The program I teach for in Beijing had their ‘graduation ceremony’ last night, followed by the usual hijinks of ‘China Night.’ Most of the highlights involved inside jokes so I won’t bore you with them here except to say that if my performance in the program-specific parody of “American Pie” winds up on YouTube, I’m hunting people down…
The best part of the evening though, was an extremely kind and gracious James Fallows, who despite an insanely hectic schedule agreed to come and speak to our graduates. It was touch-and-go for awhile when — how’s this for karma? — despite a map and address the taxi driver took him to the wrong school. But he made it on time, and proceeded to give a delightful speech combining insights and inspiration and even throwing in a few good old fashioned commencement-style nuggets as a nod to the occasion. Afterward, he joined our teachers and students on the patio for some refreshments. Jim was so generous with his time, and the students, many of whom had read his articles over the semester, really enjoyed meeting him. He was a class act in every sense of the word, as well as an all-around nice guy.
I don’t usually write about my students. It’s one of the rules I have for the blog, my students and colleagues didn’t waive their right to privacy just because I happen to have this little site, but speaking generally…it’s always a sad thing when the semester ends. The kids in my program are terrific,there aren’t many situations where a teacher of Chinese history gets to lead a discussion with a classroom of American students who have all decided — for whatever reason — to spend four or eight months in China studying things Chinese. It makes class a joy to teach and the students, for their part, never disappoint as they try to make sense of their new home. Sure sometimes it’s tough for them (we all have our expat rant days) but each semester a fresh group of students forces me to look at China through new eyes. It’s a helluva way to earn a living, and I couldn’t be happier. It does however make it hard to say goodbye each year and…I’ll stop here, room’s getting a little dusty and I think I’ve got something in my eye…
