As mentioned in yesterday's blog post, after we attended the Welcoming Ceremony, we all departed to our host families' houses. Most of the parents are not able to speak any English, but thankfully the students speak very well. We were all extremely shocked by the prevalence of hospitality shown by our hosts. Entering the front door of the host families' homes was like stepping into a entirely different world. Upon arrival, Naiyah and Melissa were greeted by the mother, father, student, her sister, their cousin, their cousin's husband, and the couple's young child…which was a tad bit overwhelming. Many of us experienced an array of Chinese dishes set on the table as we sat down for dinner...including: rice, tofu, chicken legs and feet, duck bills, tofu soup, clams, beef soup, spring rolls, potatoes, asparagus, winter melon, watermelon and more! We were given chopsticks to eat, but after numerous attempts and nearly as many failures, the majority of us opted for spoons and forks. And despite what we were telling the families (吃饱了! - I'm full!), the host families insisted that we eat more and even piled more food into our already full bowls. Don't be shocked if we come home fat!
We were given a homework assignment from one of the Quzhou #2 School's English teachers, which we completed after our meals. We had to write about one cultural and one spoken difference between China and America. We continued on to various activities after dinner. We then prepared to go to sleep, and realized that the beds are very different from what we are accustomed to. They consist of a wooden bed frame and a bamboo-like wooden mat on top…not as cozy and comfortable as home to say the least.
After a brief breakfast with the host families, we left for our day of classes at Quzhou #2 School. The first class began at 7:40, and we attended five other 40-minute classes in the morning. The Chinese students were studying many topics like politics, geography, English, math and Chinese.Later in the day, one of the graduated senior girls took us to our next class, which was supposed to be history at 11:45. However, after a little scheduling confusion, we wound up interacting with the Chinese students, as opposed to attending an actual class. When the class period was over, we headed to the cafeteria to eat lunch. The cafeteria is made up of three floors, we went up to the third floor to find that we were the only people in there and there was a wide variety of food. The food offered was similar to the Chinese meals we have been eating. We paid for our meals with meal cards that were previously given to us. By the time we had finished chowing down, the whole cafeteria was filled with three floors of hungry students. We cleared our lunch trays and headed across the Square to the library for our much-anticipated, air conditioned break. We especially wanted to escape all of the gawking faces and staring eyes of those who were surprised to see such a diverse and 'different-looking' group. We all feel that the attention is fun in small doses because everyone enjoys a little bit of fame, however, it can become annoying after a while.
After a few cards games and some relaxation time, we made our way towards the school museum. The museum was a small history of the school located on campus and was very close to the library. It documented Quzhou #2 School's relationships with other schools and organizations, as well as their extensive teach-student exchange programs. Another exhibit was of the alliance between Quzhou and Redwing, Minnesota. During World War II, a pilot from Redwing crashed in Quzhou and was helped by the natives living here, which, in turn, led to a long-lasting friendship between the two cities. The history of the school is very interesting and engaged all of us students. We all ran back to the library very quickly because of the rain and went back into the room where Hao Laoshi and Yu Laoshi talked with us about our home stays.
After the brief talk, all of us went into another classroom where we learned about the different holidays and festivals that prominent to Chinese culture. The teacher giving the lesson spoke both Chinese and English, but mostly Chinese and every time the Chinese II students understood what she was saying, we were overjoyed. Next, we went to a calligraphy and painting lesson taught by students from the school. It was so much fun and such an experience to have been part of! The students were amazing artists and we know they tried so hard to teach us how to hold the brush the right way and make the right stroke and flick our brush at just the right time. After a while though, the students allowed us to draw whatever we wanted and we filled up a lot of paper. After the lesson, we went back into the room in the library to wait for our host families to head back to their homes.
Naiyah and Melissa went to the market to buy ingredients for jiaozi (traditional Chinese dumplings), mantou (steamed buns), and baozi (filled steamed buns). When they got back to the house, they made the jiaozi with their host mother, student, her friend, and her friend's sister. It was so much fun! Let's hope that tomorrow will be as fun and exciting as it was today! Ally also helped her host family make jiaozi for dinner, and visited a Chinese book store and super market. Our experiences in China this trip are continuing to expose us to a different culture and a vibrant language.
Hope all is well at home, and we can't wait to see you all again!
-Ally and Naiyah
We were given a homework assignment from one of the Quzhou #2 School's English teachers, which we completed after our meals. We had to write about one cultural and one spoken difference between China and America. We continued on to various activities after dinner. We then prepared to go to sleep, and realized that the beds are very different from what we are accustomed to. They consist of a wooden bed frame and a bamboo-like wooden mat on top…not as cozy and comfortable as home to say the least.
After a brief breakfast with the host families, we left for our day of classes at Quzhou #2 School. The first class began at 7:40, and we attended five other 40-minute classes in the morning. The Chinese students were studying many topics like politics, geography, English, math and Chinese.Later in the day, one of the graduated senior girls took us to our next class, which was supposed to be history at 11:45. However, after a little scheduling confusion, we wound up interacting with the Chinese students, as opposed to attending an actual class. When the class period was over, we headed to the cafeteria to eat lunch. The cafeteria is made up of three floors, we went up to the third floor to find that we were the only people in there and there was a wide variety of food. The food offered was similar to the Chinese meals we have been eating. We paid for our meals with meal cards that were previously given to us. By the time we had finished chowing down, the whole cafeteria was filled with three floors of hungry students. We cleared our lunch trays and headed across the Square to the library for our much-anticipated, air conditioned break. We especially wanted to escape all of the gawking faces and staring eyes of those who were surprised to see such a diverse and 'different-looking' group. We all feel that the attention is fun in small doses because everyone enjoys a little bit of fame, however, it can become annoying after a while.
After a few cards games and some relaxation time, we made our way towards the school museum. The museum was a small history of the school located on campus and was very close to the library. It documented Quzhou #2 School's relationships with other schools and organizations, as well as their extensive teach-student exchange programs. Another exhibit was of the alliance between Quzhou and Redwing, Minnesota. During World War II, a pilot from Redwing crashed in Quzhou and was helped by the natives living here, which, in turn, led to a long-lasting friendship between the two cities. The history of the school is very interesting and engaged all of us students. We all ran back to the library very quickly because of the rain and went back into the room where Hao Laoshi and Yu Laoshi talked with us about our home stays.
After the brief talk, all of us went into another classroom where we learned about the different holidays and festivals that prominent to Chinese culture. The teacher giving the lesson spoke both Chinese and English, but mostly Chinese and every time the Chinese II students understood what she was saying, we were overjoyed. Next, we went to a calligraphy and painting lesson taught by students from the school. It was so much fun and such an experience to have been part of! The students were amazing artists and we know they tried so hard to teach us how to hold the brush the right way and make the right stroke and flick our brush at just the right time. After a while though, the students allowed us to draw whatever we wanted and we filled up a lot of paper. After the lesson, we went back into the room in the library to wait for our host families to head back to their homes.
Naiyah and Melissa went to the market to buy ingredients for jiaozi (traditional Chinese dumplings), mantou (steamed buns), and baozi (filled steamed buns). When they got back to the house, they made the jiaozi with their host mother, student, her friend, and her friend's sister. It was so much fun! Let's hope that tomorrow will be as fun and exciting as it was today! Ally also helped her host family make jiaozi for dinner, and visited a Chinese book store and super market. Our experiences in China this trip are continuing to expose us to a different culture and a vibrant language.
Hope all is well at home, and we can't wait to see you all again!
-Ally and Naiyah