Flag Raising Ceremony

Monday, September 1. In my first entry for today (below), I mentioned the flag raising ceremony that is held between 9:25 and 9:50 every Monday morning, between periods 2 and 3. (On days other than Monday, the students have an exercise period at this time.) It takes place in the main square of the school, in front of the administration building. This is a command performance not only for the students but also for the teachers.

Today took longer than usual as it was the first day and much time was spent getting all of the students standing in the right places. They are grouped by class, and it took quite awhile before the "director" (that would be the man with the bull horn) was satisfied with the line-up and the spacing. There are other people (including some teachers, I think) who walk around between the rows to make sure that lines are straight and that students are standing straight with their arms at their sides. (I'm standing with my liaison, Mr. Zhang, and he tells me that, although in the US, we put our hands over our hearts when the flag is raised, here they stand with hands at their sides. He also suggests that it isn't respectful for me to have my sunglasses on - so you can bet I took them right off! Migraine, Shmigraine!)

In general, the students are required to wear uniforms although some latitude is apparently tolerated during the first week as all of the new students haven't yet had a chance to get them. The uniform is dark blue nylon trousers (look sort of like warm-up pants) with narrow white piping down the side and a white polo-type shirt with dark blue trim.

All of the teachers are across the back in two lines, and I'm standing dead center in the second row, with a space in front of me so I have a great view of the goings-on. The leader makes a speech which includes language to the effect that "we" (meaning students) should work hard for the nation and also to be self-reliant. At least this is what I gather from Mr. Zhang's translation. There are a couple of exhortations from the leader with unison responses from the students accompanied by raised right arm, elbow bent with fist above ear level. I was so fascinated at watching all of this that I didn't even think about taking photographs, although I will have plenty of Mondays to do it. The speech also includes language about respecting teachers and then, on command, all of the students do an about-face and bow to the teachers. We bow in return, of course, to indicate mutual respect.

This is just one of what I'm sure will be many experiences that highlight the differences between China and the West, which is in part why I wanted to come here. The vast cultural and language differences as well as the differences in governmental style. It's fascinating to observe.