Sam emailed “Do you want to be a judge at a kids English competition? They are looking for a female judge to go with me. They will pay you.”
“Ok, where is it?”
“In Nanjing, in a kids school”
So I met Sam at the allotted time and place and was picked up by the father of one of the children that Sam teaches.
After 10 minutes we turned up at a subsidiary of Sinopec and were shown into a smart office.
“What are we doing here Sam?”
“I don’t know, I thought we were going to a school”
We sat and waited. After some time we were taken into a large lecture theatre where we were sat in the middle of the front row. It became apparent that the English competition was an internal corporate competition for the young people in this company. (The Chinese never tell you everything you need to know and I have never worked out why). Then in come the competitors, 8 finalists from a starting line-up of 70.
The competition was dull, the questions were insultingly easy and the buzzer system didn’t work. After the “quick fire” round came the first round which we had to judge – the karaoke round! Fabulous! We looked at each other in dread. Now we have to listen to 8 Chinese young people murdering previously enjoyed songs. Luckily though before they could all finish the karaoke equipment broke and the round was discounted. Prepared speeches followed and then Sam and I were expected to ask one of a number of prepared questions to the competitors. Even though we spoke slowly most of the young people couldn’t understand a word we said!
English competition over, we were treated to 1.5 hours of Chinese speeches from the managers of the company. Sam can speak Chinese and so wasn’t quite as bored as I was however I managed to sit smiling and showing interest as far as was possible. At one point I looked behind me at the rest of the audience; many people were texting, some were whispering to each other and one person was actually speaking on his mobile. Of an audience of about 30, only a couple were actually listening.
Good things happen to people who say “Yes” and I am now talking to the company about putting together an education programme for them.