Of the Tall Foreign Teacher

Of the Tall Foreign Teacher

Mark Overmeyer

The head boy of Senior Class 2 stood, the metal legs of his stool scraping against the concrete floor, stirring up the constant dust that had enveloped me since my first day in China.

"Mr. Overmeyer, I have an announcement to make. Our class is last in the basketball tournament. You are tall. Our class needs you."

The 30 students in my class laughed and applauded. The head boy waited for silence, pushing up his glasses, which had slipped because of the sweat dripping down his face. I waited for him to continue.

"We will come to get you next Tuesday at 4:00 to play with our team. Thank you." He sat as quickly as he had stood, pulling the stool forward, and settling in for English lessons as his classmates once again applauded. His announcement was not untypical - it was a request, but Chinese style: the time and place of our meeting had been predetermined, and I was expected to follow through.

I immediately tried to explain that I wouldn't be much help. "I am tall, this is true, but�" more applause interrupted me, this time initiated loudly by the head boy. Thirty smiling, laughing fifteen year olds eagerly thought about the game next week, and their clever plan to use the foreign teacher - the 6 foot 4 inch foreign teacher - to change their losing streak.

I held up my hand, signaling for them to listen. They immediately stopped applauding.

"I am tall, but I do not play basketball well."

The head boy stood again.

"But you must be good. You are so tall. We think you will help us. Thank you."

He sat.

More applause.

I promised to try to play for the Senior 2 team, knowing from experience that I could not say no. This same situation had presented itself many times, most recently and memorably during a class meeting when I was asked to sing. I performed the much-loved song "Edelweiss" from The Sound of Music, and was greeted with only polite applause. I had never been asked to sing again, a sure sign that they politely respected my lack of talent. I feared a repeat of this experience, but this time with basketball as the talent I did not possess. I didn't let my Chinese students know the truth about my lack of a high school basketball career, but I also never claimed to be good at sports. My talent was assumed from the day I arrived because of my height and my students' belief that tall Americans could somehow channel the talents of Michael Jordan, who epitomized the sports hero in China.

Class continued, and I could sense an excitement in the air. Many students volunteered to practice their pronunciation that day, and everyone worked hard in their groups. They were certain I would save them from the shame of continued losses on the basketball court, so they were even more compliant than normal.

The following Tuesday, I was meeting with Zhuang Xiaoyan, the head of the English department, from 3:30 to 4:00 in the English office. As 4:00 neared, I knew representatives from my Senior 2 class would be looking for me in my on-campus apartment. I did not mention the basketball tournament to my Chinese colleagues. I worried they would try to come to support me. At precisely 4:02, two students, the head boy and a female classmate, showed up outside the English office, breathless from running after finding my apartment empty. I could see their flushed faces through the window on the door. They knocked, and all seven of my colleagues turned to see who was interrupting their work. The teachers were not surprised by the appearance of students, for they often worked with individuals or small groups who needed extra help, but they were surprised at the rapping of knuckles on a closed door. Each teacher had a student already at his or her desk, and I was conferring with Zhuang Xiaoyan, so the closed door signaled there was no more room for help. The students ignored this, entered, and announced they were here to pick me up to go play basketball. The head of the English department found this humorous, perhaps because of the many stories I had related about my clumsiness, and she encouraged me to go. I had no choice.

As we made our way to the courts, I kept telling my students not to get their hopes up - that I might not be able to help their team. They took my comments as false modesty, perhaps because it is a common trait of the Chinese. They often used self-deprecation as a way of remaining part of the group. Most of the Chinese people I had encountered in my stay never wanted to be seen as unique from the people they were associated with, whether it be a professional group or a family. Each person became part of the whole, and everyone's job was to make the group better, not to seek individual fame. I feared that I couldn't hold up my end of the bargain by supporting the Senior 2 basketball team, but my students ignored my fears as we approached the courts.

Games were in progress on 7 of the 8 courts. One court had been reserved for the contest between Senior Class 2 and Senior Class 3, and team members from these classes waited patiently. Spotting me, my Class 2 students cheered and applauded, while the Senior 3 students stared in shock. They soon realized they would be competing against a tall American, and quickly huddled to discuss a strategy. I was to play center. I took my place, mimicking the stance of the player I faced from the other team, trying to use my height as a tool of intimidation. The student referee, ball in the palm of his hand, blew his whistle and then threw the ball as high as he could between us. I jumped.

In China, there is a tradition of ranking and ordering which at first seems odd to foreign visitors. While in Suzhou, I had visited many tourist sites that used numbers to indicate the importance of a site. A large English sign outside a cave announced "Of the 10 most beautiful caves in China, this is number 9." Signs outside the famous gardens of Suzhou used similar systems to rank size, age, or beauty.

In keeping with tradition, I will use the Chinese system of ranking and ordering to announce the outcome of the game in which I played center for approximately one minute on that spring day. Of the 4 losing basketball teams at Suzhou Middle School on March 20, 1999, the number 1 most humiliated was the Senior 2 team who had assumed their tall foreign teacher could save them from yet another loss.