The Annoyances and Joys of a Third Grader

He was the only boy in the classroom when I came. His smile was jubilant and careless, and he talked and laughed with his classmates. When hearing about the interview, he beamed at me, raising his hand, wanting to participate. I sensed his enthusiasm.

In his talks, he frequently mentioned his family. “My grandmother picks me up most of the time, sometimes my mother. We often walk to school.”

His home is not far from school but for a child, getting up from bed every day is a laborious task. “My bed is simply too comfortable; it is so difficult to get up from bed during the winter.” I smiled upon hearing this naive complaint. His warm flow of voice awakened many memories of similar irritations during my youth.

Every time that he struggles to get up from bed, his parents saves the day by taking him to school by electric bicycle. He smiled when recalling this.

“Parents are required to choose our meals for us,” he said, ‘but my parents always forget to do so.’ However, he never seems bothered, always eating Meal A because his parents tend to forget to choose the meal for him.

“Your parents must be busy then?”I asked. ‘Our family owns a shoe shop, a fruit shop, a grocery shop, and a small bar. Oh! And my sister is older, so she opened a vegetable market.’ 

Despite his parents being busy, they still have the time to accompany him. However, “My grandparents also take great care of me.”

He also experienced the joy of getting a new family member. ‘When my mom first gave me a sight of my sister, I was very scared to hold her,’ he said with a bit of nervousness, but with a pleasant and charming smile on his face.

Him in the classroom

Aside from family, school was also an important component of his life. He got excited when I asked him what his favorite class was. He quickly listed the classes that he liked the most: Computer Science, Physical Education, and singing. “In Computer Sciences, we learn how to copy and paste messages, and drawing on the computer.” His face was proud and jolly when recounting what he learnt during his favorite class.

He also enjoys playing around with different equipment during P.E., and spending time with his friends. He is a football athlete. He recounts how he was elected as the five students in his class to participate in the school football team. ‘We had a school competition, our class only had one person in the football team, the other class have four, we only lost by one point.’

When recalling singing class, he had mixed feelings, and his smile slightly quivered. “The teacher never calls on me,” he said in an troubled way, reflecting, “maybe it’s because I always sit at the back.” 

Despite this, he describes school, teachers, and school experience as ‘very, very good.’

He exclaims with excitement and giggles when talking about his fun experiences in school. “I once discovered a pair of pants under my seat!” he shared, exhilarated.

He also takes classes in addition to school courses. During summer, he spends time at programs to enhance his knowledge about school content. Last summer was a brilliant experience for him, ‘the teacher bought us ice-creams all the time, and a teacher even cooked us chicken-legs. We called him “Great Chef”.’ He loves eating and laughing with his friends and teachers. He must have enjoyed the experience. The smile on his face says it all.   

Apart from the chorus of school life, the melody knitted by joy outside of school is another chore component of his life. “I love street dancing. When my mom first signed me up, I was very reluctant. She had to use a set of Ultraman cards to bargain with me.” These were what he recalled when I asked him how he first started street dancing. “Later on, I just fell in love. It became a consistent hobby of mine… I once fell during practice, it was really awkward,” he smiled through this experience. His brief failure did not seem to take him back, he was still energetic and passionate about dancing.

“I used to love speech class,” he said bitterly, “but not anymore.” “When the teacher asks to make up things and talk about my imaginations, I just couldn’t do it.”

I asked him what he thought about Shanghai, considering he is involved in so many different activities around the city, and this was his response.

“I love it.” “There is a plethora of fun places that I can go to.” He was thrilled to share with me how he learnt how to swim during the summer holiday.

Inadvertently, we started to talk about where his family came from. “My parents are both from Anhui, but I have lived in Shanghai ever since I was born.” When revisiting memories of his hometown, he had a few, yet thrilling memories. He talked about how he once lost his tooth on the journey back to his hometown, and shared how he enjoyed eating instant noodles with his grandmother.

His words are simple yet touching, reminding me of the naivety of a child in every phrase. He has his annoyance in life, yet joy covers up most of these small frustrations.

