The Big Party!

Well, we had the English Party for my classes yesterday. Angela, Amy
and I went up to the 6th floor to attend this big party. We were told
to arrive at 6:00, but truthfully the party wasnt to start until 6:30
because the teachers did not want to let their kids out that early.
The 6th floor is home to a large room equipped with disco ball and
flashing lights to be used in a dance fashion I imagine. I had dragged
Amy and Angela to this exciting event with me, so they were really
fired up for a fun night. The TA's had planned everything, and they
had a schedule and agenda that had the party divided into 3 parts.
There was the performances done by the kids- (which included two girls
singing a Backstreet Boys song, two boys singing some sappy love song
that we didn't recognize, three girls doing a dance from the Beijing
Opera, and two girls doing a traditional Korean dance that involved
bits of the running man and some non-traditional arm movements that
were very modern). The second part of the party was the games- there
were three or four games planned for the evening. My TA Kitty, threw
me off when she asked what the punishment was for students who lost
games. I wasn't exactly sure what she was asking so I responded with
well they do pushups¡± and I demonstrated. Anyway, they had planned
several games appropriate for their students includingname that
tune with everything from Dido to Old MacDonald, hot potato, guess
this English word, and a charades type activity. The kids played these
games as if they were the coolest thing in the world!

The whole thing started with the students arriving and pulling up
chairs to line the dance floor. Once they were all seated, two emcees
took the microphones and started the party off. We played the games-
Angela and Amy got dragged into some doozies- Amy was speaking Chinese,
and Ang was guessing English words with one of my students. It was fun
to see them (forcibly) involved in the action. Then the students
performed, and with the utmost seriousness (particularly the Backstreet
boys singers- it was quite cute). And finally the last part of the
night arrived, the part where we were to make a performance. So
naturally, we did what every American would do in this situation- teach
the students an American dance¡­ and what better to exemplify our
culture than the Macarena? Yep- you didnt mis-read that. Angela,
Amy and I got up and taught the Chinese the Macarena. It was quite
funny- and interesting at the same time. They caught on fairly well
and were able to keep it going. After the Macarena, we had a rousing
version of the Bunny hop that came on- or the Rabbit according to
the students- and we hopped all over that darn room. We finished with
one last Macarena and then the party was over. As we were finishing, I
noticed that the crowd had grown a bit- the security guard was now
sitting in the back, and several parents showed up to pick up the kids
who did not live in the dorms. I wonder what they thought of our
Macarena lessons. All I have to say is it was quite a night- as you
can tell from the pictures.

When Kitty asked if we had parties like this in the United States, I
wanted to say I'm sure they do in elementary school but I
responded with a non-committal I've never seen a party like this
before. She told me that I must be a beautiful teacher because I get
to have fun with the kids, and that doesn¡¯t happen with the Chinese
teachers.

Lucky for us, Angela's students are having a party next week and we'll
all get to go again­ oh boy.