Halloween Party

This post is long, long overdue, and I haven't been busy. Rather, I have just been quite lazy and have done a bit of traveling. I'd like to say that I haven't been blogging because I have been studying Chinese, but that'd be a huge stretch of the truth. Nevertheless, I'll do my best to keep updating through the holiday season until I get on the road traveling during our long break for Chinese New Year.

In a feeble attempt to suppress some of my guilt (or just awareness) of my rather posh lifestyle compared to the average Jiangsu resident, I contacted one of my students from last year. I knew that he was involved in helping out at a school called 蓝星小学 (Blue Star Elementary School). This school is a privately run school for the children of migrant workers. There are an estimated 130-200 million migrant workers in China (between 10-15% of the population) and they play an integral (and often unnoticed) role in China's growth. There certainly are plenty of charities run by the good ol' Party, but I tend to be skeptical of where that money ends up. So I had asked Edison (Lu Wenbin) if I could donate to the school. He said not really, but instead, a few days after I asked, he invited me to come and help with a Halloween party some of he and his friends were throwing for the kids. I actually donated by funding the party: by giving the student group some money, as apparently donating directly to the school would have been "complicated."

As I was interested in visiting the school, I accepted. As for planning, it was typically Chinese and I got a text message on the morning of the day we were going telling me where to meet that afternoon (I was, of course, free). In the van on the way there I was informed I would be helping with a vocabulary game, and was asked to sing an American song and teach them an American dance. This is a pretty typical request when foreigners are put in front of any group; partially because Chinese people generally enjoy singing in front of groups/socially and because I get the impression, that to some less 'cultured' Chinese, foreigners are seen somewhat as clowns/monkeys. I said no, call me a funhater, but I need a little more forewarning before a song and dance show.

Upon my arrival, I realized that my hope of not making a big show of being a foreigner was dashed. Many students from the class had lined up on either side of the gate, creating a welcoming tunnel, and in unison said "Welcome to our school" in very good English. Then, one of the better students came up and gave me a big and beautiful bouquet of flowers and welcomed me again. Of course, I only showed up once and did no planning; whereas some of the students go every week and plan the lessons/activities in addition to being pretty busy with classes, activities, and whatever pointless mind numbing quasi-repressive authoritarian government duties they must attend to. Needless to say, this reception and the compliments I got the whole time didn't help me feel like I was "helping"-but I'm not too worried.

The school wasn't in horrible shape, and inside the classroom, it wasn't much worse than some of the older rooms on our campus. But, it was kind of tucked away in an ally, and didn't seem to have any open space/lawns/gardens except the small paved area in the courtyard-doubling as a parking lot. The kids were just as cute as you imagine Chinese kids with red bandanas tied around their necks (worn by all young students) would be. They showed great energy in learning the new words, making masks, and playing some sort of vocabulary/call and answer game. I think what was really touching about seeing the kids is how similar they looked to an American kid making a mask for Halloween. To go from that image and then realize the social, economic, and emotional differences between the two is pretty daunting. The really disappointing thing for me was when I tried to help a few girls make their masks, just to realize how bad my Mandarin is. The students volunteering me (mostly my former students) had no problem understanding me, as they've some exposure to foreigner's Chinese. But the young students were frank with me, which is what I needed: my Mandarin was far from anything they could understand. What was lots of fun was a pretty good mask that Edison had found and instructed me to wear. Needless to say, the white guy speaking some foreign tongue with a really creepy mask got the Halloween spirit going in the classroom.

I had a great time seeing the kids, but even more so, enjoyed seeing the dedication and kindness that the students of our school exhibited in planning and carrying out the activity. As I mentioned, the fact that many of them do this each week is really impressive. I would venture to say that the students at my school don't have quite the discretionary time that students at TU had. While most of them spend it playing mindless computer games or watching B-rate movies, these kids are refreshingly socially aware. In a generation of growing wealth, massive consumption, and spoiled only children; I was happy to help out these students who may or may not recognize the great benefit that cheap, migrant labor is to a growing economy, but are at least doing something about the social services inequality. Edison, the leader of the group, is a very engaging, intelligent student. His ambition is to take the civil service exam and become a government official. I hope that he keeps his keen perception and servant attitude as he progresses through school and into what should be a promising career. The Chinese government and society need that attitude as 1.33 billion people will soon all be expecting significantly better living standards. I'm not saying that all societies, and especially one as complex as America's don't need people with this attitude. But the thing about China, is that the busyness, the dirtiness, the inequality of wealth, the competitive workfore, the substandard conditions; they are all right in front of you. Right in front of you.