The day started with a brief review of the Qin Dynasty and Han Dynasty, which we learned about on the first day. We mentioned the Silk Road, Confucianism, and regional differences. Expanding on the topic of regional differences, Ms. Li showed videos of various dialects in China, which she says are “like a whole other language” to her. She also offered jasmine tea to all those who wanted a small cup.
We had an hour and a half to work on basket weaving with plastic, rather than bamboo. There were mixed emotions as the plastic was difficult to work with and the process was frustrating at times, but many creations turned out well. As we were finishing up the baskets, Ms. Li’s long time friend came to teach us about acupuncture. Ms. Zhong comes from Core Acupuncture — which has a clinic in three places: Philadelphia, Marlton, and King of Prussia — and brought with her small needles as well as cups for fire cupping. After a short presentation, she offered her services to any person who was willing to try them. Most of the group received a needle on their inner elbow, and four students received fire cupping on their backs. The experiences varied as one student reacted strongly out of shock and the other three calmly stated that the cups were cold while the air was warm.
Regrouping after lunch at the school, Ms. Day stopped by to explain how to upload our daily entries directly into the blog. We then spent some time on the fields flying kites and kicking feather shuttlecocks. There were many difficulties with the kite, but one kite flew without a problem. For the last few minutes of the day, we returned to Ms. Li’s room and discussed our plans for the rest of the week.