Today was an exciting day, as students were finally able to move in with their Beijing host families! For the last three days, we lived in the Yucai School dormitory, as the Chinese host siblings were finishing up their final exams. Today, however, they finished testing and their summers officially began, meaning they could start hosting our students.
Before meeting host families, though, the day began as usual with tai-chi class. This time, the class lasted the whole 20 minutes, and students had a lot of fun watching and learning from the tai-chi master. Class began with warm-ups, then moved on to learning a sequence of moves and poses.
Before meeting host families, though, the day began as usual with tai-chi class. This time, the class lasted the whole 20 minutes, and students had a lot of fun watching and learning from the tai-chi master. Class began with warm-ups, then moved on to learning a sequence of moves and poses.
After tai-chi class, students attended their second day of class from 8:30 - 12:20. They are settling into the rhythm of classes and getting used to the homework load, which is more than many of them are used in Chinese classes at home.
Students ate lunch at the cafeteria, then had free time in the afternoon to pack their belongings and prepare to meet their host siblings. Around 4:30, we had a short discussion about host family expectations and any issues that might come up, then the Chinese host siblings came in to meet our students! Many hugs and handshakes ensued.
Students ate lunch at the cafeteria, then had free time in the afternoon to pack their belongings and prepare to meet their host siblings. Around 4:30, we had a short discussion about host family expectations and any issues that might come up, then the Chinese host siblings came in to meet our students! Many hugs and handshakes ensued.
Having met their host siblings, students then walked with them over to a banquet room at the nearby Rainbow Hotel. At the banquet, students met and sat with their entire host families. Then both faculty and students made speeches, welcoming the foreign students to China and expressing hopes about lasting bonds and cross-cultural understanding.
The president of the Yucai School gave a welcome speech, translated into English by Miaomiao Wang, the program's resident director. Then a Chinese student made a speech entirely in English, expressing his hopes that the foreign students would have a memorable experience in China and that the host families would play a part in making the experience meaningful and enjoyable. Afterwards, one of our China Institute students, Natalie, made an impressive speech entirely in Chinese about how host families would foster cross-cultural exchanges and opportunities.
Although there was, of course, somewhat of a language barrier, the Chinese and American students were able to get to know one another over dinner.
Finally, the students all went home to spend their first night with their Beijing host families!
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