Eventful week for thanks

To the editor:
    It must be that the stars are mixed up in the goings on of this past week. I celebrated my own birthday, a slightly melancholic affair as I thought about those friends and classmates who have now passed on. My students were of course thrilled to help me celebrate my birthday and with a great deal more pizzazz than I had intended.     Today, China is trying to come to terms with the modern sense of time off, celebration time, and working time. With a long history of central government control it takes some getting used to the idea that vacations, holidays and recuperative time off are necessities to keep the workforce tuned for optimum growth. With only three national week-long holidays in the year you can well imagine the explosion of crowds during those vacation times. It is always fun to explain to my students how we try to stagger the time of period to keep the crowds to a minimum. It is also a lot of fun to explain the power of a three-day weekend and of course the four-day Thanksgiving food, football and free-for-all period that marks the start of the Holidays in the U.S.
    Because there are only three weeks in the year for Chinese to travel the crowds are overwhelming. The smart move is to stay home during the start and end of the vacation period. My first year here I went with one of my students to meet his mother at the train station. Time’s Square is empty compared to the Shanghai Railway station on the first day of the National Holiday. Even the roaches must wait in line at the trash can!
    Jostling becomes more than a spectator sport. Even though I never played football I shot enough of it to understand some of the blocking tackle basics. Useful if you want to get to the head of the line.
    As I said earlier, the stars must be aligned in some sort of string pulling method this year. I had been asked to give a lecture on performance teaching to a group of students who wanted to learn about American teaching styles. A fairly straightforward talk, it was to be comprising of some examples of how to make lessons out of everyday situations; heavy on the imagination and light on the substance. I was only expecting about 20 students to come. The auditorium had space for about 150 students. Something was going to be different for sure when I went to load my PowerPoint program into the computer and discovered that I was going to have to wire the computer together before I could use it. Tech services are a bit haphazard.
    So there I am, back at the beginning with my hands deep in the entrails of a modern beast trying to get one piece of equipment to talk to another! It was like I had stepped into a time warp and gone back to high school and the early years of working at WAGM. Wires! Electricity! Noise! DANGER! What fun.
    I got all the toys assembled, the lecture points loaded and displayed and began. The talk itself was rather drab. But it was nice to have nearly 100 students willing to suspend their disbelief for a moment or two. I finished and took in the applause. Then from the side door came a couple of students with a candle and a cake. The next thing I knew was that I was being serenaded by a very excited group of students.
    That was Wednesday. Turkey day I taught as my regular assignment and my students persuaded me to tell about the balloons and Macy’s parade. And on Friday, my 8 a.m. class was full of mischief. They too presented me with a cake slice, dark chocolate slivers on top of green tea icing. Then, while flummoxed, I heard those familiar strains of “Happy Birthday”. A little bit of moisture leaked from the corner of the eyes at the moment.
    So yes, it was a week to give thanks. Here in a country where there are so many extremes of wealth and poverty, a simple custom from another world away observed. The observation going back over many years to a time of sadness and joy. My dad made it to 44. So have I. I continue with the help and encouragement of students who may never know the rolling hills and forests of Aroostook County.
    Thanksgiving as I have learned, is not a date on a calendar. Neither is a birthday. Rather it is the joy and happiness shared with others in small moments of kindness and generosity. It is not mouthing to the words of some misplaced faith. It is instead learning to live, appreciate and celebrate the good that surrounds all of us.