SPAS Reporting: International Students Amaze at Beijing-wide Chinese Contest

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 02:00:00 +0000

At the Beijing International Students’ Chinese Contest, the Saint Paul American School (SPAS) Chinese Rock Band and xiangsheng team stunned the audience with their musical performance and witty xiangsheng dialogue. The two-day contest took place on Monday, November 19 and Tuesday, November 20, and SPAS had two of 35 teams from schools around Beijing to show off their talents and superior Chinese skills.

SPAS Chinese Rock Band and xiangsheng team represented the Number 2 High School attached to Beijing Normal University. SPAS band members stunned with a love duet called Liang Shanbo yu Zhu Liye. I was the band’s pianist, and performed with guitarist Jack Lee, 17; drum player Kevin Wang, 17; and vocalists Tiffany Woo, 16, and David Yoon, 18. After the performance, Tiffany said with a smile, “I’m so proud of our band members! Although we didn’t have enough time to practice, we still made it, and I’m overall very satisfied with how the performance went. Singing on this big stage with our members was a nervous but exciting experience I’ll never forget in my life.”

Along with musical talents, comedic performances also took center stage during the event.

Xiangsheng, also known as a comic cross talk, is a type of satire that is unique to Chinese culture. The comedians often perform as a duo, and toss funny remarks back and forth to criticize social issues in a jocular manner. For this contest, the SPAS xiangsheng team practiced for months and finally performed Dahuapengdou, in which two xiangsheng roles, dougen and penggen argue to see who is more important; dougen speaks more and tells jokes, while penggen embellishes the jokes with comical reactions. In this xiangsheng, Chisom Onyishi, 16, a Nigerian student, played dougen, and Suzy Kim, 16, Korean student, played penggen. Their hilarious gestures and lines continued to cause laughter in the audience the entire time. “I feel so lucky to have this opportunity to perform in front of a large audience. And I’d like to thank Chisom and our Chinese teacher especially for helping me to turn this stage into a success. Thank you so much!” Suzy said, after performing on stage.

The contest, which was sponsored by Beijing Hongxin Huihuang Technology Development of International Education, international students from many different schools in Beijing came together to showcase their showed off their talents and superior Chinese skills. Other schools present at the competition were from Beijing Fangcaodi International School, Beijing Jingyuan School, Beijing Bacui Bilingual School, Beijing Dongfang Decai School, Beijing Wangjing Experimental School, Beijing Huiwen Middle School, Beijing Number 39 High School, and Beijing Ticai School.

Often times when studying Chinese, international students forget that a big part of language is simply learning to enjoy the culture of the country. This contest was a forum for students to kick back, laugh, sing, and appreciate the unique culture of China they have been immersed in for their high school experience than merely showing off how many characters they recognized.

Sally, 17, is the beijingkids student correspondent for Saint Paul American School. She is in her senior year and has attended Saint Paul for five years. Currently, she is the co-editor of the student newsletter, the president of the volunteer club, and a girls’ basketball player. Through her blog posts, she hopes to share unique and exciting experiences at Saint Paul!

The beijingkids student correspondent program gives high school students with an interest in writing and journalism a resource for guidance, feedback, and real-life training. If you are a student interested in becoming a beijingkids student correspondent, or you know a student who is, please contact ellisfriedman@beijing-kids.com

Photos courtesy of SPAS

SPAS Reporting: What is Life Like in a Boarding School?

Among the many international schools in Beijing, there is only one boarding school: Saint Paul American School (SPAS). Students at SPAS live in dormitories, where they spend about 13 hours a day, and they live with one or two other roommates who have different cultural backgrounds. Because we live at school, students enjoy relative independence and freedom from his or her parents, but living at school can be bittersweet.

Dorm life

You have really close “neighbors” who are literally right next door, and the room you live in with your roommates is your home. The hardest thing about dorm life is the absence of your family. Living away from your family can feel lonely at times, and you may feel desperate to go back to your real home. Things that you were insensitive to when you lived in your house are now crucial in your new accommodations. You have to respect people around you all the time. This means basic manners like wearing earphones when listening to music, turning the lights off when your roommates are sleeping, buying internet cards which last for a month at a time, and keeping your bed and desk clean. If you are one of the unique people who wake up early in the morning, everyone in your wing will love your morning call at 7:00 every day, too…seriously. Every day, you will see people brushing their teeth, pouring hot water in cup noodles, practicing dancing in the corner, and working on group projects in the lounge. Your fellow students are always there.

Roommates play a vital role in dorm life. They are your family, the ones who you can rely on the most. Before you go to bed, talking with your roommates about ongoing school issues, how your day was, and even about your concerns really helps you to feel that you are not alone, and that you have people who support and care about you.

I live with another senior who is currently working on college applications. We often talk about how we feel both anxious and excited about leaving high school and going into a completely new university environment. These conversations have developed a bond of sympathy between us, and I feel much more relaxed about the emotional burden and apprehensions. We laugh together, cry together, and sometimes, we all go crazy together. Living in a dorm with your roommates has the ability to leave a warm, everlasting companionship in your heart.

School life

In a boarding school, everyone stays very connected with one another. In China, where Facebook and Twitter are blocked, students at SPAS are all connected by online or mobile messengers such as Skype, MSN, and Kakaotalk. Kakaotalk is a started as a common network among Korean students but soon became a boom among other international students. Due to such close relationships, even a petty matter becomes gossip. It’s just a matter of time before the entire school knows if you break up, fight with your friends, or say something stupid. You should only divulge your top-secrets to friends who are 100 percent reliable. If not, your secret will be a widely known fact in school. But that connectedness has a positive side, too: Take something like birthdays, for example. In band, students play a surprise birthday song as soon as our conductor holds the baton. At night after study hall, they hold a surprise birthday party in an empty classroom. They also design a card board with little birthday comments and pictures from every student.

Photo by Sally Kang

Sally Kang – Beijing Kids

SPAS Reporting: International Students Amaze at Beijing-wide Chinese Contest

SPAS Reporting: What is Life Like in a Boarding School?