This past weekend the good folks at Hanggao had a lot on their plate: on Saturday, While we enjoyed the Xixi wetlands and their river pearls, the school was administering several sections of the Gaokao, or college entrance exam, and on Sunday, the student-run Sakura was to be held. Wode Tian! (My heavens)
Gaokao is mandatory for nearly all students attending Chinese universities; scores on this exam are almost solely responsible for placement, so competition is fierce. Higher scorers go to more prestigious colleges, although the immense number of qualified applicants (and the inability of a single number to sum up all of a person's skills, desires, hopes, fears, and experiences) means that some exceptional students may not make it to colleges that match their ability level (is this sounding familiar to anyone?). This Saturday the students were taking the English listening, woodworking, and computer science/applications sections of the test. These are all standardized, relatively compulsory, national exams in China for college-bound students. I find it a little mind-blowing that courses we classify as electives (computer stuff, and woodshop/metalworking) and devote only a small amount of our high school careers to learn would be routinely assessed in the same way we assess English and Math (an SAT style affair with writing and multiple choice), However, I think it is good that students here are at least given an introduction to the craftsman's basic tools and different computer functions, as these are skills that will make them more independent in the future and hopefully garner in them some respect for those who make their living in the trades.
While the college-bound seniors were writing neatly and bubbling their answers darkly and completely, we were traipsing through a beautiful swamp near West Lake. Xixi Wetlands is a conservation project set up by the government to restore the swamp to its glorious past as an imperial outing destination for Hangzhou-based rulers. They are currently in the middle of restoring Xixi, but plans seem to be progressing nicely by the abundant fish, Mandarin Ducks, and wildflowers.
Deep in the Wetlands, we came across a section of river used to culture freshwater pearls, and Mrs. Li took up the offer of a jolly oyster vendor to pay a low flat rate for an unknown bounty of pearls. The oyster she asked him to open contained 25 seeded pearls, which were pleasing in color and shape, as well as mother of pearl suitable for use as decoration. Mrs. Li shared her luck with us and we used the pearls to make custom jewelry.
After the swamp, we visited a Qing-Dynasty merchant's apartment, where the merchant, his twelve wives, and ten children all lived in "harmony," or at least that's what the calligraphy hanging over the door said. The house included a pond with both a possibly pregnant carp and a black fish the size of a small school bus; the aquatic menagerie delighted us greatly with their splendid bubbling (far superior to the students and their answer sheets). After the merchant's house we went to a market, which was fun like every market, and significantly emptied by our unbridled spending.
After arriving back at school, we waited for some friends. The students who had finished their bubbling were emerging, and had the delightful experience of us greeting them yelling "Gaokao Haobuhao?" (How was the test, good or not good?)
As we would be changing host siblings the next day, we decided to have one last hurrah with our siblings and other friends and pay a visit to the local KTV, where we sang a little Katy Perry. Katy's Chinese name, if you didn't know, is Shuiguo Jiejie, or Older Fruit Sister, because apparently her albums are decorated with fruit when they are released in China. We agree that "Older Fruit Sister" is a far superior name, and will be referring to her as this exclusively from now on. We encourage you to do so as well. We are very excited to be forming meaningful, Fruit Sister-based friendships with some students here such as Frank, who has a future in entertainment, Michael, the soccer star, our many translators and of course our splendiferous host siblings.
Sunday was the Sakura (cherry) festival at Hanggao, a sunny day of culture and art that is very popular among Hangzhouren. It is planned entirely by students, who also run it, taking tickets, manning stalls, and counting money. Underclassmen are, I think, able to be more involved since they don't have high-stakes bubbling the day before; seniors are too preoccupied to take all the lead roles in planning and execution. Highlights include:
- The school A Capella Group, Glistars
- The school Dance Team appearing in the same poses in several places in order to be photographed.
- Our lunch at a local Korean restaurant with many a pickled vegetable.
- A boy who volunteered to dress as a feichang kawaii anime character to raise money for the volleyball team.
- A play, all in Chinese, that acted out the lives of lost cellphones.
Wode Tian! (My heavens)
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