It’s springtime in Jinzhou. The weather is beautiful and final exams are just around the corner. It is almost impossible to convince my students to focus on their (ungraded) oral English classes.

This week, I asked my students to tell me what people, living or dead, they would invite to a dream dinner party. I know this is a terribly cliche piece of small talk in America, but for my students it was a brand new idea. One after another, they gave me poorly considered answers.

One young woman told me she would like to invite Chairman Mao and Princess Diana. No one else, she insisted, just those two. What on Earth would they talk about? It would be almost as good as James Joyce’s meeting with Marcel Proust.

Diana: Do you know Jackie Chan?

Mao: No.

Then there was the row of sporty guys who wanted to invite basketball stars. One would invite Yao Ming, Allan Iverson and Kobe Bryant. His neighbor would also invite Yao Ming, Allan Iverson and Kobe Bryant. The next in line wanted to invite Michael Jordan, too.

Then at the end of the row of basketball fans, I asked the question again. The student, a fellow from Dandong, told me that he would invite Deng Xiaoping and Franklin Roosevelt. I asked why. “Because Comrade Deng saved socialism by incorporating elements of capitalism. President Roosevelt saved capitalism by incorporating elements of socialism. They would have a lot to talk about.”

Wow. I told him, that was a fantastic answer. What I meant was, that was the best answer I have ever heard.

That’s why I am glad I am a teacher. Every once in a while, I learn something.