An English Teacher in China: The Great Snowball Fight!

Langfang Oral English Class #1

It has been snowing in Langfang all throughout the night and on into this morning. Nearly two inches of snow had accumulated once it was all over. Several businesses and schools in the area had a morning delay before getting started but not Langfang Teachers College. We were still right on schedule. I loaded up my backpack with my teaching supplies, hopped on my bike, zipped up my coat, and slowly peddled my way to class.

I made my way down the snow covered streets making sure to keep my steering as straight as possible. I own a speed bike, which is great for going fast, but the light weight frame is terrible on slippery surfaces. So I made sure to travel at a slow pace. I slid only a couple of times but mostly I was alright. I made it to the campus in one piece and that’s all that really matters.

Finals are quickly approaching and today’s class was a review of the whole semester. It is tedious work to go through an entire semester’s worth of learning in a single hour. However, we kept calm and pressed on. I could visually see the spirits of my students deflate as I explained the nature of the final exam. It isn’t a hard exam but it is going to be a lot of work. They know this and it was clearly causing stress. I can’t blame them. I always hated review day. However, it is a necessary evil of the whole college learning process.

Now that the first hour of teaching was complete I just couldn’t take it anymore. I had been glancing out the classroom window far too many times and the snow’s beacon call was too strong to resist. It was just too beautiful. As soon as the second half of the class began I grabbed my coat and invited everyone to join me outside for a snowball fight. I was first met with short period of disbelief from the students before sheer glee overwhelmed the classroom. They all cheered, then grabbed their coats, and then we were off outside.

Our class “field trip” took us to the front of building 10 where an undisturbed field of freshly fallen snow was ours for the picking. We were hardly there for a second before I had ten snowballs flying in my direction. The fight was on and snowballs filled the air. The students threw snowballs at me, I threw snowballs at them, and they threw snowballs at each other. It was a lot of fun. It was time for the class to end and none of them wanted to stop. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end but I promised them that we’d do it again sometime.

Some people may be wondering how I can justify sacrificing an hour of class time to play in the snow. But I don’t view this time as a sacrifice. On the contrary, I view it as highly motivating. The students were stressed about the upcoming final exam and it showed. I could see how burdened and overwhelmed they had become. A simple snowball fight turned those frowns upside-down. The students were laughing, having fun, and they were releasing some of that pressure that had been building. It was good for their health and their morale… Although they had still better watch out because a snowball still might still be coming their way!