English Group

I was recently invited to an English group by a couple of my graduate students to participate in a group discussion about movies.  The group of students meet together every Friday night to practice their English with each other and discuss some sort of topic with every session.  Each of them prepare some notes about each discussion and they all take turns acting as a host who gives more background information.  To have the opportunity to get to know some of my students a little better in a more relaxed setting was way too tempting to say no.  So of course I accepted the invitation.

I was picked up by two of my students at the southern end of campus near Gate 6 (right across the street from where I live) and was brought to teaching building #33.  There I met up with the rest of the group, most of whom were my students.  All of the students had brought snacks: a large variety of fresh and dried fruit, nuts, and other random things to eat.  I was also treated with some hot tea that was refilled whenever the cup got empty.  I began the discussion by introducing myself (even though mostly everyone knew me) and then the discussion about movies began.  The host gave a very good introduction about the history of movies and then each of us went around in a circle talking about our favorite movies.  After we had come around the circle, I was flooded with questions which I gladly answered and I also asked several questions.  The meeting ended about two and a half hours later and I said my goodbyes before I was escorted back to Gate 6.   

I had a very fun night and was invited to come again to the next Friday’s discussion.  Hopefully I can also improve my Chinese with this group of students as I help them improve their English.  We shall see!