What a great day! We learned and saw a great deal today. In the morning, by watching the news we discovered that over 9 million students are preparing for their college entrance exam, which takes place this weekend. It is such a big deal that construction is shut down and traffic control is out to keep the noise down for students who are studying. I found it interesting that there are hidden cameras to watch for students cheating during the test. This test will decide the future for many students! We were able to share this and all the other information we have absorbed with another class at USI through Skype this morning! 

It was bittersweet to have our last language class this morning but we had a fun day and were allowed to ask any questions we wanted. Many words we were curious about were discussed and we were able to acquire information about a lot of food here and share what our food is like at home. I also have my study guide for our upcoming test! 

A lot of gift exchanging went on today as it was our last day to see many of our new friends. Luckily, we were able able to go to dinner, get ice cream, and go to karaoke for a last hoorah. I will miss the friends I have made but it is nice to have the technology we do to keep in contact.

Mrs. Rietman, Jessica, and I visited our last Chinese school today. Administrators at Beibei Shiyan Kindergarten graciously welcomed us into their school. After a tour, of the 2000 square meters of school, we were amazed! The people in the school were very professional, and you could tell by their curriculum how hard working they are. This was definitely my favorite school thus far! Children are encouraged to express their creativity through many hands-on stations. The school focuses on language, social skills, arts, signs, and health. Children are in school from 8am- 12 pm then they have a nap/eat lunch from 12pm- 3pm. Following their nap they eat a small snack and participate in activities from 3pm- 6pm. There were approximately 30 children in a classroom and over 600 students in the entire school. Each classroom is run by two teachers and a nurse. Children are allowed to select their own activities and there definitely  isn't a shortage of things to do! I saw areas for role playing, arts (drawing/ coloring), reading corners, a water table, block area, science area, math area and others. Each location was supplied with sufficient, maybe even surplus, materials. Outside they had a garden, castle, fountain/water area, train, playground, paths, rope climbing, and other places for students to explore according to their teacher's plan. One activity I really liked is that every April students work with their parents to create their own book and show it to their class. Another thing that was awesome was their record keeping. Each child had a large scrap book detailing different parts of their development. It was neat to see a lot of similar practices to the United States, and this school is somewhere I know students are getting a great start to their education! 

When we left the school we gave them books for their classes and they gave us a stuffed animal with the name of the school on it. Children were immediately given the books and were jumping up and down for joy! It was a very well spent afternoon! 

Our language professor was kind enough to bring us some Zong Zi, sticky rice eaten in celebration of Dragon Boat Festival, to try! The bamboo leaf the rice was wrapped in gave a very distinct smell and the rice was kind of bland but it actually wasn't too bad. When dipped in sauces and heated up we are told it is even better. It was very satisfying to my growling stomach. 

While traveling on the street, and in and out of buildings, I have found many errors in the English words. It it surprising to me to see errors in public places and well kept buildings. I have seen letters transformed in elevators, very literal public signs, and the funniest place to see these mistakes is on clothing! Today I saw a shirt that said "You will fid someone." Another day we saw one that said, "thanks for eing you." Most things aren't bad like these examples but you will find some that don't even make sense. It's fun to search for these things!

Our afternoon seminar covered Chinese economy. There have been a lot of ups and downs in China's vast history. One thing I found to be intriguing was China's use of what they called coupons. For a long period of time China was on a shortage of many supplies especially food so they were given coupons to turn in for those items. The family was only given a select amount and food was very scarce, especially pork and grain. There were even coupons for random items like shoes and bicycles. Another thing I took from this seminar and our previous seminars on Chinese history is that China's development is very young even though they have over 2000 years of civilization. They are about 10-15 years behind America and are slowly progressing to better their lives. 

For dinner, Mrs. Reitman,  Jessica, and I took initiative and went to dinner on our own. We went into a restaurant with absolutely no English and ordered! We were about 75% successful but it was great practice. I had to write down our order in Chinese characters after Jessica translated with her phone. We ended up with egg fried rice and pork. Which is what we ordered except we wanted sweet and sour pork and not pork on a bone! We were lucky and the food was all very good. I definitely got my fill on rice! I was happy with myself for being able to ask for boxes and for the bill in Chinese. I enjoy practicing out on the street and we had fun going out on a limb and trying something new! 

