If you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do today?

In my main class, the one with the advanced English students, that I teach every week, it had come to my attention that some of them thought the class was too easy. This was a rumor that may or may not have been true. In any case, I decided to really challenge them this week, to express complex thoughts and feelings. I made a presentation called "Creative Questions, Creative Answers", where I had a list of questions that would be very simple for a native English speaker, but very difficult for someone just getting their first real foothold in the language. Here are the questions and some of the answers:

If you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do today?
Most girls said something like, "I would go to see my parents, and eat whatever I wanted, and spend time with my friends". One girl said, "I would lay in my boyfriend's arms until I died upon his bosom". Another, "I would lay in bed and cry."

If you had one million RMB, what would you buy?
Almost everyone said, "I would buy a big house, and a cool car, and lots of beautiful clothes." A lot of them mentioned giving money to their parents. Sandy said, "I would build a big house where people can live if they have no home, and I would build a school where students could study if they didn't have any money." I think she was thinking about her two younger siblings when she said that.

What's your favorite English word, and why?
Some interesting answers were "Spirit", "Journey", "Angel", "Time", and "Sweet Potato".

If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
Some people went with things like, "I would make all people healthy", "I would make no war", "I would make no hungry people anymore". But others went with, "I would make myself beautiful (rich, etc.)" Someone said, "I would make myself strong, because I don't want to cry anymore". I guess that answer kind of shocked me. I feel like, if I were completely honest with myself, that's what I would have said, too. And one girl said, "I would make China rich and strong so I can live a better life, and all Chinese can live a better life". A few other girls said something similar, about making China better, making it the leading nation, making it richer, giving it more power. And Sandy said, similar to her above response, "I would make all children free to learn, and free to have books and pencils." A bit heartbreaking, that.