Token laowai ....... again

Once again, I played the role of token laowai at an official event yesterday. The occasion was the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China and it also happened to be Teachers Day here in China (happy Teachers Day to all teachers!) Belynda and I were whisked off to the afternoon event where we were entertained by 27 musical and theatrical performances by Chinese students and Chinese teachers....yes, that's right the teachers performed! Which we found quite amusing because earlier this week, we were told that EtonHouse teachers had to rehearse and perform a song at a similar upcoming event. Ah, no. There is no way that I will be getting on a stage and singing to an audience....in Mandarin! (not unless there is an audience of less than 5 and we can all drink copious amounts of beer first which would be needed for the audience if I were to sing). Not going to happen. So, I found it hilarious that so many teachers would readily agree to this. Whilst all 27 performances were occuring, there was a big screen behind them showing a series of random images - Wuxi factories, the Wuxi skyline, pictures of nature and a huge selection of images of Chairman Mao during his reign. Notice the lack of pictures of schools with students and teachers? Funny, considering that this is what we were meant to be celebrating. Perhaps the most random images were those of the railway line that was recently (2006) built in Tibet. This footage screened whilst the token minority Tibetan dance was performed. Obviously, the irony of Tibet featuring in what was essentially a celebration of the Cultural Revolution, escaped the organisers. In between the ear splitting singing of traditional Chinese songs and the beautifully choreographed modern dances was the presentation of the National Teaching Awards. Winners from all over China were gathered to receive a huge bunch of flowers and other gifts. This led me to wonder, what constitutes good teaching in China? Is it how many students can you fit into your classroom? Or perhaps how many textbooks you can get through in a year? Who knows. After two hours of showing our white faces (there was one dedicated laowai row), we were excused and sent home. Quite frankly, I'm getting a little tired of having to appear at things just because I have a white face - imagine if, in Australia, we started including people just because they have brown or black skin? It simply wouldn't be allowed to happen.