Why are you starting night school?, Young People Working in Shanghai | Time | Shanghai
Demons are always multidimensional, especially after nightfall. The colors of different worlds were scattered all over the corners of the black dyed fabric, and when we looked at each other, it was pitch black, with only our own sides shining brightly.
At night, the crowds on the Bund create a world, and the office buildings in Caohejing also create a world; Red wine under the candlelight is a world, and draft beer on the roadside is also a world.
And some people, after finishing classes at civic art night schools, come across a toad on the road and stay in place to watch it jump into the green belt. At that moment, she felt that summer had arrived. This is another world.
The Shanghai Citizen Art Night School is a peculiar existence, as if no one knows, but the classes are always unavailable.
The night school courses are divided into spring and autumn classes, covering almost all possible art categories, including vocal music, drama, yoga, beauty, handicrafts, painting, dance, and even a large number of intangible cultural heritage projects. Class locations are distributed in mass cultural centers or mass art centers in various districts. The vast majority of courses are scheduled once a week, from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm on weekdays, and some courses also take place on weekends. 12 classes per session, with an additional fee of 500 yuan.
"When a 12 art class worth 500 yuan is presented in front of you, of course you will be filled with tears, grateful, and immediately sign up, right?" The drama class's novice always said that his Mandarin is not good, but when he said this sentence, he spoke as fast as a machine gun, and in the end, he excitedly added a question mark.
Local aunties may still be the backbone of night school courses, but office workers are also actively joining in. Young people who attend art night schools may not necessarily have a dream job, nor may they have ample time. They just want to take a step towards other color blocks on the dyed fabric at night and find an enclave outside of work.
But the entanglements in the real world always accompany us, pure hobbies or contribute a moment of breathing in a tired life, or turn into a handy weapon on the path of growth. Besides hobbies, young figures still face their own "five levels and six generals".
After sunset
Ending daytime work, night should be in the name of life.
Sometimes Wu Ming can catch the tail of the sunset when she comes home from work. Under the sunset, her neighbors walk their dogs nearby, or a group of people gather together to discuss today's vegetable prices. This is the smoke and fire that makes her feel healed.
In Zhong Xi's impression, the summer nights when he was a child were lying in his hometown watching the stars, with watermelon and grapes at hand. Later on, the independence of the night became weaker and weaker, as if it was just a simple continuation of the day. Her only feeling about the night became the discount offered by bakeries and supermarkets after 8 o'clock.
Chen Cheng has heard a word called "Sunset Syndrome". Although it originally referred to a certain symptom of elderly dementia patients at dusk, she believes that the feeling of depression after sunset is indeed traceable. Before attending night school, Little Sheep spent the vast majority of nights in a rented house alone playing with their phones.
For them, night schools are recapturing the "night".
The price of 500 yuan has lowered the economic threshold for art training, as it may only be the price of one class on the market. Moreover, the teaching staff of the course is also guaranteed to a certain extent, which may open up more opportunities for young people who have just entered society and have limited savings.
Little Sheep enrolled in three classes at once: street dance on Monday, makeup on Tuesday, and yoga on Thursday. "After attending night school, the time at night was filled up, making me feel that in Shanghai, besides work, there is another support." Little Sheep felt that this was another experience of attending interest classes when he grew up, and it was a clear proof of "taking good care of himself". Now that the spring class has ended, Little Sheep has lost more than ten pounds and has more confidence in his makeup skills. In the upcoming autumn class, she feels that she can be more saturated at night and plans to enroll in four courses.
Zhong Xi photographed the sunset before the last Zumba class. Photo provided by respondents in this article
Zhong Xi attended Zumba dance classes, and every Wednesday's dance day became the anchor of her life.
She felt a bit like the Little Prince, as the book said, "If you say you'll come at 4 pm, then I'll feel happy from 3 pm." Her hopes began on Tuesday. Rest early and get excited early.
On the way to class on Wednesday afternoon, Zhong Xi would see groups of aunties on the square and think to herself, "I'm going to dance too!" The dopamine secretion brought by the dance made her look different all night, "her antennae have been opened. On the way home, she will notice the internet famous bakery on the street, pay attention to the music fountain that she usually thinks is not surprising, and sniff the aroma of hot pot on the roadside to the point where she can't resist. "Anyway, I'm in a good mood," she said.
The novice in the night school drama class believes that the night should be completely his own time and he should be free to arrange what he does. If there is no work at night, it is the best charging time.
