[Originally posted on the Student Ambassador blog]
My job prior to being a USA Pavilion Student Ambassador was as an English teacher at a local kindergarten in Shanghai. A bit of a random job for an International Studies/International Business graduate student in Shanghai, but you do what you have to do in order to pay for food and rent. My time as an English teacher showed me that Chinese children are no different from American children; they are curious about the world around them and (most) love to talk.
One of the fun things that we Student Ambassadors get to do is to spend some time playing with Chinese children waiting in the queue line. Children (no matter where they are in the world) get bored easily and this is especially true when they have to wait their turn for something. Student Ambassadors will oftentimes spend a few minutes entertaining Chinese children in Mandarin Chinese. I once had a group of 5 antsy Chinese children end up in the front of the queue line, right at the cut off for the next group to enter the USA Pavilion (10 minutes wait). How do you keep little kids from running around and driving both their tired parents and the busy Student Ambassadors crazy? You teach them something! Kids love to pretend they are back at school, right? ... Right? Maybe?
Well, first you loosen them up and gain their trust by telling jokes. Student Ambassadors have a handful of jokes handy for moments like this when the crowd is restless and there is time to kill.
Q: 哪一种茶是不能喝的？ What type of tea (cha) can you not drink?
A: 警察! The police! (jing cha)
Corny, I know. But our target audience loves it. My audience of 5 that day got pretty competitive after I told them there was a prize to whoever got the answer first (they could be the first to enter the USA Pavilion). One girl of about 4 years old gave me a serious look and said “You can’t drink poisonous tea.” Sorry kid, wrong. This answer was not incorrect but it wasn’t quite what I was looking for. They were never able to get the answer (I win!) so we moved onto the next thing I knew I could do that would make both parents and kids smile. Quick (not to mention free!) English speaking practice. From a REAL American! At the USA Pavilion! It doesn’t get better than this folks.
“Hello”
“Hello”
“How are you?”
“I’m fine, thank you. And you?” (By the way, this seems to be the official answer all Chinese students must learn ... just about everyone gives this answer).
“I’m fine, thank you. What’s your name?”
“My name is William.”
I learned that William’s cousin was named Sweet (yes, Sweet. Not a typo). The serious 4 year old girl who doesn’t drink poisonous tea was named Rose. Another girl was named Angel ... because she was her parent’s little angel. And then there was another boy - William’s other cousin - who remained quiet.
“Hi, what’s your name?”
“他没有英文名子, 他没学过英文” He doesn’t have an English name, he hasn’t learned English yet.
“我给你一个英文名字好不好?” How about if I give you an English name?
Parents and child nod enthusiastically.
“我的弟弟叫 Andrew ... 我叫你 Andy 好吗？ 喜欢吗?” My younger brother’s name is Andrew ... how about Andy? Do you like it?
“Andy? ... 好听, 好拼. 说 “thank you”” Sounds nice and it’s easy to spell. Say “thank you.”
The boy smiles and says, “Thank you.”
So what’s the best souvenir you can get for your child from the Expo? It’s not a stuffed Haibao (海宝 the Expo’s mascot) doll or an Expo passport for the purposes of collecting country stamps. It’s a real English name from a real American.
