As I walked in the door I was greeted by 40 students who stood to their feet in applause. They cheered for me like I'd just cured cancer. I couldn't believe the reaction I was getting for just walking through the door! Little did I know, that I'd be bombarded by giddy 20 year old girls (who could have passed for 13) who wanted to be in a picture with a Lao Wai (foreigner), and cell phones that took pictures throughout the entire class.
That was the ridiculous part. The rest of the 50 minute class was pretty cool.
This week I visited two classes of students learning english so that they can move abroad and be tour guides. It's a little far-fetched if you ask me. Most likely they'll end up being tour guides for English speakers across China...if that. But even still, their ambition was amazing.
Two girls wanted to sing a song for me...voluntarily and individually. That would never happen in America. However, the "I'm too cool" complex is not an issue here. And they were both great!
I spoke of family and friends back in Texas. Hobbies. My favorite Chinese food (something they ALWAYS ask). American Weddings. All the usual questions we get asked when doing this sort of thing.
And then they pulled out a few random ones:
Student: "Can you describe Rock and Roll music?"
Me: "ummm, like how do you mean?"
Student: "Well, can you sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow?"
Me: (trying to stifle a laugh) "Well, I can...but that's not really Rock and Roll."
Another student: "Have you been to the White House?"
Me: "I've seen it from the outside."
Student: "Can you describe it?"
Me: "welllllllll, it's a big, white house!"
A boy in the back of the class: "Can you tell me your opinion of the China/Taiwan relations?"
Me: (oh so tactfully evading the question) Many Americans don't know much about Chinese customs...for instance (and I totally pulled out something that I can't remember and didn't have to discuss that topic any longer!)
And then a girl asked me to explain the differences between American babies and Chinese babies (which I'm not real sure what she was wanting me to say) but it totally gave me a door to inform them that the rest of the world (at least none of it that I've seen) doesn't use split pants. and a huge gasp overtook the room...
Besides the silly and political questions, I got to discuss some pretty neat stuff. But it's tough doing this sort of thing because it's likely that I was the first foreigner for any of them to see, much less speak to. So it's a lot of pressure to "deflate" this American idea they have built up in their head....that we all dress like Britney Spears. Or sing like American Idol. or obsess over the latest season of LOST (well, ok most of us do). Or eat pizza for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. you get the idea. For them to hear that I hadn't heard the most recent album of Shakira was a total shocker.
As far removed as they are from American culture, being 12,000 miles away, even still they seem to be swept up in it...or at least want to be. But I hope it was encouraging for them to hear that America is a lot more than McDonalds and shopping malls. And it's not always something to be swept up in.
They were eager to hear about America, but much to my surprise, they were more interested in hearing about my adjustment to their culture. Which was great to talk about. It was helpful for me to speak with them about it because I could only focus on the positives (it's not like I can criticize their culture in front of them) which forced me to really think about how far I've come in the last 2 years as far as handling Chinese culture is concerned.
And then of course after all of our serious discussion and the progress I felt I'd made, a girl asked, "Where does Paris Hilton live?" ahhhhh well. I guess we can't escape it completely!
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