An Eventful Week [Week 3]

I have only recorded the good moments of this week however I will be reporting the more bizarre things that I have encountered
Sunday - Made a little girl cry
Monday - Had an old lady run away thinking that I was following her
Tuesday - Typical day
Wednesday - Military Camp viewing and Visit to 爸爸 and 妈妈's college!
Thursday - Volleyball with Chinese student, almost followed home by a stranger
Friday - Chinese Horror Movie
Saturday - Hospital Visit
Overall, a pretty eventful week XD

Sunday - I went to have dumplings for lunch at the local mall with my host mom! How fun! This will be the second time visiting the mall. Everything is going well until my host mom and I find a table.  I felt these little eyes staring at me for a whole minute. I could see this little kid pause out of peripheral vision. So, a minute has passed by . . . and it's been made apparent that this kid wasn't going to look away anytime soon. So, I looked towards the little girl. She was around 5-8 years old. So, like I have done will all children I've met on this program, I gave a big smile and waved! Usually, children would respond with giggles, smiles, and send a wave my way as well. This child was different. The second I made eye contact with her, she started bawling her eyes out. She didn't only communicate her distress through tears, but by  screaming her lungs out as well. At that moment, I was more startled that her.  My host mom exchanges glances and this sorta mutual "oh, okay. Wow." sort of look.
Her grandfather, on the other hand, found the situation to be hilarious. When he couldn't get her to relax, they left the restaurant. This whole interaction lasted for about 2 minutes. Did I forget to mention that the restaurant was bustling and packed full of customers?
However, I didn't feel like I was supposed to feel bad for being myself, so I didn't. I wasn't gonna change my friendly atmosphere because one girl cried. As she gets older, she'll gain more exposure to seeing the faces of strangers 😂😂
It is definitely an experience that will be hard to forget. 😅😂

Monday - After hanging at the mall with my fellow NSLI-Y participants, I decided to head back to the school to get my phone. After getting off the bus stop, I was at a crosswalk with about 20+ motor bikes/scooters by me and another 20 people waiting to cross the road. People started turning around to take a look when they heard whispers of an foreigner on the sidewalk. "Look quick! An African!"
So after crossing the road, and I was walking fast since I was ready to get home, I notice a thin old lady running out from behind me. She started running in front of me and every three steps she took she'd look over her shoulder at me, holding her purse close to her body. Elderly people in China are fit, by the way! I pass through Hongmei Park every school day and there are always at least 30+ elders early in the morning and late afternoon exercising. So this lady was jogging for a long time. The lady was one the same route that I needed to go to school. She wasn't fast so the amount of time she was running away from me was extra long. Finally, after two blocks, I reached the school and haven't seen a thin old lady running away from me since.
It's still hard to understand what she thought I, heavy book bag on slouched shoulders, exhausted expression on face, fat pink bow in hair, would possibly come all the way to China (from wherever she thought I was from) to do in broad daylight with the street packed with vehicles and ten or more people on the same path with us. But not everything is meant to be understood. Besides, I don't know anything about her history, what she is going through, has gone through, or has never experienced in the past to make her feel unsafe on the streets. It makes me wonder, if she really believed that she was in danger, why didn't she say something to any of the strangers she passed. Is it a personal decision or cultural thing? That was something that I was worried about.

Saturday - Ate some mooncake. I'm not sure what it had in there but it had me running to the hospital. I need to be more careful with what I eat. However, I am surprised with how cheap the hospital visit was. It was only $20 for my treatment! I really appreciate how affordable the price was!

Loving Every Moment [Week 2]

Last week was a great week! We got to go to several places . . . at the expense of another language class . . . but I can't complain because I am satisfied and in China, everything is a language class material. Dinner at the beginning of the week has to be my favorite family event so far . . . in the past 2-3 weeks. My dad invited his student along and our aunt joined us as well. There were a total of six people sitting at the table! Our aunt came in first so we had the typical introduction-styled conversation. I mentioned how I was interesting in learning the Changzhou dialect so that I could communicate with my host grandparents from my dad's side (not knowing that they speak the Wujin dialect, a similar dialect, at this time). So, our aunt was determined to have me leave with two sentences! First, that I was American and next, that I was a Changzhou student! How fun! I was able to surprise my dad when he finally arrived with his student at dinner with my new dialect. It excited the whole table. Except for my host brother, sitting back and just being amused with how bad my tones were.😂 Dinner was full of laughter and smiles. I learned a new important phrase 我报的要死。My host family would overfeed me if they could. My metabolism is not nearly as quick as other people, so I am always feeling full. If you think American portions are large, spend a week eating the quantity of food for each meal.

I have the luck to be able to walk through Hongmei Park everyday and talk to locals.
I found that, although Chinese students have longer school days, they also have both several and longer breaks through out the day. I have a different school schedule that than general courses that the Chinese students do. On the first day, the NSLI-Y students were required to attend the regular schedule with the Chinese students.We were placed with the freshmen since juniors and seniors are more pressured to pass the GaoKao and less available. Students have nearly 2 hours of lunch time.The cafeteria does close before the two hours are over, s the time is meant to be spent as a break time for the students. Most of it it is either spent sleeping, studying, or exercising outside. I remember wishing in America that I could have time again. My wishes have been granted in China! During the middle of the school day, we have a thirty minute break. You can see almost all of the 50+ students laying their heads down and resting during this time. The class shuts all the blinds so it is dark in the room. The atmosphere makes taking a nap during that time REALLY compelling. Morning reading starts at 7:15 AM and the last class ends at 5:30 PM. I, however, have the choice to attend these classes after our four languages classes a day. I also get to leave at 4 PM everyday. So far, the classes are not very rigorous, however I am interested in continuing with self-study during my free time. I will also be regularly be attending the classes of my individual class.

