When we heard that our medical shool was having an English Language Festival, we had no idea what a big deal it would be. The festival, which was called, “The Future Will Be Better,” surprised us in every way.

Every week for the month of April, the students put on extravagant pageants featuring singers, dancers, musicians and plays. It was a talent show on a scale I had never witnessed before.

Last week, one of Josh’s students asked if we would co-host the closing ceremony with four Chinese students. They wrote our lines, both in English and Chinese! They agreed to shorten our Chinese parts after they heard us speak.

Memorizing our English lines was even harder. Here is a sample:

Josh: Over the past several days we have seen so many students take part in this festival, eager to improve their oral English. Over these days we have experienced English becoming a major part of our life.

Emily: There is happiness and a smile on every face. The stage is filled with bountiful energy. And tonight we are here again to feel the rhythm of English, having a taste of this wonderful language and admiring its grace.

Americans don’t talk this way, but the Chinese students wanted flowery language, so we played along. I also played along when I went with the other hostesses to get our hair and make-up done. I was worried they would make me look like a drag queen, but the end result was not bad. Josh said I looked like a Korean pop star.

When it was finally time for the show to start the house was packed. It was full in a way that American auditoriums are not allowed to be. People were standing in every aisle! Apparently, there are no fire codes in China.

Josh wore his tuxedo, for the first time in China. I wore two different rented gowns. We nailed our lines (or close enough), and got huge applause when we spoke Chinese.

Now it is over, and we are left wondering, if they do all of this just for a foreign language festival, what will graduation be like?