Shy or not shy?..this is the question
on Tina's Journal (China), 28/Sep/2009 05:45, 34 days ago
The Grade two students from the English Department gave a welcome'party' to the new Grade one students yesterday evening. I was invited to attend along with all the teachers. It was more a stage show than a party as 10 different acts were performed on a makeshift stage in front of a seated audience. Everything had been arranged by a few grade two students and they took their task veryseriously. Even the hostesses had to go through a recruitment process to do the unpaid job! All of the performances were displays of singing and dancing, although one act was obviously some sort of comedy sketch judging by the laughter coming from the audience that is...it was all in Chinese so Ididn't get the jokes.! At the end of the show I was asked, along with other teachers from the department, to dance on the stage. I did of course, with Jayne, but only two other teachers would join in. The others were'too shy'.The reserve and shyness which you see too much of here does get a bit tiresome at times!! I felt really embarrassed for one boy who went on stage to hand over a beautiful bunch of flowers to some dancing girls. Not one of the girls would take the flowers off him, so he stormed off in huff, probably feeling completely humiliated. I asked one of the teachers why the girls refused and she said"They're too shy"as if this was an acceptable answer. These girls were forward enough to perform beautifully on stage, yet couldn't accept a bunch of flowers from some poor guy who was appreciating their talents. Doesn't make any sense to me!