I mentioned to my sister, family et al that I would dig a frisbee to show to the students as I hadn’t seen one. I was pretty pleased when I received a box from my sister that had a Dunkin Donuts promotional frisbee included with the other cool stuff that she is always sure to include. Postage stamps, a map of her hometown, assorted spice packets including Fish Taco and Salsa. Yum.
I immediately began carrying the frisbee to my classes and began to show them how to correctly throw it, (wrist not arm), with limited success. The following day after my classes had ended and I was headed across the commons on my way to my pad when I saw some students coming in from the playground. Now, for a second, think back to your high school experience. If a teacher was crossing paths with you, even if from afar, and waved a disc at you before tossing it your way you’d have been happy to catch it, right? Meh. Not so much in China. In a culture that is devoid of contact sports anything that is unknown is looked at as a possibility for inflicting pain. The sight of grown men ducking and running when a frisbee is headed their way was both comical and aggravating. I should have known better than to toss it to students that I had no chance of instructing how to throw it. Less than 24 hours after receiving the frisbee from my sister it was destroyed by a student who, in all fairness, had no idea how to throw it and hurled it with his arm in a manner that caused it to land on its edge and shatter. Ouch.
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