Who Says English Parties Can't be Legit?

Since arriving in Hangzhou, it’s been a goal of mine to have my students actually enjoy taking my class. Being a student for the vast majority of my life, I realize how painful a class can be if there aren’t good vibes flowing between the teacher and his/her students. So, to this end, I’ve been overzealously wacky, weird, strange, and entertaining during class in hopes that this will win me “cool” points from the kiddies.

--A small, illustrative example: This week, I’m celebrating Halloween in my classes by showing the movie Casper. (Yes, this means I’m watching Casper five times this week. Oh, joy of joys.) Anyway, I had a great time explaining Halloween customs to my classes beforehand, the best part being illustrating how we silly Americans like to scare people. I did this by hiding by the classroom door at the beginning of class and screaming “Boo!” in the ears of students who were walking in late. I succeeded in getting a few girly screams out of the late boys, and howls of laughter from the rest of the class. Hollaaaa.--

But, I digress. My main point is that I think I have finally succeeded in winning over the hearts and minds of the majority of my students. Case in point, the English party we held on Saturday.

So, Wendy, Roger, and I (the lone three foreign teachers at our college) decided to throw our students an English Party, where they could hang out with foreigners, play games, and practice English. So, we invited most of our classes, not expecting very many students to actually give up their Saturday afternoon to hang with teachers.

Fast forward to Saturday morning. Wendy and I leisurely walk over to the designated meeting place on campus, from which we are going to travel to the party locale. On the way, I receiv a phone call from one of my students.

“Candle! (yes, they call me Candle. It’s the closest they can get to Chandler.) Candle! It’s Monica. There are too many people here for one bus, so I am taking 25 students and leaving now. See you there!”

…Umm…what? Too many people to fit on one bus? Taking 25 now?

We were expecting 25 total.

So, I turn the corner, now infinitely more intrigued/anxious to see the turn-out.
There are about 70 students milling about in front of the English building. As Wendy and I approach the mob, they all start waving excitedly and pulling out their cameras to snap photos of us. (Nope, the photo-taking has not ceased, two months in.)

Woooow. So I’m shocked. Are we this popular? Are the students that bored on a Saturday afternoon? Did we buy enough Sprite?

These are irrelevant questions as Wendy and I automatically shift into Tour Guide/Recruitment Counselor/Teacher Mode and start herding the students out of campus, across the street, and to the bus stop.

“OK! Get on buses Y5, K504, or K308 to Song Cheng! Any of those! Got it! Okay!”

The poor, unsuspecting bystanders quietly waiting for their respective buses eye us curiously/incredulously/warily. I don’t blame them. Who would want to get on a city bus with about 75 boisterous college students?

So, Wendy and I valiantly lead our army of students to the party location, which was woefully unprepared for so many guests. But, I have to hand it to the guys there—they rose to the occasion: moving around furniture, setting up drinks, and throwing cards and mahjong sets at various groups of students to get them occupied and having a good time.


It turns out to be awessssome. The boys had a great time filling up water balloons and throwing them onto the girls from the balcony. And a big group of students whipped up some awesome dumplings in the kitchen. It was also so great to be able to talk to my students in a more relaxed, natural environment outside of the intimidating confines of the classroom. In fact, I found that the students who were most eager to approach me during the party to chat were the ones who seldom do so in class. I had an absolute blast getting to know them a little better! All in all, a great success.

So, at the end of the day, as the students were packing up and heading out, a group of students came up to me and said “Candle, Candle! Thank you so much. No teacher has ever done this for us before!”

Operation “Get My Students to Think Somewhat Fondly of Me”: Accomplished (for now, anyway).