Throwing a party for our Nanchong host families
As our time in Nanchong came to an end, we planned a party for our host families to thank them for welcoming us into their homes for six weeks. They were patient with us when communication was difficult, they cared for us when we came down with colds or sore throats, and they introduced us to hot pot restaurants and to KTV (that is, karaoke, a common entertainment here). We met the universal and the particular in our host family homes. There were moments when we might well have been back home: Host dad holds the restaurant menu at arm’s length while insisting that he does not need glasses, and host mom rolls her eyes and shoots you a grin. At other times, the gap between expectations and assumptions was enormous, as when you had a fever and were given a dozen large capsules of traditional Chinese medicine and made to eat lots of hot food – and all you wanted was cool water and sleep. In all of these experiences of the foreign and the familiar, we learned about the ordinary lives of Chinese people, not as tourists or detached observers but as participants.
On Friday afternoon, October 10, we went to the Tian Lai Hotel on the east side of the Jialing River to prepare a room and practice our program. (The hotel is in Kiernan’s neighborhood.) A student food committee had bought food and drinks and ordered two large cakes. They had chosen a mix of Chinese and Western snacks, and set each table with a variety of food and treats.
About 7 p.m. host families began arriving, and soon laughter and conversation filled the room. We had a round of formal introductions at 7:30, with each SSTer standing and introducing her or his host family. Then we moved into the student program. The Goshen group had planned a 45-minute variety show. It began with one of the language classes singing a humorous song “Duibuqi, wo de zhongwen bu hao” (“Sorry, my Chinese is not good”) accompanied by music video sound track. The other language class followed with a rendition of Chinese pop song “Pengyou” (“Friend”). Three SSTers then did a choreographed dance routine to the current Chinese chart-topping hit “Xiao Pingguo” (“Little Apple”). The music took a more serious turn as Sam sang and played “The Fox,” an American folk, on his guitar, and SSTers who are part of the GC Women’s World Music Choir sang “Bring Me Little Water Sylvie.” Next, up was the trivia game show “How Much Do You Know About Your SSTer?” Show hosts Yuli and Amanda brought SSTers to the stage, three at a time, and read a little known fact that was true of one of the three. (Which SSTer has more than 5,000 Pokémon cards? Who enjoys spending time in swamps? and so on) An audience applause-meter recorded audience guesses as to whom the fact was true, and then Yuli revealed the answer, often to surprised laughter. The program ended with the entire SST group harmonizing on the hymn “Be Thou My Vision.”
After the program concluded, table conversations resumed and eventually families began departing into the night with lots of laughter, good memories, and best wishes for the next chapter in our China adventure.
