Being a Woman on Women's Day

Happy International Women's Day!

I don't remember ever celebrating or knowing about this holiday in America, but it seems to be extra special in China. Joelle said it's probably because most every day is a "man's day" in China.

Anyways, today was the 100th anniversary since it began, ironically, to give the women the right to vote. In China men and women can't vote. So I'm not quite sure what we're celebrating here then.

Joelle and I were the only ones without Monday morning class, so we were basically required to go to a banquet organized by the province's "Women's Federation." Since it sounded so official and communist, I was very excited. Banquets are also good times to sit leisurely and eat a lot of fancy food. And it was held at the ritzy "Jiangxi Hotel," which is right next to where we have fellowship at the other "Jiangxi Hotel." It's a little confusing.

There were probably a couple hundred women there, with a bunch of reporters and a handful of foreign women mixed in. Most of the other several foreigners were from our fellowship. It's a small world for us in Nanchang. One of our friends, Connie, even gave a speech, and lots of cameras were in her face.

Cameras were also in our faces as we sat at the round banquet tables, listening to long speeches all in Chinese, and watching very flashy performances. Joelle and I happen to be particularly pale, which is the most beautiful trait you can have in China. So there were photographers literally snapping pictures right in our face whenever we smiled, moved, blinked, or sipped some tea. It was a little exhausting after three hours. It's interesting being a celebrity for no real reason.

At one point one of the Jiangxi TV stations pulled Joelle and me out in the hall to "interview" us on camera. Right then I realized I was wearing the exact same outfit as my CCTV debut last year in front of tens of millions of people. Do you think anyone realized that? ;)

The reporter first asked me a question in unintelligible English, with a mix of Chinese, as the cameraman and his bright light beamed right at me. They asked me the most boring, unoriginal question ever: "How do you like Jiangxi?" But I had to ask her to repeat the question about three times.

In my mind I was thinking, "Nobody really likes Jiangxi." But of course I couldn't say that to my host province. So I came up with an equally boring, unoriginal answer: "Um, Jiangxi is great! The people are so friendly." (In actuality, Jiangxi is famous for being poor and not very cool. The people are also renowned for being unfriendly.) So I was an unintentional liar on television. I'm not cut out for this business.

Joelle, on the other hand, gave a very poignant answer. She said something along the lines of this: "At first it was difficult coming here. But it has become my home and I think of the people as my family." Gosh, why couldn't I have said something halfway-clever? Oh, well.

And after this amazing banquet, we returned to school. I at least had a pretty decent story to tell my students and to post on my blog. :)


(With Joelle and a Chinese English teacher from our school. I don't know why I look so fake and waxy).


(A woman who received a medal for her "contributions to a village.")


(Our friend Connie from fellowship giving a speech).



(Here's a sampling of some singing we got to listen to. Warning: Turn your volume down! It's extremely loud!)