Earthquake?

Taiwan had a 6.6 magnitude earthquake last night. We also had a small one here in Fuzhou, but no one noticed except for Mrs. Normand and Mrs. Zhang-Micco who had dinner with the president of the college. Today we have nothing scheduled in the morning so Mrs. Zhang-Micco is going  to take us shopping at H&M! I hope it is cheaper than it is in America (hehe).
Since Yoko-sensei asked about toilets, I will just say a few things. Yes, there are squat toilets, they are everywhere so we have done our best to adjust to them. The first few days we were a little timid to use them but it isn't so bad. Most places also have one western toilet amidst all the squatters. In our dorms we have a western toilet. On the trains, there is no western toilet. There is only a squat toilet and you can only use it when the train is in motion because it empties onto the ground below. I think the worst part about squat toilets is just the smell, but other than that there isn't really any big issue I have with them.

We're Safe, Don't Worry!

So if you've heard about the earthquake that happened in Taiwan (magnitude of 6.6 - wow!), yes, there was one over here, too. But don't worry - it was really small. It was so small, in fact, us kids at the dorm didn't even notice. Mrs. Normand did, though, at the dinner our teachers attended last night. So to all those who might have been worried, be at ease. So far, the people in Taiwan haven't reported any casualties either, so that's good (thanks, USA Today).

The Rooftop and Chinese Paper Cutting

A few days ago we attended a paper cutting class. It was really difficult for me, but I tried my best to make it look nice. The teacher is extremely talented, and the paper she cut as a demonstration was beautiful. Before the class, we traveled up to the roof. It has a really nice view of the campus, but way up is scary.

Here's Mabel on her way up to the bell tower.

This is the bell that is on top of the faculty dorms. It's really big.

This is the view from the top.

This is my paper cutting. I tried my best, but it still looks a little weird.

 This is us with some of the students from the paper cutting class.

This is the paper cutting that the teacher demonstrated to us. It has a flower design in the middle and butterflies on the outer part of the cutting.

Celebrities for a Day

Along with being filmed at Pingtan Experimental Primary School, we were also filmed while visiting an exhibit in the area. It felt really weird because they were capturing our every move. I kinda thought it was funny. It was like they were filming a reality show about us. We even dined like celebrities. The hotel we went to for lunch was the most luxurious place we have ever seen! The dining room even came with its own bathroom, one that was really clean and smelled really nice. It was so fancy that it wasn't even called a bathroom, it was the "powder room." It had a Western style toilet (yay). 

This is a model of Pingtan Island at the exhibit we went to after lunch. These are the plans that the people wish to bring to the area. They want to construct roads and buildings that are more modern. 

Our Fancy Lunch! 

These are just a few of the many interesting dishes we had.

Dried Fish (they are very small)

 I tried the one on the right (never again). 

Really huge, but also delicious shrimp!

HA! Sneaked a pic of one of the camera guys. hehe

This was one of our desserts, along with a peanut soup and fruits, that we had. It's a little cake with a sweet filling and it was really good.

This was our dining table after we had finished lunch. 

Party Time!

We finally got to experience Chinese karaoke! It was really really fun. We got a really big and fancy room, which also included a private bathroom. We all sang English songs, and our big sisters and Mrs. Zhang-Micco sang in Chinese. A few of us also attempted to sing in Korean, but that didn't go so well.

This is me, at the 'center stage'. I sat in this spot for most of the night.

Mrs. Zhang-Micco is a very good singer!

We all had so much fun! When you rent the room at night you get to keep it until the next morning. My big sisters told me that it is cheaper to go during the daytime but since we all went as a large group we each paid 23 yuan (that's like $3 per person!). We had to take the bus back to the college after we were done. When we were waiting for the bus we were approached by a taxi and a man on his moped, who both offered us rides, it was scary but our big sisters protected us. When we got on the bus it was very crowded! We all had to squish in the back and the ride was very bumpy so we held on to whatever was closest to us.

