Monday, May 10, 2010

Day 6: Making friends



May 6, 2010:

We came to a classroom and entered not knowing what to expect...and were we surprised. They decorated the room with balloons and made a cute welcoming sign on the chalk board. We were instructed to sit down and we did int he front of the class where no one was really seated, the student 'translators' sat amongst us. We have no idea where the teacher disappeared to the entire time...they said she left. "Fancy Nancy" (her name because she was dressed so cute?) played music while one girl went to the front of the class and performed a dance for us, it was beautiful. 2 other students sang a song, which was also wonderful. They wanted us to perform, and we did not really have anything as a collective group so the music group performed Stand by Me and we said we would dance later in the afternoon (after creating something). They had a game planned for us (basically our curriculum was not needed for this class...) which involved a Chinese student and an American student, a piece of newspaper, and music. Whoever guessed the song when it played could remain on the paper while everyone else had to fold theirs in half...this continued until the paper was too small for both to stand on...at one point I was Koalaing my partner and Chaz had his on his back. It was fun :)
Milah and her partner won and they gave her decorated silk, very sweet :)
Then two students showed/taught us how to use a Chinese yo-yo, pretty difficult but fun also. I proceeded to conduct a mini Salsa lesson with half of the class and Milah and Sunny helped. I plugged my iPod into the class laptop and played some Salsa musica. Simultaneously there were girls teaching Chinese handwriting (calligraphy) in the middle of the classroom. Besides the boy who was my newspaper partner, the boys in the class were quit and cliqued in the back of the room, I wish we had drug them more out of the comfort zone but we were still trying to get adjusted to being out of ours...
After 2 hours we had to leave and took a group photo...I realize more and more that I always have to take the photo...
half of the people were chopped out of the one with me iiinnn it...

It is interesting to see that there are many personalities amongst the students, like us, and that "they" are not all the same like people sometimes assume or reference to. I notice a little ethnocentrism amongst our group at times but more so when referencing to things being "normal" or "weird." I notice people growing each day, which is great, even myself. I think you learn the most about yourself and where you come from during trips such as this where you are taken away from what you are used to and have to navigate through different contexts and "normalities."

4 comments:

vinni said...

Awwww. what a cute story! :)

Unknown said...

I'm glad to see that you are leaving your outgoing impact on the people you meet in China :) We are glad for a little break here in the U.S. Just kidding, you are missed.

I'm excited to hear more of your adventures when you return.

Brenda Try Personal Beauty Consultant said...

Keep in mind you are walking "life's journey" a path created, what are the teachings? What have you learned? What did the event awaken inside of you? What did the even bring forth of others-tough question to answer....be inquisitive, What are the shared belief or common goals?....Breath and ask yourself-"what can I trust within me that loves me?"

Unknown said...

Daisy Howlind is such a good writer and I enjoy reading your blog:) It seems like you have fun there. We all miss you here:)