Sunday, August 03, 2014
Surya's China trip - Fifth update from his Group Leader Dr.Hemphill - July 17 - August 1, 2014
Saturday, July 26
A class day. This was our final full day of Chinese language instruction. Classes met in the morning and afternoon. We started to note that a couple of the kids became ill with mild colds and slight temperature elevations, so we have been careful to monitor everyone’s health quite carefully.
We went to lunch off campus as a group to a Hunanese fine dining restaurant to thank the Chinese language teachers for teaching the kids over the past week. Lois did a great job of arranging the menu, and the teachers were flattered that our group thought to plan such an outing for their benefit. Lois also arranged gift bags for each of the four teachers that all the kids signed with personal messages for them.
In the evening there was a tai chi class in the gym for everyone. While it was slow going at first, after a few minutes it was remarkable how many of the kids ended up learning about the first five sets of tai chi movements quite well, performing them smoothly as a group. I had the pleasure of watching the whole group of young people flowing as one from the upper reaches of the university gym. It was a lovely sight. Standouts as future young tai chi masters included Carson Armstrong, Sophie Kelley, and Mayda Dhanuka (in my untutored opinion).
Sunday, July 27
Field trip day. We set off early at 7:30 to visit Jinggang Ancient Town, which is located about an hour northwest of Changsha. It was a famous harbor and business center in ancient times and was once one of China's four largest rice markets. Now it has charming market streets featuring fried and smoked fish, local candies (peanuts and sesame seeds), and other local products. Despite the use of GPS, our bus driver lost his way a few times, but we had a chance to see a lot of local countryside (rice paddies, taro plantings, local farmhouses with charming dragons on the rooflines, water buffalos).
Our second stop, again after a major directional miscue caused by a blocked road not noted on the GPS, was Tongguan Ancient Kiln. Our bus driver eventually had to persuade a local resident to lead us on his motorbike over potholed back roads to our destination. This “dragon-shaped” kiln dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) and was a major producer of beautiful porcelain and pottery for the region, using tan- and green-hued glazes of great sophistication. The large kiln, now an archaeological site, resembles a dragon stretching up the hillside. There was a small museum shop selling good contemporary pottery works in traditional styles.
Starved for lunch, we ended up in a good local restaurant somewhere back on the outskirts of Changsha (maybe). On a related food note, it is evident that many of the kids have reached their fill of eating the hotel’s Chinese food and have regularly begun to slip a few blocks off campus to the local McDonalds. In fact, as one student observed, they have apparently so decimated the stocks of that branch that it scarcely has anything left to sell other than a few desserts and drinks. The kids are craving familiar tastes, which is understandable.
In the late PM we returned to Changsha for a bit more shopping on Taiping Street, a tourist-oriented walking avenue. There the kids had a chance to buy souvenirs, ice cream, and (yes) Starbucks. (We noted that our colleagues from Seattle all made a rapid beeline in that direction.)
In the evening we had a joint performance/welcome party with a group of college students from all over the world who just arrived for a global “Chinese Bridge” performance competition. Held in the international center auditorium, it gave our kids a chance to showcase some of their linguistic and performing talents, including singing in Chinese, against university-level Chinese language performers from all over the world. Needless to say, in my unbiased view, the California kids more than held their own. Surya Sundararajan, Mayda Dhanuka, Elizabeth Long, and Scott Ng sang a Hunanese folk song that captivated the audience. Hannela Jane and William Bogdan served as MCs, announcing all of the high school acts bilingually in Chinese and English, and did a superb job. The entire group of SF State kids sang a popular Chinese ballad that they had learned in class, to the delight of the audience of international college students.
Monday, July 28
Final full day in Changsha. The kids had a test review and then formal achievement testing via the YCT (Youth Chinese Test). It is a four-level test. Our most advanced kids took level 4, which was a bit challenging, and quite a few took level 3, which was not that tough. The rest took levels 1 or 2, which they mostly blasted through. As usual, I was quite proud of their serious attitude and professionalism throughout the test.
After lunch we had a closing ceremony for the Hunan portion of our trip. Two students were given the outstanding student awards for our SF State group. They were Alex Renn and Sophie Kelley. The award recognized all around achievement, engagement, motivation, and performance throughout the entire time in Hunan. Awards were also given for achievement in Chinese cultural arts (calligraphy and paper cutting), and there were multiple recipients from our group. The SF group received an overall group award as “most enthusiastic” group.
For dinner a large group went with two of the chaperones and me for some final shopping and local eating, capped by karaoke singing. Another group that had been rehearsing a dance number for the final performance at the closing ceremony in Beijing also later went out for some karaoke as well. Both groups thoroughly enjoyed the chance to cut loose with a little singing each in their own private KTV (karaoke) room in downtown Changsha. It was a fitting and fun ending to a great stay in Changsha. Tomorrow, the return flight to Beijing.
Best wishes from Changsha,
