Tuesday, April 3 photos

5-second video clip of students trying Taiji

11-second clip of morning exercises at school

(These may be slow to load.)

First Impressions of China

I think I’m speechless. This is by far the most different yet, at the same time, the coolest thing I thing I’ve ever done. When we got off the plane at 23:15, all the Qingdao students and parents were there waiting to get in to see the US kids. Li Yanfei was there with his dad, and he had a huge sign saying, “Welcome, Chris!”  In 25 minutes, we were looking up to his fifth story apartment, which would be my home for the next two weeks. His mom was leaning out the window saying hi through the night as Yanfei and his father insisted in carrying my big duffle. Language was definitely going to be interesting, I thought to myself, as Yanfei was trying to translate hello’s and thank you’s, and I was picking at the few Chinese phrases I know.  

                                                                        --Chris

It is interesting how people assume I am Chinese. I mean I am of Chinese descent, but I am not from China . When we first got on the plane, the flight attendant greeting people said hello to Chris, then ni hao to me then hello to Kristen.  Then I turned around and starting speaking to Kristen in English, and the flight attendant did a double take.

--Madeline

When we were driving home last night, Cathy and I were talking about her exams, and she was asking if I had learned any Chinese. I started telling her all the expressions we had learned and she was so impressed. I was so happy that I could please her by knowing the language.  

---Lindsay 

We got to my host family’s apartment and they showed me my room. I was directed towards a pair of neon pink embroidered slippers and settled down to bed. The next day after I showered, Cicy invited me to sit down to breakfast. There was an overwhelming array of food:  sweet coconut buns, bread, cookies, jam and salad dressing, a plate of tomatoes, beans, peppers and some other dishes.  I opened my bag of milk (yes, it was a bag) and dug into the delicious sweet buns. 

                                                                        ---Kristen

Tally, Chris and Jon’s established terminology for events:

1. legit – something crazy but expected
2. epic – something where you ask yourself: did that just happen?!?!

Example: When I was crossing the street on our way toward the huge underground market, it was an epic moment. I thought that I was running for my life. We had the crossing sign; however, no driver was stopping; cars were honking for us to move.  No car was going to give us the right of way.  Finally, after dodging traffic on the four lane road, I reached the other side. I sighed with relief as Shu Shu laughed, “It’s tough, huh?”

--Tally

This morning was interesting because I was expecting cereal again, but instead I had a Chinese breakfast.  Pieran had cereal and yogurt; I had peanuts, dumplings, soup and a steamed bun that we had last night.  It was as if we switched – I, being Chinese and Peiran, being American. 

-- Brittany