Inside a Chinese Classroom

My husband and I were enjoying teaching English at a Technical College in China. Every day was an adventure, full of new experiences and encounters.

One day, one of my husband’s students, Mary, asked us to accompany her to pick up her young daughter from her school. Having taught primary school for over 30 years in Canada I was anxious to see inside a grade 1 classroom in China.

The three of us arrived a few minutes early. Mary took us to the classroom and we all went in. There was no teacher in the classroom at the moment and all the students were busy cleaning up and getting ready to go home.

Mary’s daughter saw us and came running up to give her mother a hug. Some of her friends joined her to stare at the strange white people. Slowly I walked to the front of the class. By this time most of the students had noticed the visitors, especially me. I am very, very short and have long blond hair.

I stood at the front of the class and motioned to the students to sit down. Quickly I had 30 students sitting in their desks and 30 sets of eyes glued to me. Not a sound. Now what do I do! Slowly I began to sing a song to them: to the tune “Frer Jacques”

I am special.
I am special.
Look at me.
You will see
A very special person.
A very special person.
That is me
That is me.

When I finished, they all clapped. I began to sing again. This time I sang the first line and pointed to them: I heard a few voices singing back to me. Then the next line. More voices joining in.

By the end of the song, most of the students had got the idea. So we did it again. After 1 or 2 more times they could sing the whole song with me.

At this moment the teacher walked in. Our friend explained in Chinese what was happening. All the students were anxious to show off to their teacher the new song they had learnt in English. So once again, I went to the front of the class and the students proudly sang with me their new song. After many hugs and touches to my blonde hair, we took our leave before causing any more interruptions or excitement.