My Beloved Majors

Yesterday I had my last day of class with my sophomore English majors, who I adore and will miss teaching next semester. (They were an extra class that I picked up this semester because another foreign teacher never came.)



Giving them their oral finals (a one-on-one interview) was a nice opportunity to talk to each person face-to-face, and because of their high level of proficiency, we could take interesting tangents instead of sticking to the exam questions.

Afterward they gave me a two Christmas surprises, a Chinese knotted and tassled hanging decoration thing, to be precise but not eloquent, and a colorfully wrapped object...



...which turned out to be an apple.  As a first-time foreign teacher in China, this was not what I expected to find under so many layers of tissue paper, but apparently this is very common.




They made my day, but perhaps the most touching moment was when I was giving the class monitor, Richard, his exam.  Richard told me three things: 1) he feels he can relate to me more easily than he can with other foreigners because I'm part-Chinese, 2) he has learned a lot about how to live through my example - "always smiling", "riding around on your bike, listening to music" - that I seem so happy and free, and he wants to be like that (I explained that I smile a lot in his class because I especially like them), and 3) he likes my use of air-quotes and has started using it with his friends when he says hello to them.  I didn't have the heart to tell him that reason I make quotation marks in the air with my fingers is to express sarcasm. (I didn't realize that I use this gesture so often until some of my other students started imitating me and laughing - when I asked, they said they didn't know what it meant and they thought it was just a "happy" gesture--like the Asian V fingers, I guess?--In any case, a misinformed trend has caught on and I guess I'm its source...)

Richard emailed me some more-or-less identical copies of the class photo above. His message is the reason why every teacher teaches:

hi，Margaret.these two pictures prove the happy time we spend together， all of us like you very much. we all want to be taught by you next term, you are the best oral teacher we have ever experienced. these two pictures can tell our intimate friednship, the happy time, the challenges we overcome and they can tell everything. All of us will treasure the unforgettable memory. Weanwhile we want to have another pictures in your camera, so please sned them to me ! we also look forward to our reunion meal!

(I told them I wanted to have lunch with everyone next semester.  At 16 students, they are the only class for which this is a possibility. Also, their English is good enough for us to make non-awkward conversation.  Many of my freshman clam up and just giggle when I come too close).  Students can say all sorts of things when they want something from you ("Oh, Dear Teacher, can you look at my essay for me?") and I hit them right back with sarcasm that they seem to appreciate.  However, I know that Richard's message is sincere, if a little bit melodramatic (and totally Chinese).  My English majors have been the best semester-long Christmas present I could have hoped for.