Students and Spoons

This past Thursday, one class of Freshman students came to my apartment for a last "office time" of sorts. Some of them brought a few vegetables and cooked up a couple dishes, the rest of us just played games. There is something really endearing that a group of 19 year old students is content to play Bingo and Spoons for an hour and a half. I don't think students in the states would that easily be pacified with these two simple games. On the contrary, these students were really pumped to learn some new games and didn't seem phased at all by the relatively simple concepts of both games; it was fun to see their excitement.

These girls were in the semi-finals for spoons. I couldn't help but point out that they were all also local Hengyang students. It just goes to show the spicy spirit of the local Hengyang people. (They also laughed when I pointed this out.)

Sometime during the crowded chaos, a girl student came up to me: "Ms. Strasser, something very bad happened." I immediately know that something in my outdated apartment has broken. She continues sheepishly, "The curtain in the bathroom is broken."
"It's okay," I reassure her. But in my head, I'm thinking "Oh crap. Who is going to help me fix the curtain. How will I shower without a curtain in the bathroom? Why did she have to mess with the curtain to use the toilet" and so on.
But, then I realize my good fortune to have the 3 guys in the class also present at this time.
"Ken, if I give you a hammer, can you help me fix the curtain" I ask the tallest guy student.
"Okay, sure." he eagerly agrees. And off he and the other two boy students go to fix the curtain. About 3 minutes later, they happily report the problem is solved; the curtain is fixed. Warm fuzzy feelings towards students restored.