If You Give a Mouse a Cookie....

No matter what Pittsburgh Dad has to say about it, sometimes If You Give a Mouse a Cookie... really is where it's at.

At least, it perfectly described how I felt this morning in my first class.

Please keep in mind that sometimes I can guess how my classes will react to certain situations. For instance, if I walk into a wall to illustrate my point in telling them a story, it is highly likely that they will laugh. If I give them a quiz, they will groan. If they are speaking Chinese in their group during class and I walk over, they will smack each other and say, "Speak English!!!" (And then I will laugh.) If, when it is time for break, I yell, "SPEAK CHINESE!" they will laugh.

Sometimes, though, I fail miserably at predicting how they'll respond to things that I do, and sometimes all that I can say to myself is, Well, you should have seen that coming.

This week all of my classes are reviewing main points of the material we've covered over the semester in preparation for their final exam, which will be spread over the next two weeks. Also, we are talking about Christmas. Part of talking about Christmas means talking about various traditions and where they came from (trees, lights, gifts, caroling, etc) and then part of it is them guessing what I do for Christmas. So there were various questions, like, "What do you think I eat on Christmas?" "What do you think I do on Christmas Eve?" "What kind of cookies does my family make?"

Here's the question that was the kicker: "What is my favorite Christmas song?"

Now, O Reader, maybe you can anticipate what happens at this point. I'd like to say that it was just the fact that it was an 8 am class, or that we're nearly to the end of the semester... but for whatever reason, I hadn't thought about the consequences of posing this question.

This is what I should have realized:

Of course, if you (being their foreign teacher) tell the class that you have a favorite Christmas song, and if it furthermore is one that they don't know (which is to say, if it isn't Jingle Bells) – say, maybe, O Come, O Come Emmanuel – they will all beg you to sing it.

And when you agree to this and begin singing, of course out pop cameras/cell phones to record, and you may crack up in the middle of singing, because of course you should have expected this – China is paparazzi grand central, after all – but it is still funny.

And then you may get to teach the chorus to your class and explain why you love this song and the story behind it.

And they may all sing with you.

And in that moment, you will not know if you should laugh with crazy joy at what is happening or cry with awestruck wonder.

So that was my morning.

Two funny notes.

1. I scare myself every time I sing this, because I'm afraid that I'll switch into Latin by mistake. Although my students at least are so busy gawking that it's quite possible none of them would notice.

2. After this had all transpired, as I walked around the classroom to answer random last questions about their final, one of my students put his hand up. "Teacher!!"

   "Yes Jim?"

   "Do you know Jason Mars?" he asked me. Poor Jason Mraz. His last name gets slaughtered a lot.

   "Yep," I said. "What's your favorite song by him?"

   "I'm Yours!"

   "Good song," I said, grateful for having just been at KTV last Friday and the way KTV forces me to sort of keep up on American pop music.

I enjoy being surprised by my classes sometimes. And the opportunities it brings.