"I'm Chinese- and I can't even do this!"

It was great to go to school again this morning and see everyone happy and smiling! It sounds like the students had a great time with their host families yesterday. Some of the activities included berry picking, hiking, shopping, and a visit to a toy factory. Everyone seems to get along well with their hosts; it's great to see them interact with one another and take so many pictures!

We had three classes this morning: Chinese, Math, and cooking (technically not a class here). Nathan's host, Mike (English name), is the son of one of the Chinese teachers at Huipu. His dad does not speak any English, so I was interested to see how the class went. He taught a lesson on ancient Chinese poetry, particularly by Li Bai. He is such a wonderful teacher! Very dynamic and interactive. He gave everyone handouts with both Chinese and English, plus had a bilingual powerpoint. They studied four poems about the moon, then learned that there are MANY different names for the moon in China, each holding a different meaning. The host students would teach our students how to read the poem in Chinese- it was entertaining. Maddie & her host were using their hands to show what each Chinese word meant. The teacher then had our students go up front in groups to read the poems- it was awesome! He was so encouraging & started clapping for them. Don't worry- I got some video of it :) I could not stop smiling the entire class!

We had a 15 minute break, then another teacher came in to do math. I haven't taken math in a long time, but I think it was a lot of Algebra II. The teacher called the class "Application of Mathematic Thought." Wow- it was like 2 weeks of class rolled into one 40 minute lesson! I assume most of the Chinese and English students have had this level of math, but it was interesting to watch her go from one topic to another. She covered things like reduction, summation, slope, parabolas, and more. Everything was taught in Chinese, but all the variables, numbers, and graphs are the same in the US. Also the same? The number of students with blank stares, yawning throughout class :)

We then moved on to the cafeteria for our cooking lesson: dumplings. Commons is a joke compared to this cafeteria- it was longer than our gym. We went to a very tiny room in back to make the dumplings. Tiny room + 24 students + 92 degrees = sweat. It was very warm, but the students agreed it was not near as bad as PE two days ago. They were given aprons, hats, and a demonstration on how to roll the dough and stuff the dumplings. I don't know what Sam and John have been eating at home, but they kept eating the raw dough! The chefs were getting frustrated with how inept both the Chinese and US students were at making the dumplings. Too many kids took creative license for his liking. One host cried in frustration, "I'm Chinese- and I can't even do this!" Ana's host, Coco (who is the cutest person I have met in my entire life), almost started a food fight by wiping flour on people's faces. I think they all had fun, but realized that Easy Mac and Ramen may be the way to go for the next few years.

We ate lunch in their cafeteria and the dumplings were pretty good! I looked in my bowl and realized that I got one of Thomas and John's special creations (they called it a McDouble), so I gave it to them, because I wasn't brave enough to eat it.

We are taking a break until more classes at 2. I'm not sure how it's going to work, but it sounds like everyone will go to the Southern Great Wall tonight after dinner when it is cooler.

Hope the 4th was fantastic!