(Lovely!) Oddities of China Life (Part 3)

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The first time we were given apples as a thank you gift - real teachers now!

Students really appreciate their teachers in China and always seem to look out for us especially as we're new and foreign. Students often come round and give us little gifts to thank us for teaching them and are always looking to share things with us. After lessons, students will hand chocolate or sweets up to you and during English Corner some girls bought me ice cream and juice during the start of the hot weather.  If students run into us in town, we usually get invited to eat dinner out with them and no matter how hard we try they always insist they'll treat us to our meal! If students go back to their hometown they often bring back local delicacies for us to try. We've been able to try very interesting things such as lotus root powder soup and soybean sugar sweets!

One day some students knocked on the door and told me to "Turn my head" - I wasn't sure what they meant. Then after I turned around, they shouted "For you!" and pushed a little golden box into my hand. Inside were sunflower seeds that had been soaked in tea to give them a sweet and fragrant flavour. It was a very sweet gift and I was really touched by how much effort they put into wrapping and presenting the gift.

Everyone is incredibly happy to share things and this is a lot like Fiji. If students go out for dinner together or take a taxi, one person usually pays for the meal or for the journey. They know that their friends will treat them at another point in the future and they don't sit there quibbling over the bill and counting pennies to make sure everyone pays for their exact share. It's just so nice being in such a relaxed and generous culture.