Hangzhou Day 6
Because the five of us are living separately, I would like to start off this entry by introducing you to my host family. I live with my host sister, Dai Ning, her parents, and her grandparents. Over the last few days, we have gotten to know each other pretty well. Everyone in my family seems to have an interest in music and athletics. My host parents regularly play ping-pong and badminton, which they are currently teaching me. Even my host grandmother, who rarely leaves the apartment, plays a fantastic game of Wii bowling.
The family is also incredibly musically talented. My host dad plays the erhu, a traditional Chinese instrument which vaguely resembles a two-stringed violin. Ning is a great pianist. They all enjoy singing, and have an amazing ability to learn whole songs simply from hearing the notes once! Listening to them sing has made me wonder whether speaking a tonal language improves singing ability, since they all appear to have perfect pitches. I suspect most of my host parents' English ability comes from music as well. Ning loves listening to Chinese singers singing English songs, so the apartment and car are often filled with the sounds of classic English songs sung in a heavy Chinese accent.
Now on to today...
When Ning and I arrived at school, we headed to her first period class. Ning worked to finish her homework, while I finished eating breakfast. Within a few minutes, Ning's English teacher arrived to start the "unofficial class" of the day. Ning and I listened to recordings in English which were supposed to help the kids' understanding of oral language. Once this was over, the first official class of the day began: Chinese. Chinese was mainly spent with the teacher reading excerpts from a work book, which the kids repeated. Our next class was math, which was slightly more interactive. After math, I left Ning to go to Kung Fu with Alaina, Cassie, and Alex. Our Kung Fu teacher, Mr. Liu, opened the class by having us jog around the gym three times, and then we stretched for several minutes. We began the actual Kung Fu portion of the class with a series of basic maneuvers, such as walking along a line on the floor with our heads up and our palms out (harder than it sounds). We were then asked to repeat the move, but we had to do high kicks as opposed to just walking. Some of us were better at this then others.
Once we had finished the basic sets, Mr. Liu tried to teach us a series of Kung Fu moves. The first move involved drawing our hands up into fists and looking to the left. Second, we jumped around a little and slammed our fists into our palms. Then, we had to do a ballet move (I thought tne hand motions slightly resembled a pirouette). The fourth and final move was so complicated nobody could do it. Mr. Liu gave up on us, and told us the remaining hour of the class could be free time.
Alaina and I decided to play badminton. Unfortunately, neither one of us really knew how to play. Mr. Liu came by to help us, but it was very obvious that he was much more skilled, and found playing with us a bit boring. So Mr. Liu joined another gym teacher, and Cassie joined our group. To be honest, we were all pretty tired from the long days we've been having, so we didn't play much more badminton.
After Kung Fu, it was time to go to lunch. Lunch was very delicious (it always is!). We also met the chef, Shifu Wang (I think Shifu is the Chinese word for master). As it turned out, Shifu Wang was going to be teaching us our next class - dumpling making! That was a really fun class. Dumplings are surprisingly easy to make, but there are many different styles. We mainly focuses on the Xi'an, Beijing, and Hangzhou styles. Xi'an style dumplings are folded over twice, Beijing only once, and Hanghzou are crimpy. I made Xi'an, because they were the easiest. We were all surprised to learn that dumplings are actually considered a dessert among the Chinese if they are served in watery soup (as ours were). Only dry dumplings are considered dinner.
Once we had steamed our dumplings and put them in the soup, we ate them. They were really, really good. Ning also came back after her class to eat some, and she agreed.
Cooking was our last class of the day together, so Ning and I went back upstairs and had Music Appreciation. That was one of my favorite classes so far, because apparently Music Appreciation means "watching English musicals on TV." So we all got to watch CATS, which was a real treat for Ning, who is a big fan.
After music, Ning and I went to Astronomy Club (Hangzhou is particularly famous for its observatory). The club has a big national competition this Saturday, so Ning and her friends were frantically preparing. Hopefully, the Hangzhou team will do well.
After the club meeting, Ning and I headed back to the apartment, where we had dinner with her family. In the Dai household, Wednesday night is badminton night, so my host parents and I left after dinner to go play badminton. It was a lot of fun, but it was a real workout. Ning's dad, who is a great badminton player, took it upon himself to teach me how to play properly. He started out by teaching me how to wham the birdie at people, and then he amused himself immensely by whamming it at me, and deliberately aiming his shots for opposite ends of the courts. He thought it was hysterical how I had to run and dive to get the birdie each time!
After a few hours of this, we returned to the apartment. I was pretty exhausted, so I went to bed (poor Ning was still doing her homework!) Tomorrow night is Wii Golf night at the Dais'. Wish me luck!
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