Today we woke up extra early to take the bus to Pingtan Island. Pingtan Island is the largest in the province of Fujian, and also the 5th largest island in China. The bus ride to Pingtan Island was 2 hours, and since we had to wake up early most of us just slept through most of it.

We visited Pingtan Experimental Primary School and read books in English to them. Our big sisters helped by translating the story for them. We also got to perform for them and with them. They also performed for us too. 

The students performed a great finale. This girl had a small singing solo.

At the end the students sang a fight song about strength of the youth and China's history. I told the girl in the above picture that she did a great job in Chinese. She thanked me in English and ran off. Later she approached me and gave me a bracelet! I was overwhelmed because she was so cute and generous. I wish I could have given her something also.

This is the bracelet I was given. It's so cute!

All the children were so cute and interested in us. We were like celebrities again! They swarmed all around us and practiced greeting us in English. Some of them took out their cell phones and took pictures of us and with us. One girl really came close to us and took pictures of our faces. I was startled by her because she seemed to come out of nowhere.

I wish we could have stayed longer at the school. We all wanted to stay and interact with the children. Some of them were shy, and some of them were not, but they were all very cute!

Pingtan Island Experimental Primary School

Today was a really busy day for us. We took the bus to Pingtan Island to go and visit Pingtan Experimental Primary School. We were being filmed for almost the entire time. The camera guy even rode on the bus with us. When we finally arrived to the school, we were welcomed by more cameras from tv and radio stations for both Fuzhou and Pingtan Island. We were there with the Trimble Family and sat in a panel to learn about the school and it's history. Before the show, we went to some of the classrooms and read books to the kids. (we were still being filmed) Afterwards, we performed our hula and sang "Top of the World" with some of the students from the school. Honestly, I never enjoyed singing that song as much until I sang it with them. The kids there were amazing. They also had performances of their own, which were mostly traditional. They all did a great job.

On the bus going to Pingtan Island.

This is the class Angela and I read books to. They have studied English for only 2 years.

This is the students of Pingtan Experimental Primary School performing "Top of the World." Right after that, we joined them and sang it again. It was my favorite performance on this entire trip. (Keep an eye on the kid in the first row all the way on the far left, he's so bouncy!!)

SHA students joining the Pingtan students in singing "Top of the World."

This was another performance put on by the Pingtan students. The boy played the instrument the entire time while the girls in blue danced. 

These students sang about strength and the hardships of China's history. The boy on the far right (the one that is singing in the pic) is my favorite. He had a really strong voice.

During the performance, these students were writing out these Chinese characters. Their calligraphy amazed me. It is absolutely beautiful. I aspire to write my Chinese characters like them. 

Group picture of all the performers and the Trimble Family, Bob and Gordon (in the center, in front of the flag)

The kids at Pingtan Experimental Primary School are so friendly and cute! Some of them brought out their cellphones to take pics of us. 

The Aftermath...and Some Exotic Food

So last night I told you that we were going to karaoke. Why go to karaoke in China? Well, the educational response would be to see what it's like in other countries, but in reality, we just wanted to have fun. Our big sisters showed us the way to an awesome karaoke place. It looked really fancy and the room had couches and bar stools and multiple microphones so we could share in the fun and not feel nervous about singing terribly! But hey, correct pitch hardly matters when you're having fun! We belted out the American songs and tried to go along with the Chinese ones - we could even read some of the lyrics! My throat is still a little sore today. I'm finally going to upload some pictures!

 Angela on center stage - did she cut her hair (jk)? How fashionable!

 Group picture!

 Are they singing a k-pop song? I forget...

 Our big sisters singing one of their favorites

 Selfie! 

Full group picture! 

