A Day in the Square

My apartment is about ten to fifteen minutes walking distance from the school where I've been teaching. The school and my apartment are in what are considered prime locations in Linyi because of their close proximity to The People's Square (人民广场 ).

The People's Square is a gathering point for many individuals. At nights there are individuals doing Latin and ballroom dancing in the Square. On Saturday and Sunday mornings there are groups of older women and men engaged in some sort of synchronized exercise that involves waving around swords and scarves. I think it's Tai Chi but I never care enough to stop anyone and ask. Usually I'm running late for something so I just pray nothing they're swinging hits me and I keep on footing it. The point is the 人民广场 is an importang gathering point for many of Linyi's citizens.

Because it's a holiday season in China and public school's are not in session there are even more people gathering in 人民广场 than normal. Many parents bring their children to 人民广场 for cheap amusement. The school's managers decided capitalize on the increased activity in 人民广场.

One manager told me that we were going to go 人民广场 to drum up some interest in the company. "What exactly are we going to do?" I asked. She told me that I should stand in the Square and allow people to stare at me then I should begin playing with some little kid. Eventually people would get interested and start to gather. Okay, I said. Sounds easy enough.

I went to the Square, saw a kid and started to throw a ball around with her. Soon, just as my manager predicted there were more curious kids coming over to play with their parents following close behind. Eventually a crowd of perhaps 40-50 curious onlookers gathered. The crowd was a mix of children, parents, college students, etc. who watched while my fellow teachers and I played Red Light, Green Light; Simon Says; Monkey See, Monkey Do; etc.

It was actually quite fun.

Yesterday, my manager had another bright idea. The younger students would take a trip to the supermarket and assist the foreign teachers with their shopping.










We introduced the children to such useful English words as:
1. gourd
2. men's thermal underwear
3. grater
4. ladle

You get my point.

Part of the appeal of this field trip was to drum up more interest in the company. The campaign was successful to some extent as we started with 13 students and ended with 17 kids that just decided to leave their parents and join the English lessons.

Interesting stuff.