E-C-A. English Crazed Athletes? Economic Crisis Alleviator? Ecological Council of America? No, none of those. It's English Corner Association.

So you may ask what is an English Corner. Well, I'm glad you asked. English Corner is where people can gather and practise their English. It is not necessarily a corner. The name is similar to the usage in Cooking Corner or Collectors' Corner. It's just a name.

There are English Corners all across China. Some cities, like Hefei, have more than one English Corner. Wuhu only has the one here at Anhui Normal University. Also, an English Corner has a specified time. For example, our English Corner only happens once a week. It's on Wednesday afternoons from 4 o'clock to whenever people have trouble seeing each other after sunset. Actually, I hear that in Hefei, one of the English Corners takes place at night and you cannot see who you are talking to. So you might bump into someone the next day and he will say he met you at English corner and you wouldn't have the foggiest idea who he is.

So every Wednesday (with exceptions), I mosey on down to our English Corner meeting area. It's near the Foreign Language Department where I teach. In fact, there is also a statue of some famous Anhui educator in the place we meet. It's basically a little plaza with the statue in the middle. There is a circular concrete area where people congregate and then there is some outlying grass, bushes, and trees that surround it.

Once I get there, I am instantly surrounded by a gaggle of people. Most of the regulars realize that I am a "lao wai" too, so they start levitating towards me very quickly. Very soon, all the personal space I have is about a one to two foot semi-circle perimeter in front of me. If I have left my back uncovered, then there will be people right up against me. English Corner is definitely not for the claustrophobic foreigner. That's why it's a good idea to have either the statue or a bush behind you to keep your rear covered.

You can meet all sorts of people at English Corner. It's not just open to students, but to anyone in the whole city who is interested in speaking and listening to English. So I've met a few off-campus personalities there. There are people from all walks of life like scientists, nurses, sales clerks, factory workers, and so on. Also, it's a chance to meet some students from other departments. Some of them have amazingly good English skills and would put the English majors to shame.

All sorts of people also means all sorts of questions. Sometimes I get a lot of the same type of question like:
"Who are you?"
"Why can you speak perfect English, but look Chinese?"
"What do you think of our China?"
"How can I improve my English quickly?"

I'm sure those samples give you a good idea of what I usually encounter.

My favourite times at English Corner are when I can talk to my students more. Sometimes I think I don't have enough time with them, so I really appreciate the chance to get to know them more. There are some really swell students here.

My duty at English Corner usually lasts from 4pm to 5pm, but if I get involved in the conversation, then I'll stay up to about 5:30pm. At that time, I'm really starting to have trouble seeing people and, in the winter, the cold starts nipping at my toes. The local roller skating rink (old style roller skates) starts jivin' at about 5 o'clock too. So that can be handy signal as to when I should go.

In fact, there's that eerie hourly chime going on outside. That means I should probably go now too. Guten Nacht