This past month has been CRAZY. So much going on as we end enter the final stage of our program. In these past few weeks, we have travelled to Qufu, done a home stay, taught in an elementary school, and begun to wrap up our research projects.
Perhaps one of my favorite events of this trip was our time in Qufu. We got to see where Confucius lived and studied. His home was gigantic, with several large buildings and courtyards. We also saw his grave as well as the graves of his son and grandson, which was really interesting. On one day we also went to the cave where he was allegedly born.The town of Qufu was absolutely charming, with ancient buildings and even horse-drawn carriages. On the last day, we went to Tai’er Zhuang, an ancient city. It was one of the most beautiful places I have been in China, surrounded by stone buildings, boutique shops, and canals. It was much like Venice.
The next week we went to stay with different families in Jinan. I stayed at an English professor’s house, with her daughter and husband. They were such a kind, welcoming family. Every morning they got up early to make me breakfast and I always came home to a delicious meal in the evening. The apartment was pretty big, and I got my own room. It even had a piano in it, which was awesome! It was really cool to see how a real Chinese family lives, and I got to have some really meaningful conversations about what they thought about life in China, politics, and their perceptions of American people. I left feeling as though I had a better sense of what it means to be a Chinese citizen in modern China.
The following week each of us went to a school in a different city for a few days. My roommate and I went to De Zhou, where we taught elementary school and middle school students. It was kind of hard because we had never taught before and had to come up with lesson plans, songs, and games. We managed to do well though and the kids seemed to really like us. They treated us like celebrities, crowding around and taking pictures with us. I felt like Beyonce haha! I left the school feeling pretty impressed with their English education methods. They seem to be very interactive and work hard to make sure that the kids have the chance to practice speaking, which is so important.
In terms of academics, we have had numerous lectures on Confucianism, entertainment, cultural psychology, and economics in China. Each has been fascinating and has left me with a better sense of Chinese culture. Yesterday, I took my Chinese final, which was an oral exam and a skit. Fingers crossed that I got a good grade haha! We also are turning in our final drafts of our research projects soon. Mine was on the Chinese sentiment toward the stock market and whether or not they believe the government should intervene in order to boost the stock market. Currently, mine is 30 pages and my professor told me to shorten it. That might be the first time anyone has told me to write less. The project was hard because I had to deal with the language barrier when distributing my survey and the stock market is inherently a challenging subject, but I think I have managed pretty well so far. I got 15 responses, including two professors. My results are pretty conclusive too, which I am happy about.
Traditional Paper Cutting
We leave for Beijing on Tuesday, so I will definitely have a longer post coming up. Then this part of my journey will be coming to an end. Gosh, time is flying!