Script of a short play---by jerry
Cast of Characters:
Jerry, a twelve-year-old boy who was at primary school during that time and he is from Guangzhou, southern part of China
David, who is the same age as Jerry and is from Beijing, the northern part of China
Victor, Jerry’s father, an entrepreneur who has lived in South China for his whole life
Sandra, Jerry’s mother who was born in Zhengzhou, North China, but has lived in Guangzhou for twenty years since graduating from the university
Richard, David’s father who is also an entrepreneur in Beijing and has only been to South China two times twenty years ago
Clair, David’s mom who was born and raised in Dalian, the Northeast part of China
SCENE 1:
(Richard has to talk face to face about a very important business collaboration with Victor’s company so he flies to Guangzhou in person with his family. It was his family’s first time travelling to South China. As the host, Victor sets up a dinner between the two families in a Cantonese restaurant. )
(Both of the two families arrive on time and meet in the parking lot which is very well-lit and has lots of cars. It is very busy because it is dinner time.)
Victor: Hi Richard! Welcome to Guangzhou!
(Victor is very happy to meet Richard’s family.)
Richard: Hi Victor! Finally I am able to see you in person. (Laughing) This is my wife Clair and my son David.
(Both Clair and David nod their heads to say hi to Victor’s family. They are a little shy because it is the first time they meet Victor’s family.)
Victor: This is my son Jerry.
Jerry: Hello Mr. Richard, Mrs. Clair and David. Welcome to Guangzhou!
(Jerry is very excited to make new friends.)
Sandra: Hi, I am Jerry’s mom, nice to meet you all. We reserved a room in this restaurant tonight. Let’s go inside and have dinner!
(Sandra elegantly leads the others into the restaurant.)
(The lights dim at the end of scene 1, while the two families walk into the lobby of the restaurant.)
SCENE 2:
(The two families walk into the lobby of the restaurant. It is large and gorgeous, but also quite noisy and crowded during dinner time. There are a lot of huge tanks of fish in the middle of the room and there are some pictures, on the walls, of the food that the restaurant serves. A waitress walks to them with a smile.)
Waitress: Good evening everyone. How can I help you? (She speaks in Cantonese. Richard’s family seems really confused about what the waitress is saying.)
Sandra: Hello, we have already reserved room 301. The last name is Ouyang. And could you please speak in Mandarin? Our guests are from the north, so they can not understand Cantonese. Thank you.
(Jerry feels a little bit confused when his mother says that. He wonders why David’s family does not know Cantonese. Before he met David and his parents, all the people Jerry had met in his life knew both Cantonese and Mandarin, so he thought that everyone around China knew both languages.)
Waitress: Oh sorry, it is totally fine. I can speak mandarin. So Mrs. Ouyang, do you want to order food here right now or go to the room first?
(Richard and his wife look at each other and seem a little bit confused. Sandra notices their confusion and begins to explain to them with an understanding smile.)
Sandra: In most of the southern restaurants, we order in the lobby before we get into the room. I lived in North China for a while when I was a child, so I know that it is quite strange to order food in the lobby in the north. However, it is quite common here in Canton.
David: But why?
(David sounds really shocked.)
Victor: Because many southern restaurants offer seafood. The main idea of eating seafood is that the seafood should be as fresh as possible. In order to ensure freshness, many restaurants have huge tanks of fish in their lobbies so that they can feed the fish until the fish are ordered. That really helps to keep the freshness of all the seafood.
(When his parents talk about the differences between north and south China and the reasons behind them, Jerry finds them really interesting and wants to know about them. Before this dinner, he did not know anything about the cultural diversity around him.)
David: Oh, now I can understand. That is not common at all in the north.
(Then, the two families begin to order food that they want. They finish ordering by selecting a side dish.)
David: I want noodles to be the side dish.
(David says with certainty.)
Waitress: Sorry sir, we do not have noodles here in our restaurant because it is a very traditional southern restaurant. We only offer rice and porridge as side dishes.
(The waitress responds to David with politeness.)
Jerry: Why don’t you select rice David? Our families eat rice at every meal!
David: But in the north, we eat noodles with every meal…
(Seeing that both David and Jerry are quite serious about what exactly the side dish should be, the four parents laugh.)
Sandra: Haha, alright kids, both of you are right. Both noodles and rice are essential staples for our daily life, but because of the different weather conditions and soil conditions between southern and northern China, people in the south always have rice and people in the north always have noodles.
