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Experiencing China An Intentional Cross-Cultural VacationDay 9:
Do You Like Our School? Upon waking today and shuffling down the hall of the school guesthouse in which I'm staying, I saw the guesthouse landlord doing his morning martial arts routine in the hallway. Seemed graceful, though I didn't want to stare at him so I moved on, hopefully inconspicuously. Sleep last night and waking this morning at the guesthouse was anything but peaceful. It's been damp and unseasonably cold and the bed and covers are much too short for me, so my feet were chilled. I was surprised to hear roosters crowing fairly nearby. Just outside my window, even in the middle of the night, construction workers mixed cement. They work around the clock. Guangzhou,
including Tony's school, is in the middle of a great transition concerning
infrastructure, buildings, and so on. Signs of development are everywhere:
roads being constructed or widened, buildings being razed, buildings being
renovated, an endless stream of trucks and trains transporting metal beams,
gravel, soil, cinder blocks, and bags of concrete. Some parts of town
are farther along than others in new development. Downtown I saw huge
international banks and hotels, skyscrapers reaching sixty, seventy stories
high, and yet in other parts of town, near Tony's school for instance,
buildings have bricks and mortar on the verge of crumbling, rooftops are
peeling or patched. Unsettled sleep or not, Tony and I did take some extra prayer time this morning; always a good way to start the day. Today I was Tony's Show-and-Tell piece in his 5th grade classes, Mr. Kramer a visitor from America. As a means of practicing conversational English, I fielded their questions as Tony basically handed the class over to me each period. The students' English capabilities varied from class to class, and they were usually less shy the better they knew English, but for each of them I had to speak very s-l-o-w-l-y and ar-TIC-U-late my words. Being fifth graders, they asked playfully curious and sometimes probing questions: How old are you? Do you play music? Can you sing a song? They caught me off guard with that one and the first thing that came to mind was Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind." The class clapped on beat as I rendered the first verse the best I could. What is your favorite color? Do you like China? Do you like our school? Which do you like better, America or China? Where will you travel next? What kind of work does your family do? How many brothers and sisters do you have? When I told them I have four brothers, they about fell off of their chairs since few of them have multiple siblings. I informed them that I am "Number four son." How tall are you? They were fairly amazed by my height and expressed as much with wondrous gasps whenever I'd enter the classroom. What do you like to do? Where were you born? How long will you be in China? Are you a teacher? In several of the classes, the same question came up first: Do you have a girlfriend? Fifth graders are apparently the same the world over. When I answered in the affirmative, they responded with, What is her name? Do you miss her? Do you kiss your girlfriend? When I said, "No," they again almost hit the floor. Do you and your girlfriend fight? Not often, I said, but when we do, it's her fault . . . they didn't laugh when I said this; wrong audience, I guess. When I spoke
of my "girlfriend," I told them that one of the reasons I like
her is because she has strong values and beliefs and that, as a Christian,
she wants to spend her life serving and loving others. I told them that
I feel like this is important to look for in someone. Most classes became
quiet upon these comments. I hope I was able to speak a little bit of
my values into their lives.
They were cute. At the end of each period, several students in each class ran up to me and asked for my signature, in both English and Chinese. Culturally, Chinese put so much more meaning and emphasis upon one's name than we Americans. In fact, naming children, setting just the right combination of words and characters together to create the perfect appellation for a newborn can be a form of art. I've heard of some people maintaining full-time employment by naming children. I found their questions revealing and I couldn't help but note the similarities they have with 5th graders I know in the States. I sensed a desire to be affirmed, a shy interest in the opposite sex, and a timid self awareness. They had an obsession with video games, Pokemon in particular, and food and sports. Schoolwork was important, of course, but not what was foremost on their minds. Again, there are in fact universals. I had lunch today with Tony and some other foreign teachers. What a blessing it's been for him to live and grow with other young folks from the West while they're out of their usual habitat. And it's been exciting for me to hear their stories, how they each came to the point of teaching English in southern China. They've each discovered much about themselves, their dreams, others, the culture and people of China, and about God. God teaches us often, I'm finding, by stretching us and thrusting us out of our comfort zones. Such growth is bearing fruit as I've seen these teachers treat one another lovingly with attitudes of service. Thanks, Lord. I'm glad you teach us about ourselves through our relationships with one another; glad you've given me the chance to connect with a handful of Chinese school children. Even through them my world is broadening. And I thank you for the foreign teachers here who're giving of themselves to love others in your name.
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It's
in these areas that I'm seeing the most constructive activity. I've read
a great deal lately about economic initiatives in China in general, on
an international level, in which investors and other leaders hope to spur
on the Chinese economy. What I'm seeing here seems to be a direct result
of such activity. I'd like to come back here in ten years and see how
much this place has changed.
One
curious student even asked me if I could stand on my head; so of course
I obliged. Some more sagacious questions: Do you play golf? What is your
best score? If you were Chinese and had a family and traveled to America,
where would you go to learn English? And then we encountered several humorous
moments as well. One boy pointed to a nearby classmate and asked, Do you
like Emma? Everyone laughed. I leaned in close to him and responded, Do
you? An even more uproarious laugh ensued. 
