Somehow it Works

The Chinese do not organize things precisesly as Westerners do, a this can make for a certain tension. This morning, the local radio station arranged for us to visit a foreign language school on the outskirts of Nanjing. The plan was for us to interact with some students and then to speak to a group of English teachers. Barry, Bonnie, Emil and I participated

The bus came nearly an hour late, because the first one broke down.
Then, we were delayed in Nanjing traffic. There are more and more cars here, and the roads become crowded easily. Sir Barry was worried we would arrive too late to be of much use to the school-- after all, he reasoned, schools run on schedules. He went into frustration mode and began to roar like a lion, as he often does at these times.

But the Chinese deal well with contingencies. They divided one of their classes in three, and I soon found myself in a classroom with twenty or so Chinese 6th graders, whom I was invited to teach. No one told me how long the lesson should be, but they gave me a full fifty minutes. I improvised. We talked about things that are shaped like a circle, sang songs, and imitated animals. It went over well. So much for lesson plans. Afterwards, we met with the teachers.

Our appreciative hosts gave us gifts and insisted we join them for a "simple lunch," i.e. a banquet complete with shrimp, pig's head, and three kinds of soup. I wonder what a complicated lunch would look like.














Part of our very appreciative audience.
















At the "simple lunch."