Beyond reality
Xiao Bai has already finished the last class of the drama class, but he has a lot of momentum. On the original class day of the week after the end of class, she posted a popular Moment of Remembrance. "I miss Daqingpu, I miss a group of lovely people, I miss Lomov, I miss my Volovi grassland, and my dog Ugadayi."
The drama class is in Qingpu, and it takes Xiaobai an hour and forty minutes to travel from the city center one way. Sometimes, it may be almost eleven o'clock when he returns home. When choosing courses, she was a fan of literature and art, but she didn't expect the drama class to become like a big family later on.
A group photo after the performance of the drama class.
The last class was a grand performance by the students, with everyone divided into three groups and performing three scenes. Xiao Bai participated in Chekhov's "Proposal" and played the male lead Lomov. In the play, she is a skeptical landlord, outside the play, she is a night school student, and during the day, she works as a freelance exhibition translator and theater staff. The drama class is like a double new world nesting doll.
Xiao Bai is also a "little white" in his performance, lacking confidence and afraid to express himself. When Lomov first arrived at the protagonist's house, the novice acted as if he was going to come and argue. The acting partner said to her, "You're quite interesting, you're quite easy-going." Little Bai didn't expect that everyone could not demand acting skills, and even if they acted incorrectly, they could receive positive feedback. She is becoming more and more relaxed, and her confidence is also growing stronger.
Live stills of "Proposal".
There are many students in the class who have no performance experience, but their lack of acting skills does not hinder their full dedication. When the action is wrong, the partner repeatedly plays the scene without any complaints. There is a clear consensus among everyone: even if work is busy, the performance should be decent. Xiaobai always sees students starting to make phone calls and coordinate work as soon as class is over, which is completely a different state. In addition to regular courses, the production team of "Proposal" also spontaneously organized multiple rehearsals on weekends, each lasting no less than three hours, with teacher Zhou Haiming also present to guide. Zhou Haiming has been taking night school courses for several years, and even in his view, it is rare for a class group with such close relationships and proactive efforts.
The most memorable rehearsal for Xiaobai was the last time, during which the "Old Buddha" from the production team of "Princess and Kiss" brought sushi and fried dumplings to the whole class, while "Ge Ge" brought pizza. "Everyone is sharing, everyone is their own." Rehearsal was particularly tiring, and the food was particularly delicious.
On the day of the performance, the Qingpu District Cultural Center where the course is located provided an almost perfect stage in the eyes of the novice, with sound, light, and logistical support. The costumes of each crew are voluntarily raised by the students themselves, which is also perfectly matched with the play. Underneath the stage is a group of relatives and friends, while on stage are "Princess and Marriage", "Proposal", and "Youth". There are three plays in different time and space, and a group of amateur actors support the entire stage.
"It looks presentable," said Zhou Haiming. From the cross-talk class to the drama class, Zhou Haiming has been working on the popularization and inheritance of art, and this performance can be considered a resounding echo. At the moment she took off her costume, Xiaobai felt sad. She felt that Lomov was gone forever, and a new world beyond reality was gone.
Art night school is like an elopement that deviates from the complexity of real life.
Wu Ming is practicing Yukrili.
After Wu Ming enrolled in the night school's Yukrili class, Qin, who had been lying in the corner for many years, finally broke free from the fate of eating dust. More importantly, she gained an hour and a half to calmly not look at her phone. "Forget all the pressures in real life and focus on immersing herself in the classroom." In daily life, Wu Ming's phone seemed to stick to her hand, and her impatience would force her to reply to all messages at the first time. So these 90 minutes became particularly precious, a rare moment of detachment, playing the word "slow" on the strings.
When she has free time on weekdays, Wu Ming also makes plans with her friends. She plays the ukulele and her friends play their own guitar. Playing the piano and singing, the flow of music allows people to briefly avoid reality.
Below the slash
A netizen commented, "Where did you all find jobs? Why can you finish work before 7 o'clock?"
Night schools have strict attendance systems, but for these young people attending night schools, absenteeism is almost inevitable. Working overtime this week and preparing for the exam next week easily slaps the palm of life on the attendance record.
Wu Ming only attended about two-thirds of the classes and even missed the final class group photo. She works as a teacher in an institution and sometimes doesn't finish work until 8 or 9 pm. When she doesn't work overtime, she is often busy preparing for exams related to education, such as teacher qualification certificates.
In 2020, Wu Ming returned to China after completing her studies. After returning to China, she found that various certificates were written on everyone's resumes, so she felt that something was missing from her resume. As a result, the awareness of certification gradually began to form. She believed that "if a person has free time, the more certificates they have, the better.". In the second half of the year, Wu Ming also plans to apply for a barista qualification certificate.
