Hockey Night in Jinan

Some of Don’s students helped organize a language festival on Friday and invited Rob, Don and me. We didn’t really know what to expect but having done the English Corner last weekend, we thought that we would just be chatting. Boy, were we wrong. We arrived in the corner of the basketball court to see it all decorated with balloons and there were tables and chairs set up. There were even loud speakers and I had a feeling that didn’t bode well.

We were warmly greeting by the students who were waiting. Most of Don’s freshman students were there along with students from the Japanese and Russian classes. It was a bit overwhelming (as most things have been here). They were so eager to talk to us, to practice speaking and many many more just wanted to be near enough to listen. Because they already know Don, some were more curious about me. They asked me questions about everything. The most popular question? Do you speak any Chinese? So I impressed them with my stock phrase… “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.” I felt like a star because I was surrounded by students who took turns asking questions.

We were persuaded to perform. Yeah, we were warned beforehand but were confident that we would be able to talk our way out of it. Unfortunately, for me, Rob and Don are suckers when there’s a captive audience and microphones. They started our “performance” with a 10 minute dialogue on hockey. Remember, as you watch the video below, that this is totally unrehearsed.

You can’t talk about a hockey game without referring to the national anthem. See what happens next below. Please forgive us for the mangling of the lyrics though.

We had a great time at this event and look forward to doing more… but maybe without the performance.