Chinese parties are a lot like church socials

To the editor:
    This past week has seen me watch seven Shakespeare interpretations. It began on Christmas Eve when my students from Inner Mongolia University gave me their interpretation of “Loves Labor’s Lost.” This play pokes fun at those who seek to isolate themselves from the world in order to study love at a University. In reality love and fools are like oil and water they do not mix.     My students had fun with the idea and gave a very funny presentation complete with their own costumes and staging. Then they threw a massive party for everyone. unlike their Shanghai counterparts, these students are here for the full semester, unable to return home on the weekends. Their program is a two-year exchange with my school and aside from the longer vacation periods, they must stay at the school during that time. All semester they had worked hard.
    I had originally asked them to come and present their interpretation at the teacher’s dining hall. In part to put them in front of a live audience and also one of those expedient things done to showcase to the administration what can be done. I have yet to meet any one who does not like a little bit of entertainment brought to the meal. My students counter-proposed a party of sorts and one of the larger multi-media classrooms.
    They were organized and I agreed. I was not disappointed. They all did their parts well and proved my basic point: that by practicing language through a play students improve their ability with the language.
    All of them had fun reprising the roles and I had lots of laughs at some of their efforts. My guests laughed too. Then it was time for the party. A Chinese party is a lot like those social get togethers held at the church hall. Old fashioned games of musical chairs, blow the balloon, and Stomp Dragon.
    Stomp Dragon requires that you tie some strings of balloons to an ankle and four or five other people do the same. Then while the music is playing you try to stomp and break as many of the balloons as possible. When the music stops, the winner is the one with the most balloons left. Noisy, messy, and fun.
    Another game is to fill a small dish with flour. Place a ping pong ball in the center. Get two contestants on either side of the table. Blindfold them. Turn them around once. Then on a pre arranged signal both of them lean down and try to blow the ball towards their opponent. All it takes is a puff of air to move the ball. With the flour the mess is incredible. Do not try this on the new carpet! Both players ended up covered in dust. What they did not realize is that the first time they tried it the referee had removed the ball. The second time it was there! Much to the delight of the audience. The loser had to then sing a song. Very moving song from their part of China.
    Songs are an integral part of Chinese parties. At some point some one must sing some sort of song. Yes, even your’s truly has had to warble a few notes. Thank goodness I remember a few lines of “Fiddler on the Roof,” and “Oklahoma”. While at times this custom seems quaint and corny, my hosts think a great deal of it and it is useful for assessing some latent skills that the students have been reticent to talk about. And it is a bit of fun on the night before Christmas. I had made gift bags for each one and the guests and passed out those to their surprise. It was a great party.
    The other six performances, while not tied into a party theme also showcased the natural talent that I have seen in so many of my students. They are hams! In trying to get them to practice their spoken language skills, these plays have helped to boost them past the classic canard, “ My English is so bad.” Yes, there are accents and pathologies that need work. But by giving them a chance to work with what we consider to be correct English they learn that it is possible to gain confidence; gaining confidence allows them to move past elementary mistakes and try something new. No, it does not happen overnight. But it does happen. All of us are ham actors at some point.
    Remember the class clowns who had everyone laughing with the bathroom noises in the fifth grade? Same idea only constructively applied. I think in my own class that group was made up of Freddy, Jeff, Tim, and Cindy J. They were great cut-ups. Even Mr. A had a few chuckles at their imaginative applications of noise. Importantly, he let them vent off some of the steam that they had and this allowed the rest to go on to other subjects.
    “Troilus and Cressida” brought a saga of Troy to light. Henry V showed us an English King who won the heart of a Lady of France. Twins were the focus of “Comedy of Errors and even though there is not one twin in my classes at the end of the presentation I was amazed at how the students managed to represent the twins and their story. It gives a whole new meaning to “talking to one’s self.”
    Taming of the Shrew had to be about the best of the bunch since it allowed them to have fun doing a wedding scene. A “Winter’s Tale”, came in next with all sorts of inside jokes revealing themselves as
the students sought to interpret what Shakespeare wrote. And the finale was “As You Like It.” Here, the hand offs of clothing, babes, sheep, and sticks proved to be just as funny as the antics of the players. Now I just have to do the grades.
    Plays are important and when we can look back on things past they show us some of our heritage and help us connect to the world. Often its the class clowns, lampooning the teacher or the principal
who illustrate an action or a behavior that we admire or dislike.
    Maybe its a funny voice. How many of us loved the Challenge of doing Al Weinberg or Ernestine. Both of these wonderful people shared their love of life with their voices. Few of us were lucky to meet them. But all of us enjoyed an honest laugh at the humor and joy that they and their antics brought. And we bought a few shoes and Ladies wear. More importantly they helped all of us to become a part of the community.