当我进入教室时，他是唯一的男孩。他的笑容灿烂且无忧无虑，和同学们谈笑风生。听到我要找同学采访，他朝我露出了灿烂的笑容，举起手想要参与。他的热情让我感动，于是我带他到一个单独的房间进行采访。

在他的叙述中，他常常提到自己的家庭。“大多数时候是奶奶接我回家，有时候是妈妈。我大多数时候都是走路上学。”他从家到学校的路程不远，但对于一个他来说，每天早上从床上爬起来，都是一项艰巨的任务。“我的床真是太舒服了，冬天从床上爬起来特别难。”听到他的抱怨时，我笑了，觉得那句话就像一滴温暖的水珠，滴入我的心底，唤醒了我儿时许多相似烦恼的回忆。每当他没能准时从床上爬起来时，父母就骑电动自行车带他去学校。他回忆起这一细节时，露出了笑容。

“我们学校要求父母为我们选择餐食，”他说，“但是我爸妈总是忘记做。”然而，他似乎从不介意，因为父母总是忘记为他选择餐食，他总是吃A餐。“你们家一定很忙吧？”我问。“我们家有一家鞋店，一家水果店，一家杂货店，还有一家小酒吧。哦！我姐姐比我大，所以她开了一个菜市场。”尽管父母非常忙碌，他们还是会抽出时间陪伴他。“我的爷爷奶奶也很照顾我，”他说，带着感激的语气。

他还经历了迎接新家庭成员的喜悦。“当妈妈第一次让我见到妹妹时，我非常害怕抱她，”他说时带着一丝紧张。

除了家庭，学校也是他生活的重要组成部分。当我问他最喜欢的课程时，他激动地回答，迅速列出他最喜欢的几门课：计算机、体育和唱歌。“在计算机课上，我们学会了如何复制粘贴信息，还学会了在电脑上画画。”他说这些话时脸上满是自豪和欢快的表情。

他还喜欢在体育课上和同学们一起玩各种器械。他是班级里的足球运动员，回忆起自己被选为班级五名参加校队的学生之一时，他十分自豪。随后，他兴奋地补充道：“我们参加了学校比赛，我们班只有一个人在足球队，其他班有四个人，我们只输了一个球。”

当他回忆起唱歌课时，他的情绪有些复杂。 “老师从来不叫我，”他说时带着些许不高兴的语气，他反思道，“也许是因为我总是坐在后面。”

尽管如此，他还是说学校、老师和校园生活“非常，非常好。”

当他谈到学校里的一些有趣经历时，他十分兴奋，并笑到：“我曾经在座位下发现了一条短裤！”他说时显得十分兴奋。

他还参加了课外班，除了学校课程之外。在暑假期间，他参加了一些增强学校知识的课程。去年夏天对他来说是一次非常棒的经历，“老师一直给我们买冰淇淋，还有一位老师甚至给我们做了鸡腿，我们叫他‘大厨’。”从他脸上的笑容可以看出，他一定很享受这次经历。

他的第三个生活领域是学校外的乐趣。“我喜欢街舞。刚开始妈妈给我报名时，我非常不情愿。她不得不用奥特曼卡册和我做交易”——这是他回忆起自己如何开始街舞的经历。“后来我就爱上了它（街舞），变成了我一直坚持的爱好。”他说：“我又一次在练习时摔倒，有点尴尬。”他笑着回忆这次经历，尽管小小的失败并没有让他气馁，他对跳舞依然充满活力和热情。

“我以前很喜欢演讲课，”他说时带着一丝苦涩，“但现在不喜欢了。”“老师要求我们编东西、谈谈自己的想象，我就是做不出来。”

当我问他对上海这座城市的看法时，他说他“很喜欢”。“这里有好多好玩的地方。”他兴奋地和我分享暑假期间学会游泳的经历。

不知不觉中，我们开始聊起了他的家乡。“我爸妈都是安徽人，但我从出生开始就一直住在上海。”当回忆起故乡的记忆时，他讲到的不多，却都是非常有趣的回忆。他谈起曾在回乡的路上掉了颗牙齿，还和奶奶一起吃方便面的趣事。

他的话简单，但每一句都让我想起了孩子的纯真。他有生活中的烦恼，但欢乐总是掩盖了这些小小的挫折。