God Save the Queen! 天佑女王!
cn·@thornybastard·
0.000 HBDGod Save the Queen! 天佑女王!
## Changing the World for the Better with a Royal Mess or--今天的世界比较好或<h2> ### Trashing the School with My Chinese Students and Further Insight for Chapter 1<h3> <center>[](https://www.steemimg.com/image/EHhmB)</center> In [Chapter 1: The Haunted College--深圳青年学院有鬼](https://steemit.com/cn/@thornybastard/chapter-1-the-haunted-college) I mentioned an incident involving a group of students at that abominable private school and what happens when they hear *God Save the Queen* by the Sex Pistols for the first time without going into detail. The incident wisely occurred *after* I'd accepted the Youth College position and started moving my stuff. <center>[](https://www.steemimg.com/image/EHa4I)</center> <center>The Sex Pistols in their prime</center> Earlier this year I finished reading legendary Sex Pistols' front man Johnny Lydon's autobiography AND LOVED IT. Every word. I was inspired to write to him about this occurrence. I got his address from a friend in L.A. who works in showbiz and knows a lot of agents and stuff and was able to procure it for me. <center></center> <center>Cover of John Lydon's autobiography. Recommended without reservation for all liberty lovers</center> I've cut and pasted the full letter below, edited for the address (sorry!) and my real name. Shout out to [Jennsky](https://steemit.com/@jennsky) for centering code. Thanks. Dear Mr. Lydon, God how I love Anger Is an Energy. I’m a slow reader, like to chew on every word, live the scenes in my head as I go along. The more I like a book the longer it takes to read. It’s wonderfully twistedly articulate, and yet somehow at times incomprehensible (to Americans, that is). But in the midst of it, I was inspired to write to you about a story about “God Save the Queen” I’m sure you never heard because it happened in China. I’m an English teacher in China and an old DC punk (but not as old as you). After finishing my first gig in the sticks in 2003, I landed a job in the throbbing city of Shenzhen, China’s up and coming “gateway city”. It was at a horrible upscale, high-end private school for Oligarchs’ kids. I hated it. The administration was always adding duties to my contract without telling me, never consulting with me and not even offering any extra money. They had absolutely no respect for their staff or students for that matter. One day I was informed by the snobby stiff-colored school marm director (prinicipal? Head mistress?) that I’d be doing an English corner after school every day for 2 hours. “What? How much more you gonna pay me for that?” “We’re not.” Clearly these people had never dealt with English speakers, whether American or British and certainly not with the likes of me. The resentment for this injustice built, and became a pressure cooker waiting to blow. About 8-10 kids aged 11-12 attended that thing, one from Hong Kong who knew what freedom really was, and some others who hated that place as much as I did and thought the American guy would be cooler to hang out with than any of the other teachers doing afterschool shit. It was in an all-purpose room, as we Yanks say, which is a large room that can be used as a gym, play room, recital hall, school plays, etc. One day, the kid from Hong Kong said to me: “Can we listen to some English songs? Like Rock n Roll?” “We sure can!” I told her, and I ran off to my dorm room to grab some CDs. I plopped Never Mind the Bollocks in the player and turned on “God Save the Queen.” The kids sprang up, began running around the room and throwing things at each other. Perhaps with my egging on, we began heaving these large painted cubes around that were used for sitting on and building stuff. But it didn’t stop there! They then began knocking over bookshelves filled with books and toys and kicking soccer balls that toppled chairs and tables. They climbed the walls and tore down the stupid cutesy pictures about school etiquette and the official school banner that hung on the wall. I think we might’ve broken a window as well. I watched and laughed out loud! When the song was over they stopped and turned to me, expecting the next step. “OK, kids, that’s it for today! See you tomorrow!” And we all left school grounds as quickly as possible. The next morning that overly serious school marm administrator with a pole up her ass opened the door to the all-purpose room and got what she deserved—a fucking disaster area. That Friday I left school with my suitcase as if taking a weekend jaunt to somewhere in China and never went back to that horrid place. I would’ve liked to see them hemming and hawing to explain to all those rich, demanding parents why there was no foreign teacher there to teach their kids spoken English. But it gets better. The school got the message. Shortly after that, the best teachers and the one decent guy in the admin all left too for better jobs! The school’s owner’s husband divorced her and moved back to Hong Kong! The next foreign teacher, a Kiwi by trade, was treated much better, ended up meeting a Chinese friend of mine, married her, and now they have a lovely family together in NZ. So, thank you and God bless you, Mr Lydon for “God Save the Queen,” a song that continues to make the world a better place, all the way to China! I’m too young to have seen the Pistols, but I did catch a PiL show in DC at the Ontario Theater and absolutely loved it! You wore pajamas and did some Sex Pistols songs as well. Sincerely, [Thorny Bastard], still in China.