Happy Birthday JLNU!

This week the school celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. The remarkable thing is that my company has had teachers here for half of that history. In recognition of that fact, our company's president was in town to commemorate the occasion.

The campus hasn't looked quite this spectacular since I moved here two years ago. The buildings around the main square all got fluorescent light outlines, new statues were placed, and new fountains installed. Balloons were inflated and flags were placed just about anywhere one could think to put a flag. Huge banners hung down the ten stories of the first teaching building. The second teaching building, a somewhat drab building, got a small face lift by way of student made decorations on all of the classroom walls. One such decoration was written in English and had the title of "Friends" with the following phrases written below:

I won't let her without a fight.
It could happen to everyone.
I'm a laundry virgin.
Why don't we give this a try.
End.

I must confess that I spent a few moments of my students journal writing time chuckling at this somewhat random assortment of phrases, especially "I'm a laundry virgin". Don't ask me why that's there--three years in China and I haven't a clue.

Thursday night featured performances that students had been working on for months. Most of the performers were from the art and music department, which added a class and talent level beyond which I've witnessed before. The highlight (among many) for me was the dance labeled by Sonny as the "Tibetan Jack Sparrows". If you look below, you'll see the costumes do have quite the Jack Sparrow vibe. Regardless, the dance was phenomenal.


Friday morning was slightly less entertaining for us foreigners, as we got to practice our Chinese listening to the ten speeches of the official anniversary ceremony. However, it was fun to hear our president give his speech.

Lastly, the birthday of the school has provided me with my two minutes of fame. I was somehow chosen to be the token foreigner in the anniversary book, or as Sonny says, the "foreign eye candy". I guess it doesn't really count as my few minutes of fame, since my name isn't even listed. I am simply "A foreign teacher teaching".