The school was on the outskirts of Panzhihua, being one of the poorer middle schools in the city. Once there, Linda escorted me back to the principle's office, of whom was all smiles as soon as she saw me. The principal thanked me over and over again for coming. After some pictures with the principle and Linda, we headed back in the direction we had come, to one of the school buildings where rambunctious students were spilling out from the classrooms following the sounding of the school bell. It was then that Linda said that I was the first foreigner to ever visit their school, let alone the first most of the students had ever met. Before I knew it, students from every classroom doorway and window were spotting me, frantic and excited waves pursuing. Their eyes lit up in shock and amazement at seeing a laowai (foreigner), erupting in hi's and hello's.
The older students were led to the auditorium and seated, while I greeted them as they came in and continued saying hello to the younger ones. It just bewildered me how a single smile and a wave from my end seemed literally to make their day.
As soon as I came into the room, I was greeted with a large sign "Welcome to Our School," and a bouquet of flowers. For an hour I was asked and then responded to questions, all of the students coming fully prepared, ticking off their questions one by one.
Some of them were so excited to be speaking with a foreigner that they would forget about the response, starting to talk to their friends immediately afterwards or giggle, a mix of nerves and excitement filling the air. I couldn't help but smile at them. When time was up, as the students began to file out, one student shook my hand, which set precedent for the rest of the students, all of them saying thank you and asking if we could be friends.
Afterwards, other teachers came up to me asking if I would come again to speak to their students, and so I gave out my number and e-mail, willing them to have me back.
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