A few days ago, the Unicorns learnt about the South of the United States. In other words: pecan pie, Georgia peaches, Southern gentlemen/belles, fried green tomatoes, and KFC (as you might imagine, my knowledge about the South is quite limited). Miryam, Eliot and I joined precepts and let the students listen to “Chicken Fried” by Zac Brown Band, which they seemed to enjoy. So much so that, when our precepts parted ways, my students insisted that I teach them the entire song – I proceeded to run through “Chicken Fried” line by line, singing one verse at a time, with the students cheerfully parroting. I took this to be my preparation for the KTV (Karaoke) extravaganza that was this weekend: on Friday night, the Unicorns took me, Eliot, and Miryam to sing, while on Saturday night the school officials treated the entire group of SoS-ers to a night of musical revelry.
A few days ago, Miryam told me that our student Bom (named after a Korean singer/band, apparently) had invited us to make dumplings with her – so on Thursday, Kelsey, Alyssa, Miryam, and I all headed over to Bom’s house. We were in for a surprise – her family rolled out the red carpet for us, and had even invited Bom’s high school English teacher to prevent awkward silences from materializing. As the two aunts showed us how to make jiaozi, Bom’s father took photos of us, while her mother commented on how beautiful our creations were (despite the fact that they were clearly the work of newbies). Then came our first home-cooked feast in China. Being able to eat what we had made just minutes after we had shaped them was so satisfying – and, despite being a little less attractive than those made by Bom’s family members, the dumplings were still delicious. We were even given homemade wine, which was so good!
Thursday night was perhaps one of the funnest that I’ve had in Jishou – I went to English Corner, which will be held every Thursday at 7:30. So many people showed up that each teacher was surrounded by at least 8 or 9 students, if not more. I had a lot of fun talking to the students in my circle – I ended up teaching them some Italian hand gestures, which they found quite amusing. I also met a girl whom I’ve been wanting to meet for days: her name – wait for it – is Bingo. And she is a hipster. But actually. We hit it off right away – she told me that I reminded her of the actress Tang Wei, that her favourite actor is Al Pacino, and that she loves Audrey Hepburn. A girl after my own heart! Also, she dresses amazingly and wears bug-eyed glasses. I can’t wait to learn more about my first Chinese hipster friend.
Friday was exam day. It felt so strange to be the one saying “Please put all notes and textbooks away” as I handed out the tests that Miryam, Eliot and I had written. Then, after a successful excursion up a mountain with Hiking Club, Eliot, Miryam and I were taken by some of our students to sing KTV. We had a fun time – Bob, our perennially tired-looking student, turns out to be a rockstar when he has a microphone in his hand. The Unicorn teachers’ voices left much to be desired, but the students seemed very happy to have us singing with them.
Every day here, I am struck by how considerate our students are. Not only have several of them provided sick SoS-ers with medicine and snacks, but they are also always looking out for us. They are all so generous; I’ve been treated to lunch by students numerous times, as well as to KTV. Friday morning, I was surprised by Bom and her best friend Dara (also a Unicorn), who had brought me a container of xiao long bao – my favourite type of dumpling, and a food that I have been obsessing over since I’ve arrived in China. I was so touched, because I had only briefly mentioned xiao long bao to Dara at Bom’s house. The students really go out of their way to make us feel at home here.
Every time I tell a student how much I like Jishou, they look at me as if I’m nuts. It is clear that none of the students really understands why any of the SoS-ers would like this grimy, small, ugly city so much. It might take them a while to realize that they are a big part of why our experiences in Jishou have already been so memorable.