Here comes the Sarcastic Five!

(Dawn) 

[Ms Viz: Yes, the Sarcastic Four have picked up a FIFTH - Dawn, from last year's Hangzhou Group! Welcome Dawn!]

I don’t know if it’s still necessary to do a self-introduction. I’m sure some of you have known me as an exchange student to DS last year; some of you have known me from the earlier blog posts. Whichever way you know me, it’s very nice to meet you! I’m here, the fifth member of the Sarcastic group… I can’t be happier to join this blog…

The timing of my first blog is kind of awkward, I know. Two days later, they will leave Hangzhou and the routine we had in the past 5 weeks will come to an end. I’m sure I will miss it all so much, but as there are still a few days to come, I’m not gonna do a summary or something like that to conclude my feelings and gains through these weeks…I mean not in this blog..

Time sure flies. In Shanghai, we suddenly realized that there was only one week left. Ryan said time goes faster when you want it to slow down. True. So stop counting days. Start to enjoy every day more than before.

Like this last week in school.

Monday; Handworking in the morning, Chinese in the afternoon.

Whistle was a fun theme; we used school’s bamboo and wood to made whistles. Luckily, our whistles all turned out well and could make sounds.. Somehow Colin managed to make a high-pitch noise, which is both impressive and annoying~ And I must talk about the handworking class teacher, he is such a nice guy, it’s a pity that I didn’t have chance to have his classes in the past years, but I feel lucky that I got the chance to know him through this program and become friends with him. “If you were happy, I would be happy.” It’s what he says all the time. We all enjoyed his class very much.

So in all the handworking classes, they’ve made kites, card holders and wallets, wooden products and whistles… Awesome!

We watched the movie in the afternoon’s Chinese class.. I don’t think it’s really a good movie though it covered a big of Confucius’s life..

Tuesday; Chinese painting.. And a great adventure in silk road..

We had Chinese painting in the morning as usual.. For it’s the last class, the teacher helped each of the three to pick the best one among all the paintings they’ve done, and frame the picked one as a gift.. Actually all the three did much better in Chinese painting than I could. Seriously. The best painting I made in these classes was the abstract color dots one. haha. I’m a Chinese who’s so bad at Chinese painting… Colin is creative and painted the most. The teacher really appreciated his works. However, they got a disagreement while picking the best one to frame. The one teacher liked the most was the worst according to Colin. The one Colin liked the most was good in the teacher’s eyes but not the best.. But indeed, Colin is the one who’s gonna bring the painting back, and he insisted his choice… Remember to hang the cherry tree in your room!! Lizzy is the expert on flowers, orchid, more specifically.. The picking process was not as hard as Colin’s.. Ryan, you graduated from Chinese painting, yay!! Ryan really liked his latest paint which was a combination of two pictures… But seems the teacher didn’t really like the creation, she chose others.. The final decision was the tree, which, according to the teacher, has Chinese painting’s feeling..haha.. That tree was great, really. We saw the framed ones yesterday at the goodbye party, all the teachers were awed by how good their paintings are..

And that afternoon, there was so much fun in the Silk Road. All the searching, bargaining, trying and laughing are so unforgettable to me. We went in nearly every store on the Silk Road, that day might be the day that Lizzy, Colin and Ryan bought the most scarves. Haha. It was so cool that each of us was wearing a new scarf when walked out of the Road. I’ve taken pictures of the Scarf 4, hope I could show you somewhere.. It’s such a pity that Chris didn’t come that day for he was tired and resting at home. I’m glad that they’ve all found some great gifts at the Silk Road. Especially Lizzy and Ryan, have found the scarves for their moms after all the searchings, I really hope the moms would love themJ

And the funniest thing was, the language mess. I couldn’t believe I asked a shop assistant “How much is this”, in English, English!!!

Wednesday, Yiwu.

We should have Chinese Kungfu class, but we went to Yiwu, the world's largest commodities city, the source of the small commodities all over the world instead. An-hour train ride has brought us there, for me, it’s an adventure too, I haven’t been there before. There are a few huge markets in the city, and each one has difference concentration, we didn’t have enough time, we just went one and browsed different areas like bags, jewelries and hardware. The things there are relatively cheap for it’s the source, but some of the stores there don’t have stock, they only do wholesale not retail, which has caused some inconveniences.. It was disappointing when you found something you liked at a very good price but you just couldn’t buy it. However, it’s quite an experience there.

Thursday, Chinese, Chinese Culture, Goodbye Party, Dinner

We had the last Chinese and Chinese Culture class in the morning. I helped Chris and Ryan preparing their speeches at the dinner in the Chinese class. I’m sorry Chris, for being a strict teacher>_< I know tones are hard for you, just like the “rr” in Spanish for me, but at least you could get the tones right, I totally can’t do that “r” thing.. And Ryan, it’s fun as usual, doing Chinese with you! (Doing Chinese, kinda weird, haha, whatever, do=speak+write+correct+etc. )

The English Corner was a lot of fun as always. English Corner really gives me a chance to hang out with my own friends cause I don’t have to go to classes anymore since I’ve chosen to go to college in America and pass the Gaokao.

In the afternoon, each of the three has received a wonderful gift which was the Chinese silk suit. Colin and Ryan’s waistcoats fit very well; seriously they looked better than I thought in the suits. Lizzy’s dress wasn’t that good, but fortunately, the tailor did some improvement later and it fit well. Just be prepared to see the beautiful China-ish Lizzy in that green Chi-Pao. (Looking at her wearing that made me really want to make a Chi-Pao too, haha).

Same room, same people, from welcome to goodbye. I smelled sadness of farewell, listening the four and all the host siblings talking about their experience, I wanted to say something too but didn’t get the chance; I guess I shall say here. “I was blessed to be a part of this exchange program and have the chance to spend these fantastic five weeks (which has not come to an end yet) with you guys. You kept saying Thank You to me, but I told you so, I’m not a fan of hearing Thank You, you’ve already did the best thing to thank me which is accepting me and treating me as one of you. I did what I’ve done simply because I like you guys and enjoy all the time we are together. ”

And the sense of sadness upgraded when all the students were taking pictures, when I saw Colin hugging Apple after receiving his stamp (reminding me of hugging Julia after setting each other as sibling on Facebook), when I saw Ryan hugging his first host parents after dinner… But it’s not the time to say goodbye for me yet, I got a bonus 4 days! Haha..

Friday, Kungfu Class, Night Market.

Since the gymnastic (dancing, aerobics, whatever) teacher was out for competition today, we decided to catch p on the Chinese Kungfu we missed on Wednesday. But first, we played badminton for the last time… They really have improved a lot in badminton through out all these gym classes.. Singles, doubles, mixed doubles, Canadian doubles (still no idea for this name), all were cool.. I hope we could still have chance to play badminton some time in the future together.. We finished the set of Kungfu today, and took some pictures.. I know I’m bad at remembering all the positions…Me and Lizzy just couldn’t stop laughing at ourselves when we were doing the whole thing… But it was great to learn all these fist positions..

The last English corner was not as crowded as I expected, maybe many of the students didn’t know today was the last day.. But still many students came to exchange gifts and take pictures..

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OK, I know I surpassed Colin, and I’m the No.1 rambler now…I might change my style next time.. It’s not a good idea to try to cover everything.. Thank you for your patience if you are reading this.. And hopefully my English made sense~