The three of us then presented to a large group of education students. Mrs. Reitman had a wonderful presentation on the ins and outs of the education program at USI. The students in attendance were taking lots of notes and had plenty of questions at the end! I have to say after this trip I'll have a lot of experience presenting in front of an audience. 

Our second to last language class was today and it was like being in a shop. We practiced buying and selling products before eating lunch with our new friend Eric. Eric has had a very interesting career here in Chongqing teaching English classes at the university. It was very inspiring to hear about his life and to see how accustomed he has become to the culture after just 2 years. Not to mention how fluent he is! He is studying to take a Chinese test to prove his knowledge and is a very popular person here on campus. It was nice to talk to some else who speaks English and who can share some of the same feelings since he has had similar experiences. 

After lunch we made our own Chinese dumplings! Dumplings are a common food here in China. Making dumplings is similar to making noodles. You just flatten them out, stuff them and seal the edges. Sounds easy but there are a lot of details you have to pay attention to. You have to make sure they are the right thickness, you get just the right amount of filling, and you use the proper pinching technique to close the dumpling. After all, of our hard work we were able to feast for dinner! 

Tiffany, Isaac, some of our language partners and I ventured down to look for Mah Jong sets in the stores. I just went for the walk but I ended up getting a travel set! I think it will be fun to show my family how to play and make them dumplings. Apparently Mah Jong is banned on campus for the students because of the gambling that can be attached with it. When played for fun it is quite addicting! After our ventures and our wonderful, hand made dinner we sat through a lecture on more Chinese history. Then Jessica, Mrs. Rietman, and I skyped with a class at USI. It felt good to share with students who could potentially come here and experience this too!

We had our first signs of thunder tonight! I think it's a lot louder than what I've heard before but it still makes for great sleeping weather! 

Things I learned:
- Chinese, Math, and English are the most important subjects in elementary schools. 
- There are not very many, if any, part time jobs for students. Parents help to pay for school or they have scholarships or contracts. 

Nimen hao! (Hello everyone!) Well my new name is officially Sharon. For some reason, everyone has a habit of pronouncing my name like that. Even the group jokingly and now sometimes automatically calls me Sharon! It is surprising how often this mistake occurs. I think this will be a nickname that will follow me! 

For lunch, Katlyn, Jessica, Isaac, Tiffany,and I walked down the street and stopped at a vender where we could pick out our own individual meals. Most meals are family style and you all pick from the same bowls so it was nice to be greedy and have my own food! I ate a very good, chocolate covered, crunchy filled, ice cream bar to follow up my meal. It was just what I needed in this heat and gave me energy for our afternoon Kunfu class! 

Tai chi was with a large group of Americans from Alabama today. It was their first class so we reviewed what we had previously learned and then finished the series. I found it to be very relaxing and it is was fun to watch everyone try out their skills. During the evening we visited a language class on campus and gave a presentation on USI and our lives. After presentations and group discussions I'd say we all gained a lot and enjoyed the company. 

Students talked a little about the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival and our language teachers told us about it today. Other than the Chinese New Year, I had not really heard of any other highly celebrated holidays. This festival just happens to always fall on my birthday, June 12th! (They were just so happy I was born! Haha) If I understood correctly, this is a festival in celebration of a patriotic poet named Qu Yuan who jumped in the river to rebel against the Emperor for not listening to his ideas and was drowned/eaten by the fish. Everyone loved him so much that they threw rice into the river for the fish to eat so they would leave him alone. Nowadays people eat zong zi which is a sticky rice wrapped in a leaf like food. They also have competitions for rowers in decorated boats. I didn't get all the details but I thought that was really interesting! The university will be out of school for Monday,  Tuesday, and Wednesday the week of the festival but, to make up for two of the missing days, the previous Saturday and Sunday students attend school. (Saturday is like Monday and Sunday is like Tuesday.) 

Jessica and I ended the night with some well prepared noodles from a street vender. When you find something you really like you have to make note of it and eat it while you can so I made sure to eat a good portion! 

