A Shocking Memory From Middle School
One of the most vivid—and somewhat disgusting—memories I have from middle school happened on a day when our class went to an elementary school to watch the movie Escape from the Amazon. At Jiuyi School (Nine-Year Compulsory Education School), climbing up a small hill behind the elementary building led to the dirt playground of the middle school. Walking along the familiar cement slabs over the little water channel, we had just come down the hill and arrived at an elementary school classroom turned screening room. Aside from the movie’s most intense scenes of abuse, resistance, and the triumph of justice over evil, what stood out most was a small incident during the screening. Because the back door of the elementary school was open and the screening room’s window faced the water channel outside, a crowd of elementary students had gathered to peek through the window. Unexpectedly, at that moment, one of the middle school students inside casually spat, and it landed directly in the open mouth of a peeking elementary student. I still can hardly believe it; the scene was shocking for both sides. Time has blurred some of the details, but even now, I cannot forget the intensity of that moment and the many vivid details surrounding it.
2004