However, this awesome party came with a price - we had to get up even earlier THIS morning to go to Pingtan Island. It took about two hours to get there. I think most of us slept most of the way there. I think it's really cool that there's a bridge from mainland China to the island. When we got there, it was like we were celebrities! There were cameras waiting for us as we got off the bus at the Pingtan Experimental Primary School. The little kids there are so talented! Their English was also pretty good, and their eyes got big when we spoke Chinese to them in return. Then, we went to lunch at this really fancy-looking hotel. I heard it's one of the best on Pingtan (I felt a tad underdressed, but then again...changing clothes is troublesome). They served us almost exclusively seafood (which I personally wasn't crazy about, but that doesn't matter) and it looked really nice. The whole setup was beautiful. I did try some of the fish, though. I especially liked the little green cakes they served with sesame seeds around them. On the bus ride back, all of us about passed out. That's it for today!

 Ooh, pretty!

FAN-CY

Culture Exchange Day, Yay!

This morning we did some paper cutting. I was never a good cutter, and I'm still not. Still, it was really fun since everyone's final product ended up a bit differently. I was hopelessly lost because the teacher went so quickly - she did it like it was the most natural thing in the world! I would expect that, though, since she has to teach it all the time. When she made that super elaborate butterfly and flower piece, she barely glanced at it and spoke throughout her work. Chinese paper cutting is an awesome art to learn!

Before our big show, we had to doll ourselves up...REAL fun, huh? Okay, so I'm not big on makeup or the like, but for the sake of uniformity, it had to be done. In reality, it wasn't THAT bad - at least we didn't have to put on mascara. :D

We did our whole lineup of songs and, er, the one hula dance (which I thought we did pretty well for beginners, since no one forgot the last verse). I think it was nice, how we did a cultural dance and then the Hwa Nan students did a cultural dance, they played an instrument, and Aimee and Mable played their instruments, and then we sang our alma mater and they sang theirs. My favorite act of theirs was the song one girl used a huge stringed instrument to play. I forget what the instrument is called...how embarrassing.

Oops, I'm cutting this blog short because we're going to karaoke!!!!!!

Performance Day!

Today is the day we perform the hula for the first time in front of a real audience. We were really nervous, but it went pretty well. We did a lot of last minute practice, but we were all pretty confident.

Practicing a little before showtime. 

Performance ready group photo!

We sang our alma mater and "Top of the World"

 The Hwa Nan college students also sang their school song. It was all in Chinese.

They also performed a traditional dance. It was very beautiful. The girls danced very graciously.

 Aimee and Mabel's performance, playing the flute and clarinet. 

 This was a group photo we took after the program. There were so many of us that we didn't all fit into this picture. They gave us a scroll that said just because we are far away from each other, it doesn't mean that we can't be friends. 

At the end of the program, we had a great time taking pictures. We did a pretty good job. Everyone wanted to take pictures with us and Izzy was also interviewed by a TV station who was there to broadcast the show.

Great job girls!

Today is a big day for us. We have performed in front of couple hundreds people. There is also a Chinese TV channel/media here. Izzy represented us and our school did a short interview with the TV channel. We performed Hula dance, sang school song and the top of the world. Kennedy did a cheer at the end and it's very cute. Go Lancers! 

Aimee and Mabel performed "Over The Rainbow" and "Jasmine Flower". It's beautiful! You guys did a great great job!  I'm very proud of you! 

By the way, we did makeup before the show, it was fun. And our girls look very beautiful. 

Lilly Zhang's Hair & Makeup Salon

We were all preparing for our performance in Zhang Laoshi's room. We helped each other with hair and makeup. We all contributed either our makeup, makeup skills, or hair braiding skills.  It wasn't really something planned, but we wanted to look our best for the event since we knew the college students would be putting on a great performance also.

 This was some of the makeups and supplies we used. 

I bought these a couple days ago when we went to the mall with our big sisters. I bought them as a gift to bring back, but it was perfect for us to use at the moment. There were exactly 10 pairs, just enough for everyone! It was fate. I bought them for 12 yuan which is equal to $2. 

 Nicole getting her hair braided by Kennedy.

 Mrs. Normand did eyebrows.

Zhang Laoshi mastering the art of applying falsies. It was her first time and she was so proud of her work.

We're ready for the performance!