Our Class

With the lunar new year approaching, my son's second-grade teacher asked if I could visit his class and tell the kids about Chinese New Year. She gave me an hour for my presentation.

The first time I gave a presentation on Chinese New Year was nine years ago, when my oldest son was three. I've done it every year since. It doesn't take that much effort, and I always get a big kick out of seeing the kids have so much fun.

The United States, as a country of immigrants, is the most culturally diverse nation on earth. In school our children have to learn about the lunar new year (Chinese), Valentine's Day (from Rome), St. Patrick's Day (Irish), Easter and Christmas (Christian), Kwanzaa (African), and Hannukah (Jewish).

When the time came, I got everything ready and went to school to tell the students about Chinese New Year.

I wore a bright red Chinese jacket with gold embroidery and took the cotton-stuffed jacket that my son had worn as a tot. I also took a "watermelon cap" (gua pi mao) to show the kids. If you've ever been to a gift shop where they sell typical Chinese souvenirs, you will have seen a watermelon cap. It consists of six triangular pieces of brightly colored cloth sewn into a round little cap. The shape calls to mind the cut off tip of an elongated watermelon, which is why we call it a watermelon cap. The kids were really curious about the jacket and cap, and clamored for my son to put them on. With his cap on my son looked quite Chinese, and the other kids kept saying how cool he looked. My son was a bit shy about all the praise, but he looked up at me with a huge smile on his face.

I had the students use chopsticks to pick up cheeseballs, a task which they found quite challenging. They lined up and took turns one by one. After each student completed the task successfully, the next would step up and try his hand. The most delightful surprise of all was the way the kids encouraged someone when they dropped a cheeseball. They would say, "Hey, you were doin' good! Give it another try!" Some took to the chopsticks like a duck to water, and the kids were generous in their praise: "Wow, you're really good!" As I stood off to one side, some of the kids would ask me how I managed to hold the chopsticks firm and still operate them so easily. The kids waited their turn very politely without fighting, and I never heard anybody making fun of anybody or causing trouble.

Next I took out some red construction paper and instructed them to fold it into a diamond shape. Then I used a brush to write Chinese characters on the paper. After they saw me writing the standard characters associated with Chinese New Year's, such as "spring" (chun) and "good fortune" (fu), they started asking how to write the characters for "good luck," "dragon," "snake," and the like. I wrote the characters on the blackboard and the kids copied them using markers.

One of the students asked me to write Chinese characters by brush for everybody to take home, and I gladly complied. Time ran out before I could write something for everybody, and all the kids still waiting were anxious to get something. The teacher said I could write three more. I quickly dashed off a couple characters for "spring" and "good fortune" when a boy reached his hand way out from where he was standing in back of everyone. He clearly wanted it very badly.

The teacher explained, "Paul has just immigrated here from Russia." I was taken by surprise for a second. Then I asked Paul, "What would you like for me to write?" Paul said, "Write 'good luck.' I want to mail it to my grandmother. She still lives in Russia."

The thought of Russia brought to mind the images I had seen on TV. Cold winters, energy shortages, people freezing to death, icicles forming inside homes. . .

I wrote out the characters for "good luck" and handed the paper to Paul, and he thanked me shyly. My heart melted as I watched him carefully place the paper on his desk.

The next day I received a thank-you note from the class. They had drawn pictures and written a lot of thank you messages on the card.

I sent an e-mail to the teacher to thank her for giving me the chance to share Chinese culture with the class. I was very impressed with how well the kids paid attention, how friendly they were, and how interested they were in learning about a new culture.

When we open up the door and let the sun shine in, we find that the light of day is a very inviting thing. In these kids' faces I saw all that is good in human nature-sincerity, a capacity for mutual understanding, and hearts full of gratitude.

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(facing page) Dressed in the bright colors traditionally associated with happy occasions in Chinese culture, I tell my son's class about the origins and stories connected with Chinese New Year. The kids are all ears!

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These American kids try their best to use chopsticks, and my son helps his classmates get the hang of it.