Graduation Station
Although I primarily worked and hung out with the freshmen college students, I also knew a few of the sophomores and decided to go to the graduation. This first picture is of me and Fly (I don't know why she chose that English name). I had only met her once, when she offered to tutor me. I ended up being tutored by someone else, but because she is so nice, like most Chinese women, she noticed me and had to get a picture. The program at this language college has the students spending 2 years in China, taking all courses in English--to sharpen up their speaking skills--then sending them abroad to English speaking countries such as England, Australia, or Ireland. Now this was a small graduation, probably about 50 students graduating, but the ceremony was just as long as mine a year ago (with all 350 students). They had everybody under the sun give a speech, and I swear, this one lady probably talked for 15 minutes. She was talking too fast for me to understand, but I could tell she was a bad speaker and it wasn't very interesting when the students starting brushing their hair, sending text messages, and taking pictures...this is during the speech. It was pretty hilarious, but it was warranted--I mean she was bad. Even I was looking for a shot of novicane during what seemed like a short lecture. But in the end, it was a nice ceremony, and all the students were thrilled to be finished and ready to explore new places. One speaker was particularly good. He was a one of the few male graduating students, and he was the only student one to give a speech. He was particularly good because he spoke English fluently, above and beyond any of the other students. After the ceremony I made it a point to compliment and talk to him. His English name was Z, just Z, which I thought was so cool. I asked if he was the top student or anything. He said they had no such distinction, it was simply a matter of no other student wanting to speak. I really admired him for this. He said now that he has graduated, he will work in a Human Resources office for a Chinese company, rather than go abroad. He mentioned that it would be expensive for him to go abroad, and that he could get a job right now. Apparently, he was able to get a job because of his English speaking abilities. Jobs are hard to come by in China. It is not like in America. Just today I talked to two girls who I met while in downtown Beijing. They were graduating from a good university and their English was quite good. However, they said they have been unable so far to secure a job. I met them outside their school's art exhibit, and got to see their teacher's and their own artwork. In the end I bought two pieces, one which was done by one of the girls. Half the money will support the student in going abroad. We swapped email addresses, so now I will always have a connection to that artwork, which I think is very important. As a side note, this last photo is of me and J.J. She is 19, but I swear if you saw her in person you'd say she was 16 or 15. I've noticed this to be a trend among Chinese girls and young women. Anyway, J.J. is one of my favorite people I've ever met. She is so diligent. I walked in the classroom one day after school, about an hour after class finished. I saw someone sitting alone, just studying away. It was her. Also, she is one of the nicest people I've ever met. She always takes times to ask questions about me, and when I answer, she always has this look of extreme incredulity on her face that makes you feel like a god. And lastly (perhaps most importantly) she is just crazy cute.