Dating

Yesterday evening I was talking to my host brother about 谈恋爱，which roughly translated can mean "dating" or "to be in love." He told me that some kids in his class have started dating, but as soon as any of the teachers find out, they immediately tell their parents. This absolutely shocked me; I couldn't believe that a teacher would take the liberty to call the child's parents and tell them that they had a boyfriend or girlfriend.

My host brother said that this is because both the teachers and parents alike believe that kids shouldn't start dating until college, since anytime before that distracts the child from his or her schoolwork, specifically the 中考 zhongkao and 高考 gaokao，which are tests that every Chinese kid has to take, zhongkao to get into to high school, and gaokao to get into college. During middle school and high school, every Chinese child's life basically revolves around these two tests that basically determine the rest of their lives. My host brother has to take his test to get into high school in June, and at least once a day his parents remind him that he has to study, and go to school EVERY DAY (including Saturdays and Sundays), in order to prepare. For example, last night at dinner, my host mom told him that if he gets a low score on his test, he'll spend the next 3 years with stupid people and he'll never succeed at life.

Anyway, my host brother said that he had a girlfriend for a couple days once, but fearing that his parents would find out, he quickly ended things. He said that his father has forbidden him to have a girlfriend until he is a sophomore in college. He was shocked that my parents allowed me to start dating when I was 16 years old. But he said that he wishes he could have a girlfriend (he is 15 years old after all) and asked me for advice on how to get a girlfriend. It was pretty funny...