Nicky's story: On our first full day in China we went to a very nice middle school in Beijing. We were allowed to view an English class and help the Chinese students learning the language for the first time. We also got to play with the kids and got schooled in basketball and badminton by the Chinese kids. Most fun of all is when Jason told a girl in Chinese that I loved her and than gave her a heart he had made and said it was from me. We took a picture together and then I gave her my email. It was a bit awkward and embarrassing for me to try to talk to her.
Jason's story: Today was the first day that we were not exhausted, so we got right down to business. Nicky and I actually woke up around 5 a.m. and walked around a little bit before heading down to breakfast. The food was more western than it had been before; there were sausages, eggs, bacon, and toast, but there was also rice, noodles, and some kind of fried vegetable. After breakfast, we all piled onto the bus and took a ride to the school we were visiting. We went into a classroom and learned how to do some Chinese weaving. We sat in on an English class (and some of us actually had some trouble with the answers), and the students did not seem very excited to see us until we got outside. While some of us got killed in basketball, I actually beat the kids in ping pong. They kept sending over better and better kids, and they seemed really surprised that I could actually play. According to Mrs. Lee, they were shouting “you’re Chinese and you can’t even play ping pong!” to the kids that I were playing. After the success in ping pong, however, Nicky and I were embarrassed in badminton. I got to use some of my limited Mandarin to speak with the kids, and they actually understood me. We went in for lunch and ate the massive amounts of food that were served to us in the teachers lounge. The cafeteria food in China was far superior to the food at Weston High. After lunch we played outside with the kids for a little longer. I met two girls that had been taking pictures of Nicky before lunch, and I decided to have some fun with my Chinese. I was able to tell them that Nicky did not understand Chinese, but that he liked them very much. They started giggling and followed us around for a while. Ms. Young offered up the heart she had woven in the classroom, and I gave it to Liu (the girl) and told her that Nicky made it for her. She and her friends were laughing, Nicky, was bright red, and they exchanged email addresses. I also got a great picture of the happy couple. We left the school and drove to an office of the U.S. embassy. Three of the people who worked there told us a lot about China and its relationship to the U.S., the Olympics, and the process for getting visas. We’re on our way to a snack street now, where we might be eating some scorpions and some other strange things.
Goodbye from China!
No comments:
Post a Comment