Samina Martin, May 9

Samina Martin

May 9, 2011

WOW!!!! Opening ceremony was so much fun. We were the largest and loudest group. It was amazing to learn that there were 5 countries and 9 Universities that were all gathered in one room all sharing the same interest. I was impressed to hear how well the native Chinese students spoke English and even more impressed with Paula’s Mandarin. The memory video from the previous year was well put together; I look forward to our next few days here. We also took a group picture that I thought would take a while to get everyone organized but it only took a few minutes; I can’t wait to see how it turned out.

After we took the group photo my Chinese partner and I went to the Mall. It was beautiful! Not that much different from the American Malls at home. We had KFC for lunch; DELICIOUS!!!! Even the food at KFC tastes better than the ones in America. I think they use real meat.

13 acres of land!!!!!!! THIS PLACE IS HUGE!!! We saw the outline of the 3 campuses. It was very detailed. I’m realizing more and more that the Chinese pay very close attention to detail. We took a ride to the freshman campus; it wasn’t as big but it was also very nice. The most beautiful and peaceful place I have been to so far on campus was the tea house. I LOVED THE SCENERY!!!! We took lots of pictures and spent some time just sitting around talking. We also took a lot of pictures with Confucius!!! It was very meaningful and made more sense seeing him after we have learned so much about Confucius in class. The welcome dinner was well prepared. I felt honored to be in the presence of the president of the university. He came around to each table and said “hello”; I thought that was very nice of him. The food was also very good; I was soooo happy to see that they had mashed potatoes! LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT FEW WEEKS J!!!!!!