Voice of Will: Surreal

2004-09-17 - 11:18 p.m.
So the school I'm teaching at started 2 weeks ago, but this weekend is parents weekend, and the freshmen arrive this weekend, so there are lots of events going on on campus.

First some background. SIAS is the first American owned college in China. It is owned by a chinese national who has dual citizenship in the US. It was started 6 years ago with 200 students, and 13 teachers. Today there are 10000 students, and I believe over 250 instructors. SIAS offers the largest number of foreign faculty of any college in china.

So we go to one of the events, an evening "concert." I put "" around that word because it is very similar to a battle of the bands and kereoke (sp) at the same time. So we are watching the beginning, and there is a delay. One of the foreign teachers who speaks incredible chinese gets up with a guitar and starts working the crowd (about 1000 students, faculty, the owner and his parents, and faculty from neighboring schools. It is also being broadcast via FM radio and some television in the province) Well the foreign teacher thinks it should be fun to get other foreign teachers on stage. Guess who is the only ones to answer his call? My kids.
So we go down the stairs, the crowd parts like j-lo for a new fiancee and we find ourselves on stage. And we sing " If your happy and you know it clap your hands.... "

Now I'll give you a minute to digest this mental picture. An amphitheatre with 1000 chinese nationals who speak about grade school english, singing and dancing to "If your happy and you know it..." That is not to mention picturing me, and the kids doing this on stage. Needless to say it was a lot of fun, and the audience loved the kids. My kids are hams and loved it.

so we get off stage to thunderous applause, and the band who set up behind us starts the opening chords for "Hotel California." This stops me almost dead in my tracks. Then I hear the song.... in chinese.
so I get the kids to bed, and go out with some new friends to a local food place. I have a Fosters beer in one hand, a pepperoni (fake) pizza (real cheese though) in the other hand, and I hear rap from the CD player. "In the citttyyyy of compton!"

Yes the surrealism is complete, I can feel my eyeballs go 'click'.


Will