Do you have boyfriend?

Needless to say, this phrase has been the most common English phrase out of my students' mouths thus far. My students are as young as sixteen but to them it's completely appropriate to ask me if I have a boyfriend, ask me out on dates, and ask me if I find them attractive. I keep trying to explain to the students that "We just don't do that in America," but they don't get it.

My gut reaction to this questions when it was first asked was to lie, and tell them I did in fact have a boyfriend. But I don't know if that was the best choice... Because after saying that the next few questions are: "Is your boyfriend in China?" "Is your boyfriend Chinese" "Why?" "Can we see a picture? "What is his name" and so on. It's tiring. I probably just should have said I wouldn't tell them. Also after I say this at least one boy tells me that I "broke his heart." China's a strange place... One class, I showed them pictures from home after telling them I had a boyfriend... Boy was that ever the bad idea, I was asked if every boy in my pictures was my boyfriend.

The second night I was in Qinhuangdao I spent time with grade three students. There were a few girls who were talking to me and when one boy walked by they asked me if I thought he was attractive. I was flabbergasted. I tried to say that I'm too old to answer that question but they reminded me that I was  "only four years older." Only?!? Four years is a lot older, especially when it means they are 18 and I am 22. But it's a different world over here. I guess I offended the boy by not answering. The next day I went out into Qinhuangdao with a few of the girls I'd met and a boy met up with us. This boy was deemed a "playboy" by the female students. Apparently he hadn't been in class the day before and was disappointed that he hadn't gotten to see me. During the day I was asked by one of the female students if I wanted them to leave me alone with him... The creepiest part of this question was that it was followed by a bad English translation, she asked me if I wanted to "play" with him. Oddly, I refused.

The students, teacher, and just random people on the street stop me to tell me I'm beautiful. It's really strange, but kind of nice - I guess. This country seems to revolve around attractiveness. I've already been told by the students who the most attractive male teacher is (teacher Zhang) - even the male students found this important for me to know. They also told me that they like me more than the past 外教s because I'm more attractive than them (lucky me?). The most attractive boy from every grade has already been introduced to me as well. I already spoke about how "fat" is just a descriptive word - well "pretty" and "handsom" are too! I mean - it's seen as a good thing to be the most attractive, but it's just another part of you.

Want to learn more about Qinhuangdao? Checkout this website my friends made. (There are even some pictures of me on there!) http://qhdconnect.spruz.com/