Yes, that was me you saw on Lincang local television.

What’s great about our school is that it’s a little insular community.  Both teachers and students live in dorms (different buildings) during the week and all live and work in the same couple hundred-foot radius.  On sunny days several local teachers will sit outside on stools, eating sunflower seeds and chatting.  They’re our coworkers and our neighbors, so getting to know the local teachers has been really important and really FUN.

The moment we felt like we’d really been accepted into the inner circle was when Kaede, Wang Yong, and I were asked to be in a skit that several local teachers were performing in a government sponsored talent show for all of the villages surrounding Lincang.  We didn’t know we’d be performing for a packed auditorium of party officials and friends when we agreed.  I for one thought we’d only be performing it in front of the school, and didn’t understand that this was kind of a big deal until we were forced to skip school for three days and showed up at the big auditorium for our dress rehearsal. I probably should have realized, considering the number of hours we’d spent rehearsing at one of the teachers’ homes over the weekend.

The skit was called “Tomorrow Will Be Better” and chronicled the story of a young girl who’s father works in the fields and then plays cards and drinks all night.  The girl drops out of school very young to have a baby and later expresses her regret that she couldn’t keep studying, the message being that education is very important and it’s up to the entire community to support our children.  The skit contained a handful of dance numbers and two uplifting ballads.    Kaede played the young girl, Wang Yong one of the other fathers, and I the incredibly challenging part of the “foreign teacher.”  It was kind of a stretch and required a bit of research.  The skit ended with all of us holding each other’s hands above our heads and swaying back and forth.

We unfortunately did not with the competition, but Kaede and I did manage to catch the attention of the people running the event.  They asked us if we would perform an American song or dance for their big closing exhibition the next night.  This was one of the first times I ever truly and firmly tried to say “no” to a Chinese person I was supposed to respect.  Our lives here sometimes feel like day after day of head nodding and doing what our principals, and the various important people our principals introduce us to, tell us.  We try never to give an outright “no” to any request.  It’s not “no I don’t want to go to your house for a drink,” but “I’m sorry I really need to write some lesson plans and I’m very tired.”  Or we just go to their house for a drink.

In this case, I came outright and said, “no I really don’t want to perform, just the three of us, in front of an entire auditorium of people.”  Unfortunately, one of our local teachers had already promised our services.  We were trapped.  Because we didn’t have any traditional American culture to whip out and wow them with, we decided to learn a very old and famous Lincang area song, thinking we’d win the crowd over by appealing to their local pride.

Backstage, as we were about to go on, they sprung on us that we’d have to answer questions about what we loved about Lincang after we sang.  I rehearsed a quick answer about how I liked my students and spicy food most of all.  It wasn’t until I was onstage that I saw the enormous TV video cameras.  Next week my students told me they’d seen me singing on TV.  Then some local teachers told me the same thing.  Then some of my student’s parents.  Then the doctor at the hospital where I was getting my required Visa health examination.

Thus began my life as a local celebrity.  So far I’ve been able to retain a good degree of normalcy in my life, us famous people tend to have trouble with that.