Picnicking Chinese Style

Earlier this week, some students invited me to join their class picnic. While I did not teach them this semester, I had taught their class for two years, so knew the students quite well. In the midst of giving and grading finals, not to mention sorting, trashing and packing, the idea of heading off to a picnic for a few hours was a bit stress inducing. However, as in most cases when you choose people over tasks, it ended up being entirely worth it.

I absolutely love getting to see my students outside of the classroom environment. Their personalities tend to be brought out in bolder relief, and laughter comes a bit easier.

You may wonder what exactly a Chinese picnic looks like, since much of Chinese food isn’t exactly conducive to transport and outdoor eating. However, they have their own version of “sandwiches”…veggies and cilantro wrapped in tofu. Let’s just say I was quite pleased in my decision to bring along a PB&J sandwich.

Seth, who taught the class this semester, was also along for the fun. He elected to bring some tuna, and apparently found it necessary to hide in the bushes while he ate it.

After eating, it was time to “play.” Playtime included bubbles.

And card games.

I joined in a game either called “Wolves” or “Killer,” which is a Chinese version of Mafia.

Once again, this let me into a whole new side of my students.

For my sake, they tried to do all of the discussion of accusations in English, although when they got really excited they’d go off into Chinese.

The townspeople won one game, and the wolves won another. In the process, despite the various murders, great fun was had.

The last item on the picnic agenda was photos. I’m going to miss these girls.