TMI

As I slowly catch my blog up to real life, I will again look back a few weeks to the end of my classes. This semester I only had one section of oral English (which is generally the default class for all foreign teachers here). I taught a class of junior students studying to be secretaries (or so they told me) twice a week. I got to know them pretty well, due to the frequency of class and because I went on a class trip with some of them. Yet, I didn't develop any sort of close relationship with any of them, not like I have with a few of my tutors or some other students I see around a lot. But, there were two instances that really stood out during the semester of what I refer to as TMI-too much information, and what Danthemanstan calls the "overshare.

One class period there was way too much Chinese going on from the whole class,

so I assigned them homework; to practice their English so they won't have to use Chinese at all in class (and to punish them, I guess). I gave them a simple assignment to write about their plans for the future. Most of them were fairly interesting, if not strikingly similar. One though, was a little tough to read. The student wrote about how she just wanted a peaceful family life. This is normal enough, but that she then said she wanted it because her family wasn't peaceful, because her father used to come home drunk and beat her mother and older brother. I have

had other students display similar openness that would seem incredibly out of place in the States on a homework assignment, but it was still a little shocking. I indirectly and discretely asked her if there were still problems at home after class when I returned the assignments, and she quietly said no. I honestly think that was the best I could do here, as these sort of matters are incredibly hushed and private in China. Which is why it's always odd when students share such information on a simple assignment. I don't know if using a foreign language, or knowing that it's being submitted to a foreign teacher (who despite a year and half here, and lots of reading) is still far removed from Chinese society. Either way, this openness seems very strange in what I consider a much more reserved culture.

When I assigned the students to give a speech about a relative or teacher who they admired or had helped them considerably, I generally planned for the speeches to be pretty positive. Most of them were, and most were also pretty emotionless-as the students were focused on not making mistakes, which preempts much in the way of expression. But one of the better students started sharing about her grandfather, and about the last time she saw him, as he was slowing dying of cancer. As many of us would, she broke down and started crying. A classmate rushed to give her a tissue, and I motioned to her that it was okay, she could take a break. After collecting herself, she said "sorry, it's my first time ever talking about this." She was shaky but good for the rest of the speech. I was glad that she had opened up, but was utterly shocked that this was the first time she had talked about it. I just really can't figure out why an in-class speech in English is the time to talk about it. I tend to think that there had to be some time that she would have talked about this with her parents/cousins/friends/roommates before then. I briefly consoled her after the speech, thanking her for her willingness to share. These displays of way too much information are the anomaly here-but they really strike me as odd in a culture that for the most part seems to encourage people to bottle up their emotion from everyone except for close family. Just yet another interesting thing about being a foreigner in China to add to the already very, very long list.