Her Name is Rio...

The students in my first class of the morning were running a little late. They are getting busier as the semester comes to a close. One student slipped in right as the late bell rang, huffing and puffing after the five flight sprint to my classroom. She took a big swig of her neon blue drink, clearly emblazoned with the "Rio" logo on the front. It could have been an ad on TV.

Mmm. A Rio. I thought. Those Rio drinks are delicious. I'm so thirsty... I could use a Rio right now! The blue ones are too sweet, but the lemon ones are great. It would be awesome to have a cold drink right now, I wonder why I never thought to bring a Rio to class...

And then I realized. Duh. I never bring a Rio to class because they're alcoholic. And what kind of person brings an alcoholic drink to a school?

While the students took a few minutes to write down some conversational points for a discussion, I walked around the room checking their work. I stopped at her desk and read the label on the back of her drink. I was right: 4.9% Alcohol. She looked up at me and said, "Juice." I looked down at her and said, "Not juice..."

During the class discussion, I could see her and her friends crowding around the bottle. I realized I probably should have waited until after class, I was just so confused and shocked to see an alcoholic drink in my classroom. When class was over, I asked her to stay later. She knew why. As soon as everyone was gone, she pointed to the label,

"Teacher, it says a fruit punch juice and spirits blend on the front. See? Juice!"

"Spirits is an English word for alcohol."

"Oh."

"See here? It says 4.9% ALC. 酒..." I said in what (probably) was Chinese, hoping she got the picture. "Just don't bring it to my class again, OK?" I asked.

"Yes, teacher." She answer.

What boggles my mind is that this girl, in her NDFZ uniform, bought a drink clearly from the alcohol shelf (at least, in my grocery stores that is where it is) and no one thought twice. Obviously, alcohol regulations aren't as strict... anywhere... compared to America, but still. In her uniform!

When I recounted this story to other people in China, both foreign and native Chinese, no one seemed fazed. I guess this happens all the time, since the age-limit isn't strictly adhered to and because a lot of those drinks are brightly colored and look kid-friendly. But considering that this girl is tiny, I imagine a 4.9% alcohol content would make her feel a little tipsy or sleepy.
So anyway, that happened. My TEFL training definitely did not prepare me for that one...