Our New Chinese Names

New Blog:  Our New Chinese Names

 

Gentle Reader,

 

On this last day of teaching, both of our classes gave us Chinese names.

 

Scott's new name is two-fold.  The given name is Shi, from Laoshi, which means teacher.  The family name is Sanfeng, which is a very famous Chinese name of a well-known master of Tai Chi.  Sanfeng is considered the ultimate master of Tai Chi practice, and therefore Scott's students have made Scott a descendent of this master.

 

The other part is that Sanfeng is know as Junbao.  "Jun" means man of great integrity.  "Bao" means precious. 

 

They were also calling Scott Shifu, which means "master." 

 

My first Chinese name is Bai Ling, which means songbird with a beautiful voice.  This name was given to me by my students in Bijie in 2008.  This year's students gave me the name Mei Lan.  "Mei" means a lovely rose flower.  "Lan" means the special flower of Guiyang.  There is, of course, a song that goes with this name, called "Mei lan, I love you." 

 

Scott and I also received incredibly generous gifts from our students this week.  His class gave him a beautiful Miao piece of artwork, with embroidery of a phoenix and a dragon.  These are rising up toward the sun at the top of the circle.  At the center, is a silverwork of two people dancing.  Silver is the specialty of the Miao people, one of the minority groups in this region.  Scott's students told him that the dancers were to represent the two of us.

 

My students gifted me a beautiful lotus flower tea set, along with fine tea, which they told me was "the best tea in China."

 

The last day of classes is always bittersweet.  Many tears.  To avoid leaving the classroom at the end of our session, the students insisted on repeated practicing of "You are my Sunshine," which we will be singing at the Closing Ceremony tomorrow. Vivi, who teaches both deaf and blind children, will sign the piece as we sing.  I left the classroom today with a bag of dumplings for Scott and me for breakfast tomorrow, a lotus tea set, the finest tea in China, and memories of 21 beautiful human beings that I will carry with me forever...

 

Namaste,

Mei Lan