The Life of a Student (part two)

Sorry for the delay. My internet has been very bad lately. I've been trying to post this for a week. As a result I am going to post two parts today.

Part Two: Standing Tall
Broadly speaking, my students are in class for about six to eight hours between 8 am and 9:30 pm, Monday through Friday. Each class is two 45 minute segments with a ten minute break between. Prior to their 8 am class, most of my students go from bed to the running track for an hour or so of mandatory exercise. Between 7 am and 8 am the lucky majority run off to the cafeteria for breakfast. The standard entree seems to be two round pieces of bread that look similar to English muffins, though larger in size, with a saucy collection of meat and veges in between. In Chinese; “肉夹饼.” I’ve come to know the standard breakfast as the semester has progressed and the morning hours shift to other uses. As a natural result, breakfast is brought to the morning class, which I teach Monday through Thursday at 8 am. I wonder if my students have noticed that my breakfast appears in class more and more often as well?

However, there is also the less fortunate minority; those students who have opted to join the student military unit (for lack of a better translation). These noble students attend twice (or more) daily regiments of military-esque training. In the morning, these students are often kept busy until 7:50 with additional exercise or memorization drills or other things. I’m still not clear on exactly what they’re doing but their afternoon session is right outside of my office. I stare as they stand still in their military uniforms. Lines of 15 students, 5 or 6 deep, stare straight forward. An older, though only slightly, man wanders the isles. He extends one hand and adjusts a soldier’s posture. 

Standing in the doorway to my office building I can’t help but crack a smile. One of my students notices and a smile breaks out across her face. Another two of my students turn their heads and toss me a glance. “Hello, teacher,” their eyes humorously mumble. Walking away from moments like this my heart doesn’t stop smiling. I feel so fortunate to get to see my students, not just as English learners in my own classroom, as characters in my life, but also as character’s in their own life. Those three students breaking form for a moment had the same juiciness that seeing a comedian break character for a moment does. They’re working hard to put on a show of strength, and what they have underneath that is a smile filled with layers of complex emotions.


I’ve had several opportunities to ask why, “why did you choose to join this group?” So far the only response I’ve heard is a desire to be strong. Of the students I’ve discussed this with 100% are female. Usually, other Chinese nationals have told me that women shouldn’t work out because being strong and having muscles is “unattractive,” for a women, that is. Yet, i’ve sat face to face with more than just a few that aspire to be just that—strong women, both in body and spirit. And, regardless of the ideals learned amidst these trainings, it is this group of students that remains the most well behaved in all of my classes. Always alert, listening, and obedient; they are ready for life.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dragon Boat Festival

Image
The Dragon Boat Festival has come and gone with little fanfare and a three-day weekend. The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the lesser Chinese holidays. Like many traditional Chinese holidays, it’s date is determined by the lunar calendar. This festival “ occurs on the 5th day of the 5th month of the traditional  Chinese calenda r.” Thanks Wikipedia . The short version is that minister Qu Yuan (c. 340–278 BC) committed suicide after the dynasty he was loyal to was conquered. Having no dynasty to sever he had no reason to live and drowned himself. As such, he has become a figure of loyalty and piety. This origin story or myth serves to explain the two main traditions of the Dragon Boat Festival:  Racing in paddle-driven longboats carved like long dragons to imitate the people as they raced out to pull Qu Yuan from the water.  The bamboo-leaf wrapped rice balls in memory of the rice used to feed the fish in an attempt to distract the fish from eating Qu Yuan dead body.
Read more

Classroom Art

Image
There is a committee within each group of students that oversees the propaganda of the week. They are charged with turning the blackboard’s in their respective classroom into a work of art. The quality varies, but I always enjoy them. According to my students, propaganda  is often seen as a tool for the government to care for its citizens. Perhaps these pictures will help you understand what I mean. As an aside, students are divided into cohorts. This happens in elementary, middle, and high school, as well as college. Students are with their cohort for all of elementary,   middle, and high school, and this holds true for college as well. They go to all the same classes with their cohort, and are divided into dorms according to their cohort. They are assigned tasks according to cohort, and engage in sports, singing, dance, and academic competitions based on cohort, whether that is within their cohort or between competing cohorts. Each cohort has one of the committees I described ab
Read more

An Afternoon’s Hello

Image
The building I live in is mostly filled with older women and men, all of whom I’ve come to love. There is no elevator in my building of six floors. So, my neighbors must walk up and down the stairs. They move with a slow diligence, placing one foot above the other and pulling themselves up the stairs. On their way down, they turn sideways, easing their weight from one knee to the next. Early on, one of the elder women said to me “you always stop and let me pass. You are so polite.” I smiled and let her pass. She hobbled up the stairs, back bent forward, cloth shoes skidding across the concrete stairs and echoing around the hollow stairwell. I didn’t realize it at the time, but little actions like that are what they enjoyed. The hello’s as we passed, the smiles, and my willingness to stop and chat. “No, that’s not what I said. You didn’t understand.” The widowed women from the fourth floor scolded me with a smile. She repeated herself, but her meaning never made it out from u
Read more