So the update on the suicide thing. I asked Jackie about what happened and what’s going on, if as a foreigner it’s being not talked about in front of me. Jackie was very honest and said that everyone knows, but nobody talks about it. Every year, he said, 5 to 6 students kill themselves, and the college never talks about it openly. The parents are mad, but nobody wants to mention it.
Tonight as I was rounding down English corner, a girl came to talk to me. She was in my class on Friday. My Friday afternoon class has been cancelled since they all have a meeting. She was upset that she wouldn’t be able to make it up, and she told me she really wanted to study Queen Victoria (who shows up next lesson), and if we made the class up on Saturday or Sunday. She’s leaving for the weekend, because she was on the first floor and the girl fell underneath her window, and she needs to get away. We talked a little bit about if she could talk to people, why she didn’t feel she could, that everyone feels guilty, and I hugged her three times. Then I told her I’d be online for her if she needed me, and we’re talking on qq messenger right now.
Adam also talked to her, but he didn’t feel comfortable hugging her- in the states, no problem, but in China, there’s all sorts of questions that rise in your head for culture. But I hugged her, as being a woman, it was less of a problem for me to hug a female student.
So for next week, I’ll cancel Tuesday’s class. For Friday, they have a meeting instead of class, so there is no class, and that’s not something I can change. I won’t try to make it up, either. I planned for an extra week in case things went wrong.
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