This past weekend I agreed to put a little extra time in at my school. I woke up early on my Saturday morning, chowed down some noodles from the street vendors to warm me up, and settled in for a day of judging an english competition. The only thing I can compare this to is a forensics meet in the States, but when you get down to it, they are nothing alike. They clear out the regular classrooms, shoving all the desks into the back of the room. They put a line of chairs against the wall on one side of the room for the "performers" to sit on. They set up 5 students' desks in the back of the room for 2 foreign teachers and 3 chinese teachers. They told us to be at school by 8 am, but the competition didn't start until around 9 am. They are not great at specifics in this country and its just part of the culture. Something I may never settle with.
I saw over 100 different students that day. All of them were in grades 1-3. I can't catch a break from the young ones. These kids come into the room in groups of 5-10 and watched the whole group perform. One after another gave a little speech about themselves which lasted about 30 seconds. Then they usually sang a song and added in actions and dancing. Then they looked at a picture and described as much as they could see. All of this was in english of course. Then the foreign teachers asked them a few questions to test their oral skills. No parents in the room. They had to patiently wait outside. The following is just a sampling of the best and funniest things that caught my eye that day.
Many students sang a version of the Hokey Pokey which ended up being the Hokey Dokey, the Hokey Kokey, or the Hokey Hokey depending on their pronunciation skills. I got songs like "My Heart Will Go On" sung by a girl in a dress like a Disney princess would wear. Other songs were "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" and "Amazing Grace" with totally different words. It was good to hear the tune though. I saw these young girls in make-up and perfume. I heard a story about an old man beating his cat. A boy and a girl did "Rock Around the Rosies" instead of the usual "Ring Around the Rosies" with gyrating hips as they rocked around a chair with two roses resting on it. I also heard "Edelweiss" and "What a Wonderful World." I was hoping the 6 year-old girl would break out in her best Louis Armstrong halfway through the song. Kids came in with some crazy uniforms as well. They go all out for this stuff. I had a boy and girl dressed in tuxedo and dress. Another boy dressed as Santa and sang Jingle Bells. I was loving it.
The competition was a little long at times with repeated songs, but the costumes and unexpected personalities of these kids made for a fun cultural experience. Just another day here in China where new and different things are always popping up. Thanks be to Him who never changes. He is our Rock of Refuge in whom we trust. Blessings upon your work and witnessing!
