Childhood in China
No, I didn't stay up this late. I went to bed early but got back up around 2:00 because I knew that Cici needed my help with an English paper that is due today. She emailed it to me before she went to sleep, as we had agreed, and it was my job to proof read it for her.
The story had to be about something funny or exciting that happened in her childhood. Cici's story was funny and exciting, and also full of suspense. It was enjoyable to read, and I learned something new about her.
Can you imagine a group of 11 year old kids plotting to leave their dorm rooms after the teachers finished their last rounds of the night at midnight, so that they could set off fireworks on the roof of the building?
Picture them talking excitedly so that the teachers came repeatedly to their rooms to order them to be quiet, and then deciding that the only way to achieve their goal was to enter into a conspiratorial silence. Now picture them walking in their sock feet, following each other one by one, to the roof of the building. Can you see the fireworks in the sky as the students offered one last celebration after the spring festival? Can you see them quietly returning to their rooms and crawling into bed, relieved that no one had caught them?
Ahh but the retribution after the cleaning people found the trash from the fireworks on the roof a few weeks later. The cleaning people reported it to the teachers, so from that point on, the students were locked down at 11:00 every night in their rooms.
It was a time of rebellion for us while we were young, Cici said, but that is a characteristic of childhood. Now that I am older I follow the rules, but I will never forget that exciting night of my childhood.
That little stinker!
The story had to be about something funny or exciting that happened in her childhood. Cici's story was funny and exciting, and also full of suspense. It was enjoyable to read, and I learned something new about her.
Can you imagine a group of 11 year old kids plotting to leave their dorm rooms after the teachers finished their last rounds of the night at midnight, so that they could set off fireworks on the roof of the building?
Picture them talking excitedly so that the teachers came repeatedly to their rooms to order them to be quiet, and then deciding that the only way to achieve their goal was to enter into a conspiratorial silence. Now picture them walking in their sock feet, following each other one by one, to the roof of the building. Can you see the fireworks in the sky as the students offered one last celebration after the spring festival? Can you see them quietly returning to their rooms and crawling into bed, relieved that no one had caught them?
Ahh but the retribution after the cleaning people found the trash from the fireworks on the roof a few weeks later. The cleaning people reported it to the teachers, so from that point on, the students were locked down at 11:00 every night in their rooms.
It was a time of rebellion for us while we were young, Cici said, but that is a characteristic of childhood. Now that I am older I follow the rules, but I will never forget that exciting night of my childhood.
That little stinker!
Ahh, the fun of childhood rebellion! I miss it so!
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