Students of Southwest University

Yesterday, rain brought much needed refreshment and cooled Beibei. As I write, the rain continues to wash away the dirt, garbage, and sweat of Beibei.

I ended up only teaching three classes this past week after five of my classes were canceled due to hot weather. The classes went smoothly, mainly consisting of a brief introduction of myself followed by class introductions.

Here are the English names of my students so far. All names are spelled according to the student (spell check will hate this):

Kelvin, Layla, Janet, Ginger, Sophia, Yutty, Tina, Windows*, Linda, Seven, Shelia, Teinz, Binshow**, Sweat T, Joy, Helen, Iverson, Paul, Jean, Suki, Sophie, Rainy, Grin, Catherine, Angel, Yanan, Jess, Jarry***, Phoebe, Emely, Alve, Sue

Horace, Jesson, Donald, Gavin, Selina, Sophy, Now, Apple, Nancy, Mironda, Monica, Eunice, Mia, Aigus, Etta, Jessica, Doris, Gillian, Gemma, Greeny, Lily, Carrie, June, Jean, Kelly, Kay, Alice, Emma, Vanilla****, Helen, Flora

Steven, Jason, Luke, Shine, Jane, Sherry, Licy, Miranda, Aphrodite, Daisy, Rainbon, Lotus, Zillion, Helen, Susan, Cara, Cathelin, Zoe, Candy, Ducati, Vivien, April, Joanna, Avril*****, Jareau, Ann, Janny, Anna, Shone, Kelsie

*Windows is my favorite name. The class laughed when the student said this name (the student laughed also) and she said she wanted to change her name. I told her Windows is unique and beautiful and she should keep the name. She smiled, and decided to stick with Windows
**When it was Binshow’s turn to announce his English name, he paused and said he would like to be Binshow. I asked him how he got the name, and he said he had just made it up on the spot.
***Jarry was very concerned I would call him Jerry. He made it very clear that he is Jarry.
****Vanilla’s name was listed as Michelle, but she said she wanted to take a new name. I asked her why, and she said because of Michelle Obama. I asked her why she didn’t like Michelle Obama, and the student quickly responded that she liked Michelle Obama very much because she is a strong woman but (she paused) Michelle Obama is “just too black.” The entire class giggled, including Vanilla.
*****This student spoke the worst English out of all the students. I could not understand anything she said. She did not have an English name on the class list, so I tried to help her choose one, but she was unable to understand anything I said. After class, two other students brought her to my podium. The unnamed student apologized for her poor English (in very poor English) and said she was from Tibet. The other students said that her favorite musician is Avril Lavine, and she would like a name similar to Avril (I’m not sure what that means). If anyone can suggest an English name for a rural Tibetan girl who loves Avril Lavine, let me know ASAP.

I told the students I was very interested in traveling around China, and nearly every student offered to show me their hometown. I asked all the students how much they had traveled, and only one student in all the classes had been outside of China (South Korea).

I had the students say their favorite book, poem, or theater production. Jane Eyre, Gone with the Wind, The Little Prince were crowd favorites. Many students named Chinese or Japanese authors, and I felt terribly embarrassed by my ignorance of Asian literature. Not one student said Harry Potter. One girl said she was interested in reading Lolita, and she asked if I could help her. I told her it was a very difficult book even for English speakers, so she asked if I could help her with Black Boy. I said I would in order to further investigate her motives. One guy said his favorite author is William Butler Yeats from Ireland. Once again, I have no idea how or why.

I allowed each student to ask me one question. Every class asked me if I had a girlfriend, and nearly erupted with laughter when I said no.

My students have already invited me to run, go on walks, hike, eat, travel, play basketball, watch sports, learn to cook, and go out for fancy dinners.

These are the students of Communist China.

Teaching will be challenging, but potentially incredibly rewarding. I will have to put in much more outside time than I initially assumed. The classes are a bit squirrelly and immature, both physically and socially, but are good natured and excited to practice English with a native speaker. This is an experience of a lifetime.

I found a cockroach in my apartment yesterday. I kicked it on a piece of paper and threw it out the window.

Monday is Mid-Autumn Festival, so there will be no school. Mid-Autumn Festival is comparable to Thanksgiving and is considered a time to be with family and eat mooncakes. Although I do feel like I am becoming Chinese, I wish I could share a mooncake with anyone reading this right now.

LOVE,
John Murray