Wu Ming's CELTA certificate.
Slash, side jobs, and women's power are constantly stirring up in the public opinion field, which makes Wu Ming feel somewhat anxious.
She would envy the aunt in Yukrili's class for being able to focus solely on the piano, but also feel that living with yoga meditation as a friend at the beginning and end of each day is too tight. "Life is always chosen by oneself, but the choices of others' lives may affect me to make some attempts. Currently, I am still constantly trying and making mistakes and slowly moving towards the right path."
Compared to Wu Ming, Zhong Xi's anxiety is much more exposed.
When registering for the spring night school, Zhong Xi had just resigned from a state-owned enterprise. My next job was as a Chinese teacher at a school, probably starting around September, so the night school spring class happened to be between her.
Zhong Xi likes to browse bookstores and exhibitions during her leisure time. The picture is taken by Zhong Xi at the Zhongshu Pavilion.
Once there is no job or social interaction, Zhong Xi's thoughts will be somewhat released, and her emotions can easily be influenced. The night school course provided her with the urgently needed sense of order at this time. But at first, what Zhong Xi most wanted to attend was not Zumba dance classes, but coffee making. The reason, she said, is "if you want to leave yourself a way out, if you can't, you can go make coffee.". Even if the next job is already clear, this anxiety will never go away.
Zhong Xi always tightens a few strings: What if I get laid off? What if my student can only work as an operator like in the movie "The Next Suxi" after graduation? Is there no difference between my previous job and being an operator?
With these thoughts in mind, she felt that besides coffee, learning about elderly care should also be good. "With such a high level of aging, there may be a trend in the future, and at least there won't be unemployment," she said
Zhong Xi's concern about having no income was at a very high level. Faced with wholehearted unemployment anxiety, her original intention was to learn a skill to "treat" unemployment as a "life-saving straw"; But in the end, the Zumba dance course, which was initially just for the sake of making one move, became a cure for anxiety.
Between turns
Chen Cheng cares more about the experience, and she thinks it's also very useful.
At the art night school, Chen Cheng chose guzheng and oil painting, and even signed up for Yue opera at the beginning. When browsing the course catalog, she was very attracted to the fields of qin, lacquerware, leather goods making, and flower arrangement. In addition, she also goes to the dance studio 2-3 times a week for dance classes, and immediately after the night school ends, she signs up for Chinese dance classes at the cultural center. She described all of these as "useless uses", "it seems like learning is not very useful, but it seems like you can learn a lot.".
Chen Cheng's large-scale works in oil painting class were mainly practiced in composition proportions and light and dark details.
After graduating last year, Chen Cheng entered the financial industry, but unexpectedly, his off work hours remained stable around 5 o'clock, which was completely different from the pace of life of other classmates after graduation. Although she occasionally worries about herself, she is still able to adjust her mindset. "My growth potential will definitely be relatively poor, but opportunities are like this, and I can only accept them. So I hope to enrich myself by taking more classes, encountering content that I haven't been exposed to before."
Chen Cheng hopes to master some skills through the course, but he is not strict about the speed of the progress bar. In her opinion, even a three minute heat can bring further joy. As long as there is content that has not been touched before, it is a brand new experience.
But experience is not the protagonist of life after all. Looking at the past year of life, Chen Cheng still vaguely feels that it is not right. Easy work promotes more time for relaxation and enjoyment, but it also deprives oneself of possibilities. So in early July, before and after the end of the night school spring class, Chen Cheng wrote himself a "2023 Restart Life OKR". In this OKR, besides being useless, there are also many learning and growth oriented matters, such as French, CPA, new media operations
On May 20th in class, Chen Orange drew panda flowers.
Planning is a habit she has developed since middle and high school, and a schedule can make the next day more fulfilling. But now the plan book is not specific to the moment, it is more like a task list, each task is process oriented, without emphasizing the results. It serves as a larger scale alarm clock in daily life, reminding Chen Cheng to maintain a roughly stable direction of travel.
In fact, even freelancers cannot achieve complete freedom. After the drama class ended, Xiaobai was also thinking about his next steps. Economically, she will definitely feel anxious, but every time she sees her friends working overtime at 10 o'clock, this anxiety will immediately fade away. Having been idle for a long time, Xiaobai also feels that his focus has decreased and he seems to need a full-time job to return to a more regular life.
Like drinking water, young people attending art night schools may not necessarily sit on the "dream love post". Night schools may just be a patch of a long life. The Citizen Art Night School still has two "breakpoints" of winter and summer. The magic city where one is located is always teaching young people, asking them to answer questions.
