How I got to Visit a Beijing Elementary School

During on of our first few days in Beijing, we were invited to a mixer with a bunch of students from the Minzu University's History Department. We were all herded into a conference room with a giant oval table in the center. Along one side of the room was a line up of History graduate and undergraduate seniors, excitedly waiting for us. We sat on the opposite side of the giant table, and were basically told to talk.

Understandably, things got off to a rocky start. The Chinese students were rather shy about speaking to us in English, and we didn't really have a clue about what was going on. Eventually, however the conversation got rolling, and soon the entire room was filled with noise. After a little while of shouting back and forth across the table about Chinese and American college student life, we figured out that this wasn't really working.

Then we were split off into small groups, where one or two Chinese students was paired with each of us. I was paired with two guys, one undergraduate who was from Inner Mongolia and a graduate student who was trying to prepare for his TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). They were both really great characters, and desperately wanted to learn as much as they possibly could about everything in the US. We talked about classes, tuition, rent, average incomes, economic stability, what I thought about the government, where they should study, where they should visit, the cultural division between the North and the South, and a million other things. It was seriously surprising to me that they thought so highly of the US, they knew nothing about the housing bubble or the recession, they were shocked at how high tuition was, and thought that Obama was loved by all Americans. I was in turn surprised at how difficult it was for minorities to attend university in China, that immediately after graduation guys are expected to buy an apartment if they want a shot at getting married, that guys and girls are not allowed into each others' dorm buildings, how ridiculously high rent was in Beijing, that most people hate the pollution, and that a lot of the students did not like the Communist government.

All of our new Chinese friends. 

The guy to my left was my Mongolian partner, and the guy on the far right in the black t-shirt was my graduate student partner.

(Thank you Natalie for always carrying your camera)

This was a really fantastic opportunity for us all, and one of the guys I travelled with, Jake, became great friends with his Chinese partner, Mo-han Deng (or Mo as everyone calls him). Mo and his girlfriend Fiona, kind of became our guides to Beijing after that. They showed us where the best street food was, where to buy supplies, how to use the buses and subway, brought us out to do karaoke, and were just fantastic people. They had both spent a year studying at North Dakota State University, and so their English was excellent. They truly helped make our Beijing experience wonderful.

Mo and Fiona took us out to Ho-Hi for a fantastic night.

(Again... thanks Natalie!)

After we finished out tour of Xi'an, Kunming, and He'nan, we returned to Beijing for a couple of days, so that people could fly out of the Beijing airport. Mo and his family invited as many of us who could come to visit their home, make some dumplings, and visit the elementary school that Mo's aunt works at. Unfortunately, the day that worked best for the family was also the day that most of our group was flying out. Jake and Nathan were staying in China for another week and a half to do more traveling, and I am obviously still in Shanghai, so we were able to go. However, Nathan had an interview that morning, so he had to miss visiting the school.

That morning we woke up really early, ran to our favorite breakfast place to have a farewell breakfast with our teacher before he flew off, and then ran back to the hotel to meet Mo and Fiona. Jake, Mo, Fiona, and I got on a bus at around 7:30 AM, and continued bussing for another hour out to the fringes of the city. About halfway through the bus ride, Mo came up to Jake and pointed out that the two little old ladies who had been chattering away for the entire trip were trying to figure out what the foreigners were going to do in this part of the city. Apparently they were listing off all of the vaguely interesting sites we might be going to see.

 Finally, we got off the bus and got into this random guy's car. In this part of the city, getting an actual taxi is really difficult, so there are many "unofficial" taxis parked along the sidewalks. We all piled into the car, and rolled up into a what looked like the small farming villages we had been visiting throughout the trip.We were immediately greeted by all of the important figures of the school, and guided to a small  building that housed a huge table. The school then engaged in the traditional Chinese practice of stuffing guests with fruit and water before ushering in about 20 4th and 5th graders.

Standing is the school's English teacher, seated is Fiona, Jake, and me. 

They then introduced themselves in English, which was adorable, and vaguely reminded me of the sort of things I said during my first Spanish or Chinese classes. We introduced ourselves, Jake in English, and I tried out my Chinese. They laughed at me, but I think that I managed to get the major points across. Jake then led the group in a clapping, dancing, and singing exercise that eventually the kids really got into. Without knowing a lick of Chinese, he got these kids to develop a 6 part ensemble, which included some improve soloists and lots of audience involvement. After that, a group of 6 1st graders that had snuck in earlier gave us a performance. Until you have seen a group of seven year old boys and girls dance to "Gangnam Style" you have not seen anything approaching cute. It was freaking adorable, and yes, they did the lunges and riding a horse move.

The kids were hilarious. 

The older kids then sang us a couple of songs, including their version of the "ABCs". In China, they don't say "elemenohpee" like we do. They drag it out, switch up the rhythm a little bit, and then carry on like normal until the end, where they say a slightly different phrase to wrap up the song. 

Now it was my turn to do something... so I told a story. Originally, I was planning on telling the "Three Billy Goats Gruff" because it is a traditional English story. However, Fiona announced to the entire group that I was going to tell a story... in Chinese. This is a little more difficult. So, I still told them a story that was vaguely similar to "The Three Billy Goats Gruff", but I had to work around the words I didn't know. So, instead of goats, there were sheep; instead of a bridge, there was another hill; instead of a troll, there was a bad guy. What I lacked in clarity, I tried to make up for in enthusiasm and action. Kids everywhere always respond to stories where there are lots of different voices, lots of jumping about, and where you aren't afraid to make a fool of yourself. Maybe it's just me, but they seemed to like it, and when asked, they got the major message of the story. 

Next we were given a tour of the school's ceramics building. The area that we were in is famous for making the traditional ceramic roof tiles and roof ornaments that you see on all of the important ancient buildings. They even made some of the roof tiles for the Forbidden City! We got a quick lesson on how twice fired pottery works, and even got to try our hands at making a figure. We then got to play around in the clay with the students. Even though they were still incredibly young, they were all incredibly skilled at pottery. All of them had made at least one molded figurine by this age, and they were practically experts at creating objects out of regular clay. My own little crooked clay pot seemed rather pathetic in comparison. 

Here I am making one of the roof decorations with a bunch of the students. In reality I mostly just dumped the clay mixture into the mold, and tried to avoid dumping it on myself or the kids.

While we were working on our little figures, the kids were peppering me with questions in Chinese. There is really no better way to review your Chinese vocabulary than sitting in a room with a bunch of curious seven year olds. They will ask you about anything and everything, and they are always excited about whatever answer you give them.

Finally, we took about a million pictures with the students, teachers, and staff before saying our goodbyes. Before we left, they gave us the traditional Chinese treat, zongzi (粽子）which are usually eaten around the Dragon Boat Festival. These are sticky rice dumplings that are filled with red bean paste or dates (in the north) or vegetables and meat (in the south) and are then wrapped in bamboo leaves. These are impossible to eat without becoming a sticky mess. They also presented us with beautiful pictures that local villagers had made out of butterfly wings; this is a very important form of folk art in the area. The generosity and kindness of these people, the joy and friendliness of their kids, and the experiences that I had while visiting are something I will never forget, and I can not possibly thank them for. 

A huge thank you to my friends Mo and Fiona for helping make all of this possible. You guys are so amazing, and I am incredibly grateful to have met you two.