| Monday, November 06, 2006 |
| Costume Party! |
This week our team threw a Costume party for our students. It was a fun cultural exchange where we were able to spend some quality time with students outside of the classroom, as well as give students new and old a chance to meet one another. All 60+ of us met at our in our apartment lobby (which the guest house workers are still trying to recover from) and walked across campus to the bowling alley for fun and games. Yes, you read that right. I would venture to guess that the total number of bowling alleys in China can be counted on my fingers and toes, but one of them is in fact on our campus. Go figure.
Danielle dressed as a butterfly of sorts, and I went as a nerd. (Insert your own sarcastic comment in the realm of "hey, that's not a costume!" here.) Unfortunately, the concept of "nerd" was a little lost on the Chinese. They mostly ended up calling me a professor all night.
Highlight of the night, #1: Getting stared at is nothing new here for us American teachers, but when you're walking together dressed as a hippie, a magician, a nerd, Chairman Mao, a butterfly, and Pippie Longstalking (sp), those stares move to a whole new level. It's fun living in a place where the people aren't desensitized to shock value.
Highlight of the night, #2: While the students couldn't quite understand what a nerd was, it was hilarious to see the way in which some students felt much more comfortable around me with my pants pulled up to my chest and tape on my black rimmed glasses. The peak, of course, was the student who immediately wanted to know what my favorite computer games are and if I was interested in joining their computer game league. Yes, I teach at a tec school.
Highlight of the night, #3: With white people being as uncommon as they are here, when you see a middle-aged guy in the middle of your party who you've never met before, he tends to stand out. I assumed that he was a friend of another teacher, but after asking around, I eventually realized that no one actually knew who this strange American was hanging out us. A little detective work concluded that he saw us walking down the street to the bowling alley, saw that we looked like we were having a good time, and decided to join us. The best part was when he volunteered to take the group picture before the night ended, and told everybody, "Thanks for coming!" No, no sir. Thank YOU.
Here are some pics from the night.
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posted by Aaron @ 3:27 AM  |
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| 2 Comments: |
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a scary butterfly. Very nice.
We REALLY miss you two. More details later, but we love both of you dearly.
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You guys are so adorable!!! I miss you and love you bunches!!!
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a scary butterfly. Very nice.
We REALLY miss you two. More details later, but we love both of you dearly.