, observers, judges, or participants?
On Monday, I went to a nearby middle school as a favor to the guy in my department who is in charge of the foreign teachers. Andy has been extremely helpful for me, so when he asked me to join a cultural activity at his daughter’s middle/high school, I agreed to join.
We drove to the school and chatted about classes and research projects. Once we arrived, we got a little tour of the school that’s one of the best high schools in Guangzhou. The starting time of the activity was a bit delayed because it was raining. They quickly moved everything from the outside square to a large hallway.
Once we began, the activity started with some leaders and teachers sitting on one side of the hallway facing the students and their booths representing cultural aspects of different countries. The activity started off with several speeches by a leader and another foreign teacher named Tony. I was asked to say a few words and then some students shot firecracker streamers into the center of the hallway while everyone cheered.
The activity was very similar to the cultural festival at my school that I wrote about last week. However, this one had several additional activities. One girl was said to tell fortunes, although I didn’t get around to meeting her. Another student drew caricatures, and since I’ve always wanted to sit for one of those, I paid about $1.50 to have the student draw my picture. She used mostly blue and pink and presented a fairly accurate likeness!
On Tuesday, I attended a composition and recitation contest for the students in my department. I really enjoyed this competition because many of my Chinese students were participating. The title of the competition was “Me, Myself, and AI.” One of the leaders asked me to give comments on the performances, so she sent me the scripts beforehand, and I read through at least enough to get the idea of each story.
Last semester, the students had written stories about this topic for their writing class, and then each class chose one story that they wanted to turn into a drama. As I was reading some of the scripts, I was so impressed with the quality of the writing, that I asked if the scripts were original because I thought they might have been taken from other sources to give the students the chance to dramatize them. But not only did the students plan and perform the drama, but they also wrote all of the scripts.
A lot of the stories were dramatic, and many of them included a plot point about death. In fact, the topics were so heavy, that as I read through them at night at home, I felt like they were a bit dark. But they were also extremely creative and interesting. As I read some of the stories, I wondered how the students would turn them into a drama, and on Tuesday night, I was quite impressed with the creativity and skills of the students as they acted out the stories.
Three or four students stood on one side of the stage and read the script and dialogue while the actors used the stage to mouth the words and act out what was happening. The sets were simple but creative.
One of my favorite stories was called “Watch out for ‘Sad-gestions’!” The story was about a guy who bought a watch that would tell him when he was exhibiting too many strong emotions like depression, sadness, anxiety, or even exhilaration. The watch would also give him reminders about what he should do—like, “Calm down” or “Take a deep breath.” The guy, Damien, seemed to thrive with the suggestions, until he realized that he wasn’t letting out his emotions, and emotions are important parts of who we are.
I also agree that ignoring and pushing away our emotions has negative consequences, and I appreciated that the students recognized the value of emotions. The main character who played Damien also did a great job acting and communicating his inner struggles with the audience.
All of the students did a great job, and since I didn’t have to judge, just give comments, I was free to enjoy the performances. After the performances, comments, awards, and a group picture, several of my students also asked for pictures together, and I was so happy to take pictures with them. I am so proud of them and their hard work—especially because we were at the activity until around 10 p.m. and then we had class at 8:30 the next morning.
My last school activity for the week was on Friday evening, and it was at my previous school. I taught at a middle school for a year, and while I prefer teaching college students, I really enjoyed building relationships with that sweet group of students. The middle school has a Thanksgiving show every year, and they try to invite past teachers that the students know.
This year, the students that I taught when they were in seventh grade are in ninth grade, getting ready to take their big test to see what high school they can get into. They were all overwhelmed by the number of their classes and the amount of homework.
Several students from previous years also returned for the evening, and I really enjoyed getting to see so many previous students.
The current foreign teacher at the school is a friend of mine, and he asked me if I wanted to play the piano for a little performance. While I was teaching at the school, we started a little singing activity before the afternoon classes where we chose an English song for the students to learn and then practiced singing it together for a week or two. Our favorite song was “A Million Dreams” from The Greatest Showman.
Emmett, the current foreign teacher, and I practiced the song ahead of time a couple of times, but I never had a chance to practice with the students. Oh well, mathematically, if I practiced with Emmett, and then he practiced with the students, then when we all performed together, it should work, right? Thankfully, math came through for me for once and the performance went smoothly (although the pedal on the piano was not working so it wasn’t quite so smooth—*sigh*).
I spent most of the evening chatting with the students, hearing about their lives and struggles. I met some siblings and parents of the students as well as previous colleagues and leaders. A couple of the students gave me little Thanksgiving notes, and I was so happy to read the sweet notes.
At the end of the evening, I made my way back to the subway for a long trip back home. That school and my current home are on opposite sides of this very large city, but I had a book, and I was looking forward to some reading time.
I hadn’t talked to one student, but I had seen pretty much everyone else that I wanted to visit with. But then, at the bottom of the escalator, I saw that student that I hadn’t chatted with, also waiting for the subway. He hadn’t seen me yet, and for a brief moment, I wondered if I should talk to him. I had an hour and a half to go on the subway, and while I wanted to chat with this student, I didn’t want to chat for quite that long. When I taught this student, he was always eager to chat, but usually he struggled to think of the right word and got frustrated with himself when he couldn’t express himself.
While I wondered for a moment, I didn’t seriously consider avoiding him, and I walked up and said hello. We chatted for a while, and I realized that his English had improved considerably. After only two stops, he got off to catch a different train, and I still had the majority of the subway ride to enjoy the book I had brought along. Good thing I said hi!
Not all weeks are quite this crazy, and while I enjoyed all of the activities, I’m thankful for some down time this week!