(After learning that, both Jerry and David open their eyes quite big as though they found a new world.)
Victor: Haha, ok, since we have already finished ordering the food, let us go upstairs to the reserved room.
(The two families chat happily and walk up to the reserved room together.)
SCENE 3:
(The two families walk into the room and have a really good conversation together in Mandarin while waiting for the food. Then, the waitress comes to prepare dinnerware for them. When the waitress puts only a bowl and a pair of chopsticks in front of David, David seems really confused.)
David: Are we just going to eat soup for this dinner??
(David sounds a little annoyed,)
Jerry: Absolutely not. Why do you say that David?
David: Because we only have bowls and they are for soup only.
Jerry: No, bowls are not only for soup. We also use bowls to contain rice. Do people in the north really use them only for soup?
(Jerry felt confused about it. )
Clair: Oh, that is another cultural difference between the south and the north, boys. In the north, we only use bowls for soup and plates for rice and other food. However, people in the south use bowls not only for soup but also for rice and other food. They use plates for disposing of bones during the dinner.
Sandra: And this restaurant does not offer plates because their theme is nature. They just want customers to put their rubbish on the table.
(Both David and Jerry nod their heads and seem really attracted by the cultural difference they just learned. David begins to try to use bowls for food after learning the differences. Jerry also even asks the waiter to pass him a dish and tries to experience the cultural differences firsthand. )
(The two families have a really great dinner night together. The boys talk about their school and friends with each other. The moms talk about yoga and cooking. The dads finally agree to collaborate.)
Victor: It has really been a fantastic night tonight. I am so happy that Richard could bring his family to the south, to Guangzhou. During this meal, we really saw and learned about the cultural differences between the south and north. It is really interesting and great to see the diversity of China!
Jerry: Yes, it is! I really experienced and learnt a lot tonight! Let us take a picture together before we leave!
(By far, this dinner has already had a profound impact on Jerry. He has really been attracted by the cultural differences he saw during this dinner. Before it, he thinks that everyone around him is same. He knew nothing about the diversity around him. This dinner let him experience the cultural diversity around him. At the beginning, he got a little confused and shocked. However later, he begins to accept them very quickly and find them so interesting that he wants to learn more.)
(The two families have their photo taken together and leave the restaurant with great joy.)
THE END
Jerry, a twelve-year-old boy who was at primary school during that time and he is from Guangzhou, southern part of China
David, who is the same age as Jerry and is from Beijing, the northern part of China
Victor, Jerry’s father, an entrepreneur who has lived in South China for his whole life
Sandra, Jerry’s mother who was born in Zhengzhou, North China, but has lived in Guangzhou for twenty years since graduating from the university
Richard, David’s father who is also an entrepreneur in Beijing and has only been to South China two times twenty years ago
Clair, David’s mom who was born and raised in Dalian, the Northeast part of China
SCENE 1:
(Richard has to talk face to face about a very important business collaboration with Victor’s company so he flies to Guangzhou in person with his family. It was his family’s first time travelling to South China. As the host, Victor sets up a dinner between the two families in a Cantonese restaurant. )
(Both of the two families arrive on time and meet in the parking lot which is very well-lit and has lots of cars. It is very busy because it is dinner time.)
Victor: Hi Richard! Welcome to Guangzhou!
(Victor is very happy to meet Richard’s family.)
Richard: Hi Victor! Finally I am able to see you in person. (Laughing) This is my wife Clair and my son David.
(Both Clair and David nod their heads to say hi to Victor’s family. They are a little shy because it is the first time they meet Victor’s family.)
Victor: This is my son Jerry.
Jerry: Hello Mr. Richard, Mrs. Clair and David. Welcome to Guangzhou!
(Jerry is very excited to make new friends.)
Sandra: Hi, I am Jerry’s mom, nice to meet you all. We reserved a room in this restaurant tonight. Let’s go inside and have dinner!
(Sandra elegantly leads the others into the restaurant.)
(The lights dim at the end of scene 1, while the two families walk into the lobby of the restaurant.)
SCENE 2:
(The two families walk into the lobby of the restaurant. It is large and gorgeous, but also quite noisy and crowded during dinner time. There are a lot of huge tanks of fish in the middle of the room and there are some pictures, on the walls, of the food that the restaurant serves. A waitress walks to them with a smile.)
Waitress: Good evening everyone. How can I help you? (She speaks in Cantonese. Richard’s family seems really confused about what the waitress is saying.)
