K: Thanksgiving off?

We didn't intend to take Thursday off as it's not a holiday in China. We could have; our contract allows us to cancel classes (without having to reschedule) for Thanksgiving and Christmas. But if we cancel our classes for one day during a week, then one section is ahead of another, and that messes with the syllabus which messes with the material which messes with the exam which is the making of a migraine. So the other option is to reschedule the class which means trying to climb over that language barrier and synchronize personal as well as class schedules with the class monitor. It turns out to be more restful to stay the course and begin those classes with a cheerful, "Happy Thanksgiving, class!" The choral response of "Happy Thanksgiving, Teacher!" is almost worth it.

I thought you said you didn't intend to take the day off. We didn't; we planned to teach those 8:00am classes this morning, and go out for Beijing Duck for dinner tonight as has become our Chinese Thanksgiving day tradition. But nick went to bed queezy and woke up sick, and I wasn't actually feeling fabulous either, so I put on a pair of jeans instead of the usual fair (clue #1 that all is not as it should be) and took a sticky note to class instead of the lesson plan I had prepared (clue #2). My class caught on very quickly and got to work on the assignment I set them. I went to Nick's class to give them their day's assignment:

Call: "Good morning. Is this Nick's class?"

Choral Response: "Yes!"

Call: "Happy Thanksgiving!"

Response: "Happy Thanksgiving!"

Call: "My name is..."

Response: "Kim!"

Call: "I am Nick's..."

Response: "Wife!"

Commentary: Encounters like this make me believe that there are times the fish knows he lives in a glass bowl.

Call: "Nick is ill this morning."

Response: "Ahhhh," followed by a cacophony of get well wishes.

Call: "Please open your books and work through the material on pages 48-51 and 58-59. Nick said you would know what to do."

Response: Pages whisper. "Yes, teacher."

Some foreign teachers are annoyed by the "group think" phenomenon we inevitably encounter in the Chinese classroom, and agreed, it can be annoying when trying to initiate a riveting discussion on something or other and get the same answer in thirty different voices (if in any voice at all). But there are times that it is endearing, especially when their eyes and smiles prove the sentiment is genuine. We hope he gets well soon. Happy Thanksgiving, teacher.

And Happy Thanksgiving to you too. Enjoy your (scheduled) day off in good health.