Speech Competitions: Tony

After a grueling, taxing, arduous and exhausting three weeks spent in Tony and Evan’s company nearly exclusively, I believe the boys are ready for competition. I do have to tell you though: the grueling, taxing arduous and exhausting time was not had by me; it was had by the boys. Not only are they preparing for this speech competition but they also have finals to look forward to, they have to do their regular homework and they have their campus programs that they have to keep up with. Evan is on a basketball team and they expect him to play. Tony is Class Monitor and there are plenty of responsibilities to go with that.

For me, these last three weeks have been pure joy. It is not often that one meets a Tony, as I believe I already told you. Evan is just as fine a young man. Maybe his waters are not quite as still or deep as his speech teammate’s but he is a good kid and a pleasure to be around.

I debated whether to write a chronology of the competitions, or just capture impressions to share with you. I feel the impressions are more significant than relating, point by point, what happened. So I’m going to go with color rather than play by play. If this upsets you, please do not hesitate to come to China and take it out of my hide. I would gladly risk a good thrashing for the pleasure of welcoming you to my home.

Taking it from the dress rehearsal: the last practice at my house. As you can see from the picture, Tony was a bit freaked out. That’s because I was trying to put mascara on him. It was a full dress rehearsal: I insisted he be stage ready. I suppose it could be freaky, for a man, to be chased down by female wielding a tube of mascara.

For Tony’s competition we had to go to Xian Ning, a small town one hour away from Wuhan by train. Helen – she of the ‘Daisy, Helen, Hellen and Mouse’ entry posted in June, accompanied us. So now the party consists of me, Tony, Helen, a boy whose home town is Xian Ning and another boy that just wanted to spend some time with the foreigner. I rather resented Helen for that last inclusion. Why would she think that I would enjoy being subjected to someone who wants to speak better English at my expense? In the end this boy, whose name I never did catch proved quite pleasant and appreciative of any conversational gambits I threw his way. Admittedly there weren’t many because, quite frankly I was most busy with Tony – last minute psyching, and with Helen, who kept trying to run my life for me.

Arrival Xian Ning. We took a taxi to the hotel all contestants were to stay at. Helen and I shared a room; Tony and the boys roomed next door. I considered briefly moving in with the boys because Helen never shuts up. I then rejected that idea. It might be unseemly to room with three boys. I endured Helen’s constant prattle and did my best to ignore it, even throwing the blanket over my head and pretending to sleep. Fortunately I had thought to bring a flashlight, so I just read my book under the covers. Helen finally quit talking, mercifully.

We had to register for competition immediately after check-in. The university was next door to the hotel so we just walked the few km it took to get to the auditorium. It felt nice to stretch my legs. During that walk, Tony slipped away from Helen’s incessant chatter long enough to tell me he wanted to share something with me once we returned to our campus. He still has not told me what that ‘something’ is.

After registration and orientation we went to dinner… on the other side of the campus. Now why, when our hotel was next to the campus would Helen choose to walk all the way to the back of the campus to eat, and then walk all the way across campus again to get to the hotel? Some things you just can’t control; we let Helen have her way. I drew the line when she tried to fix my plate for me. I’m not her son, or any other random child.

Last minute pep talk before bed. Helen is blathering in rapid-fire Chinese. I have no idea what she is telling Tony. I do know that she has instructed him to use no body language, to just stand at the podium, emotionless, and deliver his speech. I got pretty angry seeing as I had been the only one coaching him in the mechanics and techniques of speech-giving, and he worked very hard to learn. But then realized that I don’t control everything. If she feels it is vital for her to come on, last minute and tell him how to act, that is that. I’ve done what I could. I trudged behind the group, rationalizing my anger and letting it go. In spite of Helen telling us we need to be in bed by 10PM we did not hit the sheets till nearly 11.

The morning dawns: I got up at 5:30 so that Helen and I would not fight over the bathroom. Also, I needed some quiet time to get ‘in the zone’. I woke everyone up at 6:30. While Helen took her time getting ready I helped Tony with his hair and his suit. We went for breakfast, provided free by the hotel, at 7:15. Tony had to be in the prep room, the room next to the auditorium by 7:30. We got there late, but then so did most of the other contestants.

Showtime: Tony was number 15 of 30 contestants in line to give his speech. I could imagine him in the prep room, off to the side, drawing into himself, finding his core and marshalling his thoughts. In short, Young Tony was getting in the zone. That he got there was plainly evident in the way he approached the stage and took it over.

Competition rules: You hit the stage. You pick a number between 1 and 15. The topic pops up on screen. You have 30 seconds to prepare a 2 minute and 30 second speech on the given topic. Upon conclusion of the speech, the Question Master asks two questions. You have two minutes total for the Q&A portion of your speech. Then, you clear the stage and the next competitor takes over. Total time onstage: 5 minutes.

Tony is a natural born showman and a gifted speaker. He took the stage confidently, standing tall and handsome in his suit. His face expressionless, he chose his number, and then stared at the image he was to describe. Come time for him to speak it was as though a light switch had been thrown. He became TONY! Animated, graphic, using body language and gestures and facial expressions and humor. In short he did nothing that Helen instructed him to do and everything we had drilled on for the last 3 weeks. I felt a savage glee at Helen being thwarted.

Sometimes I’m not very nice.

Again, this child impressed me with his self-possession and maturity. The same boy that laughed uproariously at his own mistakes during rehearsals at my house stood in the auditorium, suit jacket unbuttoned and arms akimbo, looking composed, as if an arduous task had just been successfully completed. The intermission being immediately after Tony’s speech, Helen had leapt up to meet him as he came offstage. I hung back, not wanting the boy to be flooded. While she carried on and on about whatever she was talking about, he looked over at me, smiled and winked. I winked back and flashed him the victory sign. He had done a good job. He placed twelfth of 30. That is the best anyone in our school has ever done at these competitions.

Tony and I spent a great deal of time tete-a-tete that afternoon. I vastly prefer conversing with him to Helen nonsensical chatter. Hard to remember sometimes that he is just a child, especially when he talks like my contemporary. I’m going to miss working with him so closely. But we are not done being friends… not by a long shot.

Going home on the train my weariness started to show. Tony, protective, proclaimed himself my body guard and made sure no one bothered me. We sat apart from the group and chatted quietly. I was moved to tears when he disclosed that, after spending this intensive time in my company, he holds me as the person he respects the most.

Back in Wuhan. Helen wants us to go to a restaurant close to her house for a nice dinner. Although I’m not opposed to dinner I am quite tired, and I have Evan’s competition to prepare for tomorrow. I beg off from dinner, especially seeing as her home is in the opposite direction of our school and it is already nearing 8PM. Disappointed, she goes home alone. The boys and I take a taxi back to campus.

Tony has become Young Tony again. He’s on the phone, he’s answering text messages, he is resuming his life. We part company at the school gate, each burdened with our bags from the trip and the glow of a time well spent.