Our Special Week and Dance

This week has been final exams for all the students of Gao Xin No. 1 Senior campus (where we are), so our students have not attended regular classes in the mornings. (But the high school classes start again next week – and continue through the middle of July!!) Instead a group of students who recently finished Gao Xin, and who just got their college entrance exam results (one Gao Xin student was first in the province, another two tied for 2nd place and a good group placed in the top 10 in Shaanxi province assuring them places as the best universities and a bright future in China!) spent part of every morning with us.

The first morning, the students were given topics to share, the Chinese students speaking Chinese, the Americans speaking English. On the second morning the Chinese kids took us shopping to a street in central Xi’an, where the students made lots of purchases. Some of them joined us for lunch that day, and spent our “free time” after lunch with us. Later that evening they took us to another discount street where students bought clothes, shoes, dvd’s and cd’s at terrific prices. Then we walked to a tea-house where we learned to play Mahjong, ate ice cream and Chinese junk food.

This morning, Friday, June 30, 2006, about 20 Chinese students (many of whom will be having interviews in English for either Hong Kong or Singapore) joined us in our room. The Chinese students described their homes and families in Chinese as the Americans drew pictures of what they heard. Then the American students did the same (in English). Next we had the SHS students interview the Chinese kids and moved the Americans several times, so that every Chinese student had at least 3 interviews, and then the Chinese got to interview our students – but in English. Jia Ji, the leader of the Chinese group and Jackie then gave feedback to the group.

After a short break Marissa taught everyone (or reviewed for the SHS students who had learned yesterday) the Electric Slide and Black Velvet, two line dances. The students taught the Macarena and YMCA. After lunch we set up for the dance, with nearly 200 cookies we had baked – some without all the needed ingredients because we couldn’t find them here. There were oatmeal cookies with raisins, chocolate chip cookies with mini M & M’s, chocolate Rice-Krispy treats, a French cake that is easy with the ingredients available, and some candy that some of us had brought from home. Edward and Adam also made piles of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cut neatly into smaller wedges. We also set up a face painting table with Eli and later LJ painting, 2 “Go Fish!” tables, and a toss-the-pennies-into-the-empty-Pringles-containers-game. Then at 4:00 nearly 125 students, plus staff, arrived. Jackie and Jia Ji welcomed everyone in two languages, and explained the program. Gao Xin High School staff had put up posters of “East Meets West – Gao Xin No. 1 High School and Saugus High School” and a power point slide of the dance plan.

Then we started, with Marissa teaching the Electric Slide and those that learned this morning helping out. EVERYONE danced! Next we did the limbo until we got down to the last 3 students, where each one got a prize. Then while we played different music the students tried the games, trying to earn tickets that allowed them to “buy” different prizes of pens and pencils to nice t-shirts and sports hats that some of us had brought. The students also taught the Macarena, YMCA and we had a Conga Line. Everyone had a great time!!!

The two hours went so quickly and we did some of the dances a second time. By near the end some groups started the Hokey Pokey! Everyone said how fun it was, and how their school had never seen anything like it! Even some of the American kids said that it was the best school dance they had ever attended! It was lots of fun! After we cleaned everything up some of the Chinese and American students went out to sing Karioke. We teachers were tired.