Engrish Corner :)

This is just a short post about the English speaking community in this culture. They like to hold things called "English Corner". Stan and I have not had the privilege of being a part of one of these. We had some scheduled by our school last semester, but they were canceled due to the H1N1 virus, or as they pronounce it "H.E.N.E." because you say 1 like you say E. Anyway...we got invited to go to one by one of my students this semester. Her English name is Van. I had always heard what happened at these things, but it's always a different experience when you do it for yourself. They gave us presents for coming and they were all so nice to us. Here comes the awkward part...

We walk in and the room is split in two with desks on either side. Van welcomes Stan and I and we are asked to sit at the front like royalty. So here we are facing everyone as they stare, not being embarrassed at all by the fact that they are just completely staring. Van says she would like for everyone to start "Free talk" and the topic to discuss is hometowns. So, Stan and I have no idea what to do. They take us by the arm and lead me to one side of the room, and lead Stan to the other side. We each have about 15 students just looking at us. So, I tried to make it a little less awkward by saying hi and telling them where I am from. And then the questions start flying. They asked me every question about myself and as soon as I got the answer out of my mouth, here comes another! Watch out!!

It was just so funny, because I could tell they were so excited to ask a question and when they knew I understood the question, they didn't even care about the answer. They were just ready to ask the next question. Then the games started and I got the pencil box on the left in this picture as a prize for answering a question correctly! The notebook on the right was the gift they gave me for coming. Stan got one too, but it looks only slightly less girlie. :)


After the games we learned a song. A song I had never heard, but it was English and they enjoyed themselves. After we were finished, the picture taking ensued and we went to our next class. All in all, it was a fun time and it's always something funny, different with the Chinese people. Never a dull moment! Well, that was mine and Stan's first experience with an "English Corner" and I'm sure there will be many more to come! Thanks for reading my blog! Don't forget to think about me in China and I love you all!