"Sour, Sweet, Bitter, Spicy"

At church last week I met a delightful Chinese woman, Min, who invited me over to their apartment for lunch this Sunday. I immediately accepted the offer since I know it's very rare for a Westerner to be invited into a Chinese home.

Min is an instructor of English at Wuhan University and has taught there for a total of 10 years. Her husband, Lin, is a professor of Chemistry, but he also does a lot of research on how drugs can be improved. They have a delightful little girl, Mary Ann, who Min jokes is a "Texan" since she was born nearly four years ago when she and her husband lived in Austin when he was a visiting scholar at the University of Texas. Like her parents, she's bi-lingual. (And actually talked a lot of English with me.)

We jumped into their car after church with Lin driving; Min and I took to the back with Mary Ann between us. Within three minutes Mary Ann made it clear I had a job to do during our drive. I yielded and read three Telitubies stories to her, complete with sound effects. Apparently she is fully in love with all the characters—whose names now escape me. Min said it was nice she didn't have to read this time and she enjoyed listening to me enunciate the English text (since clearly I couldn't read the Chinese).

While this two-level entertainment theatre took place in the back seat, Lin drove us to Wuhan University. A very nice looking campus, they gave me an insightful tour of central China's oldest (over 100 years) and most prestigious university. What this means is the students they teach scored higher on the national college entrance exams than the ones I teach and, therefore, had the opportunity to attend Wuhan University.

Because the weather took a major reversal—it was in the mid-70s and I was sweating like a pig last Sunday—we were all bundled up to the eyeballs against the cold and bitter winds. We did most of our sightseeing from the comfort of their warm car. Afterwards we arrived at their faculty housing and climbed the stairs to their sixth floor apartment.

Min chopped all the ingredients for our meal; Lin assumed chef and master of the wok responsibilities. I served as the entertainment center for Mary Ann. After coloring, putting her three Telitubbies to bed in my lap, along with her bear nestled in my right arm, and discovering the wonders of tossing balls, lunch was served.

As we finished dining, Min shared a Chinese idiom that I found fascinating. "Sour, Sweet, Bitter and Spicy...and for teachers this is especially true." I asked her to explain this. Min said this phrase is applied in China to mean this is how life is...you have these types of moments....and from her perspective, teachers have them more than others. For the next hour we discussed, given a teacher's perspective, what would constitute each of these stages for us.

We quickly agreed that "sweet" was when a student learned in our classes and that they told you this so you could share in knowing what you did made a difference. This is why we enjoy teaching, for these "sweet" moments.

"Sour" is when you have a good student, but there are aspects of his/her attitude or behavior that makes the experience more difficult. (We shared current examples!) But that you could see progress. And in the end, the student would be successful, but perhaps not with you.

After much discussion and sharing of current, specific experiences we decided that "bitter" was those times where you'd just rather not have, either in a classroom or with a specific student. These were the moments when you thought, "Why am I doing this?"

Then our definition moved to "spicy". After considering this thoughtfully we concluded this is when a student is very demanding, sometimes challenging with negative overtones, (like one student I currently have who feels it's his job to tell me how to teach). But in the end the dialog you develop through these "spicy" times becomes an experience where both student and teacher can learn.

Sharing cultural idioms—Chinese with Americans and Americans with Chinese—is one of the many facets of living here I really enjoy. It shows how much commonality we truly share, despite cultures, and gives wonderful cultural insights. I had a delightful day with Min, Lin, and Mary Ann. Thank you, my new friends, for inviting me to visit and share wonderful food and fellowship with your family.