Breaking from routine

Today after I said goodbye to my afternoon class and started packing up my things, the students began to whip out materials for another class.  I was intrigued to see them pull out felt mats with red lines, and thin brown paper that looks like the paper used to make patterns for clothes.  They set white trays on their desks, and pulled out bottles of black ink and long brushes.  Their next class was Chinese calligraphy! Feeling nosy and wanting to do something other than flee back to my apartment as I always do, I stuck around and watched some students set out their materials. When the teacher came in, a Chinese man, I asked if I could stay and watch and he said it was no problem. So I sat to the side and observed a Chinese calligraphy class! How fun!  Later tonight I texted one of the students (Jiang Ling Ling) I had been talking to in that class and asked her to teach me, so she came ten minutes later and showed me, and even left all her materials for me to practice!  I asked if she would need them, and she said she could borrow her classmate’s.  I was very touched by her generosity and her willingness to let an incompetent laowai (foreigner) use her precious calligraphy materials.  This is just one example of Chinese generosity that I find so impressive. I’m glad I did something out of the norm- I need to break my routine and do more things with students!  I’m trying to work on taking opportunities in the moment they come- there’s no time like the present.

While Jiang Ling Ling was at my apartment, Sunflower called me to come see her roommates and classmates perform a dance.  They are learning the Gangnam style dance, which they will perform at an event welcoming the new students!  Huzzah!  I think it’s so great that they are doing that dance, because I’m kind of obsessed with it.  It was really fun to watch them practice the dance, and I stood in the back and tried to follow. I’ve seen the YouTube video (and different variations thereof) so many times that I kind of know it.  They were very excited to have the new “student” in their class! I can’t wait to see the real performance.  I will post videos, or at least pictures… for some reason I haven’t been able to post videos on this blog yet.