So far, I am satisfied with the program. I'd personally love to have a full day of classes rather than just 4, however, I have a year of free language classes to meet my satisfaction standards (which aren't very high for anything free, to be honest 😂). So NSLI-Y is soaring high on my charts so far!

Time w/ My Host Family [Week 1]

These past five days have been exciting. This family is very active. By that I mean that the family does a LOT together. They treat me so well. A little too well because when I would emphasize how good a dish was, we would begin eating it everyday 😅
My host mom (妈妈）would offer to take me everywhere! Work for both parents start on Saturday though, so I'm not gonna be used to not being able to hang out with the family all day.
I remember when I first joked around with my host dad. I looked up at the ceiling of our house and thought I could touch it. I was all smug when I said 哇，我好大！我太大了！I then proceeded to put my hand over my forehead, pretend that I couldn't see my host dad, and say 你在哪里？ 😁😂
Putting down the tea cup he was holding, he told me to stand next to him back-to-back and ask 妈妈 who was taller. I bet you can see where this went. 😁
I remember the moment clearly, since it just happened last night.😝
My host family and I are a good fit for each other! I would have been satisfied with any family being kind enough to welcome me into their home for such a long time but my family really makes me feel at home.

Arriving In My Host City

你好！我姓朱。我叫朱铃。朱古力的朱，铃声的铃。我会住在中国的常州一个年。从上海我们在2018年8月24号去了常州。
At around 11:30 PM on August 24, 2018, we NSLI-Y students arrived at our host city, Changzhou! Most of us fell in love with the city right away! The view from our hotel room was beautiful.
At the hotel, I shared a room with Haylie. How fun! With jetlag keeping us awake, we spent the night speaking in Mandarin Chinese. We somehow got on the topic of studying for the HSK. The amount of fun that I had that night/morning made it one of the most memorable moments during the transition period.
Speaking of memorable moments, I cannot go without mentioning the our cultural excursion to the Tianning Temple in Changzhou with AFS China. The view at the top of the temple was beautiful and the breeze was pleasant. A picture says 1000 words but it really can't compare to the feeling you get when you're on-site and in the moment.
It's only been a day and at the moment, I was already falling in love with my city.

From America to China

 

On August 23, 2018, the NSLI-Y Changzhou Academic Year students departed from Newark-Liberty International Airport at 10:45 AM.
After 2 days of Pre-Departure Orientation, the six of us woke up on Wednesday at 5 AM in the morning and left for the airport at 6 AM. for some of us, this was crazy exciting! For others, the fact that we would be living in China for 10 months still hasn't set in yet. For some, even as we sat in the airport in Shanghai, the fact that we were in China was STILL surreal.
You could almost taste the excitement in the air as we boarded the plane. And we knew, there was 14 hours in the air to feel excited. Especially if you had the middle seat . . . Sorry, Mac. 😛😜
Nonetheless, that didn't stop me.
With my new camcorder, and SD memory card that I bought just hours before, I set to document my memories. Sure, I'd be missing all the fun events that high school has in store for seniors but I'd also be stimulating my passion for learning foreign languages! (Thank you, NSLI-Y for the opportunity!)
Of course, the weather in Shanghai the day we arrived was the most humid day of the week. Pennsylvania has rarely seen such humid days. I felt attacked. However, that feeling was quickly overridden by anxiousness. Even though our AFS chaperone, Georgia, and her husband were precious beings, I couldn't wait to meet the volunteers from AFS China. I was ready to start speaking Chinese right away! Fatigue had nothing on me. 😃

NSLI-Y Chinese Academic Year Finalist

As a recipient of the NSLI-Y scholarship for the 2018-2019 academic year, I am quickly becoming an advocate for the scholarship. Not only has it only been three days since I arrived in my host country, but the experience just as quickly been integrated to my lifestyle.
A full scholarship to live in a language immersive environment, learn about a foreign culture, engage in the local community, and endless opportunities to be a citizen diplomat as a high school student seems way too good to be true!
But I reassure you, that although it is too good of an opportunity to pass up, this opportunity is 100% real for American citizens.

Let's actually discuss the NSLI-Y scholarship and program:

What is NSLI-Y?
The National Security Language Initiative for Youth is a government-sponsored scholarship and program that invests in sending abroad approximately 600 high school students on summer and academic year programs to develop proficiency in one of eight less commonly taught languages that the U.S. government deems to be critical: Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin),  Korean, Persian, Turkish, Russian, Hindi, and Bahasa Indonesian. The scholarship is part of the National Security Language Initiative.

What does NSLI-Y cover?
All expenses, excluding pocket money and the fee for passports (i.e. passport renewals).

Who gets chosen to receive a NSLI-Y scholarship?
American Councils has consistently shown a preference for applicants that demonstrate maturity and passion for learning languages and culture. There is not a language preference. Complete beginners to advanced learners are chosen each year to participate in a NSLI-Y program.

To review your eligibility for the scholarship, check out the official page: www.nsliforyouth.org

2019-2020 Applications are closed!!