I love watching freshmen. I love thinking about all the ways their lives change after starting college. You can practically see their hopes written on their foreheads. Will I like my roommates? Will I find a boyfriend? Will I be able to keep up with my school work? When will I find a boyfriend? What if I don't like my major? Will I miss home? Can I really do this? Ooh, he's cute.... The eighteen and nineteen year-olds come to the campus, get their dorm assignment, buy some cheap plastic goods to fill their corner, and start aimlessly wandering around in groups of three or four. Boot camp starts and then they wander around aimlessly in groups of three or four wearing camouflage. Then you really know the new school year has begun.
Line up! Two, three, four!
Pick it up! Two, three, four!
Being a part of the International Students Association, I get the opportunity to stand behind the table at recruitment sessions. I arrive a little late but Vikki, last year's new recruit ushers me to her side. We talk like old friends. Here's the difference between freshmen and sophomores: Frosh don't talk. After her interview last term, Vikki and I barely said two words to each other the entire semester, most of our communication being through texts from her reminding me about upcoming activities (as co vice-pres you would think it would be the other way around, but not here). This term she's all too happy to relate her summer and find out about mine.
As we chat, freshmen come up in pairs to sign up for our club. I like the ones who watch me from the corner of their eye, and who, once I'm finished, tell me my Chinese is good. My Chinese isn't worth commenting on, but it's that they listen on the sly, obviously wanting to say something more than just "you're the first foreigner I've ever talked to." There are also the really shy ones. I ask if they are nervous about starting university, to which they only nod vigorously. Unfortunately, I don't see any boys this go-around. But then again, we're a teachers college--there aren't a lot of boys to begin with.
One girl wearing a gold sweater and sporting a cute bob, both new purchases, I'm sure, comes by with her shy friend. The friend sticks to the script most students have been going by, but the girl in the gold raises her voice and acts like a brand of freshman I don't usually see in China. She exudes the kind of blown-up confidence and fake-it-til-you-make-it attitude I've only ever seen on American campuses. She begins asking us "mei nu's," (pretty girls, she calls us, and total strangers), for our phone numbers, starting with mine. I give it to her, knowing she'll forget about it as so many students have in the past. Vikki politely declines the request, saying pragmatically, "No need! We'll call you for the interview and then you'll have it." Talk about the perfect recruit. Diplomacy, confidence, and a pretty face. Take heed, First Years, take heed.
Meanwhile, when I'm not observing the Frosh, I'm playing with 3 year-olds. In a bid to build a partnership with a local preschool, I agree to teach a few classes once a week. I teach kids with names like Xixi (she-she), Haohao, and Feifei the songs Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree and Do As I'm Doing (both from the LDS primary songbook). They don't sing much, and they take a while to get the movements down, but they are entranced by me and are uber adorable to boot! Unfortunately, however, they keep me too busy to take pictures.
Speaking of cuteness, DA3 decided he wanted to be a freshman again and arrived just in time for line-up.
Sticking out like a sore, blue thumb, DA3
Ironically, it is difficult to hide among the camo-clad
All the students snickered, that is until DA3 got caught. I love the looks on their faces when they see a Waiguoren do something unexpected!
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