When I got back to my apartment, I took a shower, packed my camera bag and headed off to the Fudan freshman dorms. As I approached the commons building, I was not sure what to expect, feeling that the whole event would be a bit awkward for me due to the fact that I would be surrounded by freshmen and not be able to communicate to boot. I spotted Qi Li as soon I entered the building and he promptly showed me to the seat that he had saved for me and introduced me to his classmates, some of whom spoke Cantonese and all of which knew some English.
Qi Li explained to me the nature of the performance. The performance, which is more accurately described as a variety show, was similar to the silly ice breaking activities that all freshman in the US and probably around the world are forced to do. Freshmen were separated by the buildings that they lived in and then further separated into groups by their room numbers. This show comprised of all the freshmen in Qi Li’s dorm. A graduate student was in charge of organizing the show and helping the freshmen. The acts performed included skits, singing, dances and even a Taekwondo demonstration.
What struck me about the show the most were not the quality of the performances themselves but rather how they demonstrated the maturity level of the Fudan freshman. To be frank, I felt like I was watching a bunch of middle school kids rather than freshman in college. Almost every student was shy and awkward up on stage. Their innocence could be seen in their interactions with the opposite sex. Whenever the boys and girls had to touch each other, it could be seen that they tried to maximize the distance between their bodies. Coming from the states, where middle school students grind on each other during school dances, this awkward distance was quite hilariously endearing.
Notice the distance
I experienced this awkwardness first hand when Winter invited me up on stage for a game. For the game, one female and one male student were paired up and they had to carry a cup full of water back and forth across the stage. The catch was that it had to be done with a student biting down on opposite sides of the cup. The girl that I was paired up with was so shy and embarrassed that we could barely play the game. She just kept laughing, blushing and looking towards Qi Li with a menacing glare for pairing her up with me. Interestingly Qi Li, won that game in a very convincing fashion.
That cup game
Winter and three other students were the MCs for the show. I was very impressed with Winter because he single handedly carried the show with another girl. He exuded confidence and charm throughout the show. During the show, I saw that Winter was quite the hit with the girl. Whenever he went up on the stage to give the girl performers balloons, representative of flowers, the girls would blush and giggle as he approached them; and then blush and giggle even more once he hugged them. The girls’ innocence were on full display whenever Winter was on stage, and it was quite the cute sight.
Winter MCing with three other students
Before
During
After
Qi Li’s dance performance was hilarious and quite impressive. He showed the most confidence out of the whole group and genuinely seemed to enjoy it. Qi Li’s performance ended with him pretending to kiss another male student on the lips. Talk about confidence.
Qi Li dancing
A second before the "kiss"
At the end of the show, I walked away satisfied with my choice to come back to Shanghai. I had met a lot new freshmen, some of whom spoke excellent English, and got a sense of what a typical Fudan student was like. My psychological anthropology professor was right, a lot can be teased out through the observation of expressive culture.
-muffinman
Fudan Freshman Performance Album
