高飞
念慈
At the beginning of the semester, Greg decided to have a contest for the 235 students in his classes to give us Chinese names. Names have meaning in China and the selection of the right name is important. We promised the winners would get an American meal with us, and we took them out for pizza. If students wanted to enter, they had to turn in a suggested name and an explanation why they thought it was a suitable name.
We got over 100 entries! Some picked Chinese names that sounded similar to our English names-- this is similar to the way many of their English names were chosen: they sounded like their Chinese names. Some picked names because they thought they would be easy for us to pronounce-- that was thoughful! Some named us after national heroes or respected family members. Some gave us their own family name-- an honor! One suggested name for Greg was a student's grandfather-- that was a real honor! One even suggested the Chinese word yeye with means "grandfather" for Greg-- that was a little too honorable! Many students gave us complimentary names-- like intelligent or lucky. For both of us, the final selection was challenging.
The name that was runner-up for Greg was wei zhixing which is both the name of a noted educator and an educational concept meaning thought + action. I liked that. But in the end I chose Gao Fei, a common Chinese name which means "fly high". On the first day of classes I had introduced myself to my students by saying that my parents had given me "more wings than roots." Because our family moved frequently due to my father's job, I never had one place I considered "home" but I developed a love for travel-- more wings than roots. The winning students picked up on this idea and named me Fly High. (On our recent trip to Xi'an I saw a restaurant called Fly High Pizza Inn --Gao Fei Pizza Inn. Maybe my name is not as meaningful as I had thought.)
Meanwhile Jean also had a delightful challenge choosing among the many suggestions for her name. The runner-up was "American Friend of China", a very meaningful name. But in the end she chose Nian Ci which is a beautiful sounding name meaning "kindhearted". We have since learned that it is the name of a popular movie star, a character in a classic Chinese story, a name applied to the Buddha, and a local medicine used to treat colds. The main downside of Nian Ci is that it is difficult to pronounce. Jean may choose to change it next semester for that reason.
So that is how we became Gao Fei and Nian Ci. The selection process was both fun, touching as we experienced the warmth of our students, and a good way to get to know the few winners in a more personal way.
