At this exact moment, every third grader at Ba Zhou Petroleum No. 1 Middle School is in possession of a recorder. The children call them their "flutes," which is charming, but a recorder by any other name...
And in the past two weeks, I would estimate that I have been regaled with Mary Had a Little Lamb no less than 19,283,107 times. The children rush at me, thrusting their "flutes" forward with a proud, "Teacher! Teacher!"
What I think: "Noooooo..."
What I say: "Hooray! Play a song for me!"
This is when Mary's little lamb, from the sound of things, begins staggering around the barnyard, its fleece matted with mud and straw, suffering mightily with a raging case of coccidiosis. The happy news is that, with a final squawking, triumphant note, the lamb survives. Barely.
The children are so happy and proud when they finish that it's all I can do not to bawl with delight -- Joy of accomplishment! Joy of music! -- and relief. Instead, I mentally compose a correspondence:
Dear My Sister,
As I recall, I laughed unsympathetically every time your kids brought home a recorder. Wow, am I sorry.
Your loving sister,
In sackcloth,
Rachel
Now, I'm left to dread the arrival of hot cross buns.
hi rach! so obviously, didn't make it out to china for spring break, but it is still def. on my list of must do's! so have to share, i called my mom last night and read her this post and a couple of others from your blog, we both could not stop laughing. she kept saying to me, she is such a cute girl and so talented! i think you have a new reader :)
ReplyDeleteHello dear Rachie. I hope you are doing well. I love this latest post! I passed it along to my future sis-in-law, who adopted a little girl from China last year and is also a school teacher. She loved it!
ReplyDeleteI heart a recorder! It brings back such fond memories of fourth grade - where in UT you study Utah history. We also had the choice of learning to play a recorder or a ukulele. I picked the recorder.
We all learned "We Are Marching to Brontosaurus Land" .. which was set to a jaunty little tune that began with "I'm with you and you're with me and so we will sing together .."
I remember a parent day was held and we had a concert. Such fun, innocent times. Sigh.