Sandra: Hello, we have already reserved room 301. The last name is Ouyang. And could you please speak in Mandarin? Our guests are from the north, so they can not understand Cantonese. Thank you.
(Jerry feels a little bit confused when his mother says that. He wonders why David’s family does not know Cantonese. Before he met David and his parents, all the people Jerry had met in his life knew both Cantonese and Mandarin, so he thought that everyone around China knew both languages.)
Waitress: Oh sorry, it is totally fine. I can speak mandarin. So Mrs. Ouyang, do you want to order food here right now or go to the room first?
(Richard and his wife look at each other and seem a little bit confused. Sandra notices their confusion and begins to explain to them with an understanding smile.)
Sandra: In most of the southern restaurants, we order in the lobby before we get into the room. I lived in North China for a while when I was a child, so I know that it is quite strange to order food in the lobby in the north. However, it is quite common here in Canton.
David: But why?
(David sounds really shocked.)
Victor: Because many southern restaurants offer seafood. The main idea of eating seafood is that the seafood should be as fresh as possible. In order to ensure freshness, many restaurants have huge tanks of fish in their lobbies so that they can feed the fish until the fish are ordered. That really helps to keep the freshness of all the seafood.
(When his parents talk about the differences between north and south China and the reasons behind them, Jerry finds them really interesting and wants to know about them. Before this dinner, he did not know anything about the cultural diversity around him.)
David: Oh, now I can understand. That is not common at all in the north.
(Then, the two families begin to order food that they want. They finish ordering by selecting a side dish.)
David: I want noodles to be the side dish.
(David says with certainty.)
Waitress: Sorry sir, we do not have noodles here in our restaurant because it is a very traditional southern restaurant. We only offer rice and porridge as side dishes.
(The waitress responds to David with politeness.)
Jerry: Why don’t you select rice David? Our families eat rice at every meal!
David: But in the north, we eat noodles with every meal…
(Seeing that both David and Jerry are quite serious about what exactly the side dish should be, the four parents laugh.)
Sandra: Haha, alright kids, both of you are right. Both noodles and rice are essential staples for our daily life, but because of the different weather conditions and soil conditions between southern and northern China, people in the south always have rice and people in the north always have noodles.
(After learning that, both Jerry and David open their eyes quite big as though they found a new world.)
Victor: Haha, ok, since we have already finished ordering the food, let us go upstairs to the reserved room.
(The two families chat happily and walk up to the reserved room together.)
SCENE 3:
(The two families walk into the room and have a really good conversation together in Mandarin while waiting for the food. Then, the waitress comes to prepare dinnerware for them. When the waitress puts only a bowl and a pair of chopsticks in front of David, David seems really confused.)
David: Are we just going to eat soup for this dinner??
(David sounds a little annoyed,)
Jerry: Absolutely not. Why do you say that David?
David: Because we only have bowls and they are for soup only.
Jerry: No, bowls are not only for soup. We also use bowls to contain rice. Do people in the north really use them only for soup?
(Jerry felt confused about it. )
Clair: Oh, that is another cultural difference between the south and the north, boys. In the north, we only use bowls for soup and plates for rice and other food. However, people in the south use bowls not only for soup but also for rice and other food. They use plates for disposing of bones during the dinner.
Sandra: And this restaurant does not offer plates because their theme is nature. They just want customers to put their rubbish on the table.
(Both David and Jerry nod their heads and seem really attracted by the cultural difference they just learned. David begins to try to use bowls for food after learning the differences. Jerry also even asks the waiter to pass him a dish and tries to experience the cultural differences firsthand. )
(The two families have a really great dinner night together. The boys talk about their school and friends with each other. The moms talk about yoga and cooking. The dads finally agree to collaborate.)
Victor: It has really been a fantastic night tonight. I am so happy that Richard could bring his family to the south, to Guangzhou. During this meal, we really saw and learned about the cultural differences between the south and north. It is really interesting and great to see the diversity of China!
Jerry: Yes, it is! I really experienced and learnt a lot tonight! Let us take a picture together before we leave!
(By far, this dinner has already had a profound impact on Jerry. He has really been attracted by the cultural differences he saw during this dinner. Before it, he thinks that everyone around him is same. He knew nothing about the diversity around him. This dinner let him experience the cultural diversity around him. At the beginning, he got a little confused and shocked. However later, he begins to accept them very quickly and find them so interesting that he wants to learn more.)
(The two families have their photo taken together and leave the restaurant with great joy.)
THE END