Party!

(Lizzy)

While not as bad as Boston, Hangzhou has certainly been chilly the past couple days. The school (Hanggao) has the odd tendency to revel in the cold, however. Rather than shun it with heating and insulation, they embrace it by opening windows and doors as much as possible. This does help explain why the drinking water is preferred hot. To say the least, the inescapable cold (including constantly wearing winter jackets and being able to see our breath in class) is taking some getting used to among the DS group ...

Despite the school’s unorthodox temperature control policies, we have all been enjoying our classes, both those we take as a group and with our host siblings. Yesterday, during the tech class the three of us take together, we constructed kites out of bamboo sticks and paper. While Ryan designed an intricate star pattern and Colin an F-22, I am proud to say that my simple circle design was the only to fly successfully, despite Colin’s determination to fly his oversized jet during English Corner. Today we all had the opportunity to decorate our kites during our traditional Chinese painting class. We learned a few techniques of brush painting and after some practice we all had some success with our creations. Tomorrow we will continue to learn the Kung Fu we began last week, as well as practice our badminton.

During the rest of the school day each of us join our host siblings for a few classes. Though it is usually the case that we don’t understand much of what the teacher is talking about, these classes give us an opportunity to recognize some of the differences between DS and Hanggao. For example, not only are the classes almost four times the size of some DS classes, but the students also must stand up when called on in class. There are no text books here either. Instead, the students have stacks of workbooks for each class that they use both during school and for homework. In addition, unlike in the states, where we often write essays and do projects, Chinese students rarely have long-term homework assignments or papers to write. If they are going to write an essay, it is most likely on an exam, of which there are plenty.

On most days; however, there is one period that is like a DR at DS, where the students are given the freedom to do what they want, sometimes within the classroom, and other times within the campus. These periods are usually used for completing homework, but today Apple’s class threw a welcoming party for me. The teacher who is assigned to the classroom during this period brought in a hot plate, and another student brought in pans and ingredients to make Chinese food. He set everything up in front of the class and other students set up a camera over his work space that projected onto a screen so we could all watch him cooking. He described every step to us like a cooking show, from chopping the fresh bamboo and beating the eggs, to browning and serving the spring rolls. I was also called up to help with the preparations. We all enjoyed the food, and I was quite impressed by the chef’s cooking and instructive skills. My host family told me later that it is very uncommon for boys in China to know how to cook, and I think it is pretty uncommon for any kids to cook. In addition to the food, students performed songs, and one student, Tom, put on a magic show. While speaking in English, he made a six of hearts turn into an eight of hearts and back again, turned water into orange juice, and found a piece of paper with my name on it inside an orange. The party was great and I really appreciate the students forfeiting their precious studying time.

Tomorrow I will go to Apple’s English class, and if it’s anything like the last, I better study my English so I don’t embarrass myself in front of the class…