Getting to school is a one-hour two-bus commute. As you can see, the buses are completely packed, but imagine a little dot of a Caucasian in the middle of the sea of staring Asians.
Today was a madhouse outside of the main gate to enter the school because of a character-writing competition. And we thought SAT day was bad...
School starts at 9 am every morning (including Saturday and Sunday for just this week) and ends at 5. The first half is studying language, and the afternoon is culture. We learned kung fu yesterday and tai chi today. Both were pretty difficult especially as we watched 10-year-olds besting us. Every evening I see huge groups of old ladies doing tai chi to music in the park. (American grandmas knit and gossip, Chinese grandmas tai chi and gossip.) Someday when I have the time I think it would be really fun to join them.
Today we ate in the school's cafeteria (bad cafeteria food exists in China, too, except that their mystery meat is way too recognizable). Eventually we attracted the attention of the elementary school students who all wanted to take pictures with us, especially the two gingers. It is a strange feeling when strangers want to take pictures with you just because you are taller than their father and need sunscreen on a cloudy day.
Making noodles in the street market |
Bubble Tea |
The Chinese students knew most of the English songs although not vice versa. Compare Chinese song titles (translated) to English song titles, and the culture gap is obvious: Miss You Sadly, Wash Scrub Scrub, Beijing Welcomes You, True Love Is Forever / Rock ThatBody, Sexy and I Know It, Smack That, Party Rock Anthem. It was a delightful, comfortable environment, and I had a blast.
Singing "Call Me Maybe" |
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