Hannah, Nara blog, April 14

China GSL in A to Z

A whole lot of rain in torrential downpours, trapping us inside for an hour

Birthday cake and platters of fruit for Debby’s 62nd birthday

Chuang men (literally “entering doors”), meaning visiting from house to house in a casual manner --- Nara’s favorite pastime

Dance class Mongolian style at the high school

Everything Too Small for Hannah to find shoes in China

Forty pushups in front of the Chinese high school class (Nara’s new record)

Going on our midtrip, where we spent time relaxing and reflecting, learning to cook local dishes, and touring a Hakka roundhouse

High school visit on Friday where we each shadowed a junior student as they attended their classes of the day --- Hannah went to government, dancing, and singing class

Intent on filling your teacup and keeping your plates piled with food

Jie Xiang Lao (old fortune) Hotpot as a group on Friday night

Kuai zi (chopstick) speed competition at the middle school, where we competed to transfer small pompoms from person to person

Learning new vocabulary through everyday interactions with our host family

Motorcycles driven by underaged children on every street

Nara is being bitten by mosquitoes, despite his four mosquito incenses

Outside, where we hang our clothes to dry after handwashing it in the stream

Pao card game taught by Lucas, Oliver, and Nara’s host mother

Qing Ming Jie, a national holiday paying respect to deceased elders by sweeping their tombs and bringing flowers

Rainbow road made up by blue, red and yellow lines (blue – agriculture, red – Red Guard, yellow – just the normal road division line)

Shopping in the county seat after our high school visit and laughing at the misspelled designer brand shirts (Balencigaga, Galvin Klein, Dicor, Tom and Jeapy)

Tree planting to improve the exterior of the local hotel and help attract more tourists

Understanding how to use squat toilets without falling in

Volatile weather, from freezing cold on our first day to blistering hot today

Women in business, modeled by the “Mushroom Boss Lady,” who owns a multi-million mushroom factory and was kind enough to give us a tour of her facility

Xi Jin Ping and Mao Zedong portraits in most houses

Yellow corn that we planted today in front of Hannah and Isobel’s house

Zhu jia (host family), which have been incredibly welcoming to us








 

 

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