By Andrew
Today, we started off the day with a large breakfast buffet at the hotel. We had choices ranging from omelettes to steamed pork buns. After breakfast, we got on the bus at 8:15 a.m. to Xi’an Foreign Languages University.
There we took classes about calligraphy and tai chi. In calligraphy, we learned how to control the ink brush to write different Chinese characters such as our Chinese names. We had a contest to see who could write the best 福, and the professor chose the winners. After receiving gifts of carvings of historical Xi’an landmarks, we learned a little tai chi. Although it was difficult to memorize all of the intricate steps, we successfully completed the most simple 24 movements of tai chi.
Afterwards, we were rewarded with hot pot at Haidilao! Hot pot is a popular Chinese method or eating where you have a pot of boiling broth into which you put raw ingredients to cook them. We told the waiters that it was Ariel’s and Karrington’s birthdays, and they brought some bonus items like bracelets and snacks and also did the iconic Haidilao birthday dance.
Following our lunch, we went to 西安高新第一中学国际部 to immerse ourselves at a Chinese school. We split up to take actual classes at the international high school such as math, PE, and English. Sitting in these classes was a valuable experience because we are able to see first-hand what a typical Chinese school day was like.
After the classes we went to a music classroom and sang two Chinese songs for the students and also learned a famous song by implementing body percussion and repetition. After the music class, we moved to learning a traditional Chinese martial art known as wushu. We split up into two lines and learned two different parts of the dance. After learning the movements, each line did their own part against the other person.
Following the wushu lesson, we went to a Chinese paper cutting class and learned about the history of paper cutting and created small designs on red paper; each design had distinct meanings. Next we split up into groups of two and three and paired up with a student from the school. They drove us to their houses, where we got to know each other before eating dinner with their families. After spending time with our host families and practicing Chinese with them, they sent us back to the hotel to end the day on a high note.
