What a great Thanksgiving Day we had at Hohai University in Changzhou, China. We spent the morning popping in and out of classrooms with my uke and guitar, singing and talking about the songs and their meanings. We took turns playing the straight man and the funny guy and the students really ate it up. At 3:45 in the afternoon, we put on a lecture/concert to an overflowing hall of about 225 students. We kicked it off with everyone’s favorite, “You Are My Sunshine”, and proceeded to keep everyone engaged for the next 1–1/2 hours with a mix of traditional folk songs and my originals. I added a couple of new tunes to the set list, including “Habitat” by Bill Oliver: especially appropriate to this science university focused on oceans and rivers. My song to young Ben and his mother, “Because of You”, seemed very meaningful to many of the students and “500 Miles Away From Home” was certainly one most of them could relate to. We had another “seventh-inning stretch” singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and finished with “This Land is Your Land” and “Country Roads”. That evening we got together with the MSU Visiting International Professional Program students for a lavish Chinese dinner including fish heads (which I never did quite figure out how to eat) and lots of red wine. One of the more interesting Thanksgivings that I have had, for sure!
Today (Friday) we are teaching a class in the morning, then doing a bit of sight-seeing and shopping before we take a 16-hour train ride to Xi’an and the Terracotta Warriors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_Army. Stay tuned for more …
Ben, thank you very much for the excellent performance brought by you and Bill. I’m very lucky joined this activity since I have graduated from Hohai University more than 4 years ago. I just came to Changzhou for business trip and had a chance to back to the campus to have a look. And I saw the poster of your lecture. So lucky!
Glad you could come, Michael! I really had a great time at Hohai — what a nice group of teachers and students.