'Jingle-belling' in China
Chinese students learning English catch the Christmas spirit as they sing carols to college classmates and staff.
By Connie Wieckfrom the December 18, 2007 edition
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In China, my college sophomores are a difficult lot.
When they were freshmen, I was adored as their first American foreign-language teacher. Every English lesson and activity we did was joyfully embraced as new, exciting, and wonderfully different.
But as sophomores, everything becomes old hat. They slump in their seats. They doze on their desktops. They play with their cellphones. I especially struggle around Christmastime. No matter how I tweak or change the lessons, our Christmas unit always loses something the second time around.
Last year, I changed all that. We needed a new experience. Forget the tree decorating, party, and gift exchange. This time there would be campus Christmas caroling.
I had always wanted to do Christmas caroling with my students at Luzhou Vocational and Technical College. Each year, I taught the freshmen a variety of winter holiday songs. "Jingle Bells," "Silent Night," and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" were among their favorites.
Yet with my busy teaching schedule, a full evening of caroling was never at the top of my priority list. The custom, too, is so alien in China. Our trek across campus might be seen as an unwanted musical invasion rather than a welcoming holiday serenade.
Despite my reservations, last year I gathered my sophomore classes to pitch the caroling proposal. I detailed our possible outing together and waited for a response.
A hand went up.
"So ... we miss evening study hours?" one student asked with great hope.
"Right," I affirmed. "No evening study hours."
Unanimously, the Christmas caroling was approved.
On the appointed evening, I scheduled a precaroling practice session one hour before we embarked on our campus parade. More than 100 students crammed into the small lecture hall to await my instructions.
I went over the walking route on the blackboard. I handed out candles and song sheets. We practiced the carols we'd sing. Then, at my signal, we headed out into the chilly night air.
Our first stop was the school cafeteria, where workers were cleaning up after dinner. The students gathered around for our opening number, "We Wish You A Merry Christmas." Candles were lit. Song sheets were held high. The opening note was given.
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