With a relaxing morning, due to our trip to the kindergarten class being cancelled, we had plenty of energy for the busy afternoon. In the morning, the girls ventured down the street to look through small shops and find some lunch before heading back to watch some tv and nap. It's funny to watch the Chinese soap operas and try to make predictions about what is going on. We can often get the gist of it through the music and facial expressions. 

The afternoon seminar was entitled: Understand China, History Matters. This seminar was quite engaging due to its freshness to me. Students here know quite a bit about American history so I feel better knowing a little of theirs. It makes it easier to put myself in their shoes and, most importantly, for us to try and understand each other. It is very important to have some background knowledge on other cultures to give you a better understanding of different lifestyles, ways of thinking, and personal experiences. I took good notes if anyone is interested and here is a small recap of this interesting seminar:

       - China has over 5000 years of civilization and in those years there have been great Emperors such as: Emperor Qin Shihung (Qin = China), Wudi the Great, Emperor Li Shimin, Emperor Zhao Kuangyin, and Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. These emperors have unified china and brought prosperity and stability. There have also been negative Emperors who hesitated to strengthen the country and are remembered as corrupted and incapable. "The Great lesson" was that only through consolidating the central power and promoting one orthodox state could a strong and prosperous China be built. China is very diverse now but they appreciate unity. 

On the way to the Financial firm we stopped to pick up our dresses and when we finally got back we were eager to try them on! Everyone's looked great and each one was unique. The tunnel we traveled through on the way today took us 3:45.8 minutes to go through driving at about 60 mph. Once we arrived in the city it was rush hour and cars, buses, motorcycles, and people were everywhere! Motorcyclists have to be very daring to squeeze between large buses and maneuver around cars. At the Financial firm we were warmly welcomed into a building that houses more than 40 businesses. The company is called CZC which stands for Cai Zhi China (meaning- fortune and wealth). They gave a presentation of their company and we presented them a brief overview of USI. We then traveled to Chongqing's 2nd largest shopping center for a very satisfying dinner with our hosts. It was pretty neat to be able to exchange questions with these prominent business men and women. 

Things I learned today: 
- A red ribbon tied to a cars mirror means they are willing to give you a ride.  
- The lines between business and personal are blurred. Businessmen often give out social networking numbers to clients. 

I don't even know where to begin with today! There was way too much for me to take in and I couldn't get enough of each location we went to! We traveled to Ciqikou, Downtown Chongqing, and the Three Gorges museum. I guess I'll start with a little information about our travels. We have passed through many tunnels on our road trips, almost falling asleep because it is dark for so long. Out of curiosity I decided to time how long it took us to get from one end to the other. Traveling at about 65-70 mph it took us 3:22.4 minutes to get through one of the tunnels. If you're reading and good at math/science you should calculate how long the tunnel is! 

Our first stop was Ciqikou. It was a combination of several streets lined with shops, people, food, and located near the river. Right off the bat we found ourselves in an artists shop bargaining for paintings. Jessica and I bought a set of four painted by a 96 year old Chongqing man before moving on. Further down we found all sorts of things being sold. Shops sold jewelry, food, stuffed pandas, fans, scarves, pictures, artwork, clothing, traditional pieces, and a lot more. It was hard to keep everyone together because we all wanted to look at everything and the weekend crowd was there. It overwhelmed my senses! We ate a very unique restaurant near the pier. Inside musicians played some of the Chinese instruments we leaned about in a previous seminar. They welcomed us and played Jingle Bells in our honor!  

The second stop was the Three Gorges Museum. Neighboring the museum was a gorgeous structure. It was an enormous, traditionally built building with an ornate rooftop. I didn't catch the name of it but it was definitely a sight to see! It is actually what I expected most buildings here to look like before I realized everything is more modern. The museum was also neat to see and enormous! For an hour and a half we browsed through exhibits and took lots of pictures. Some of the information I took in included: a gorge is a natural rock/river formation, Ba culture is the root for the regional culture of Chongqing, large stones were used to make prints, and the land where some of the cultures rooted from is now under water. 

Downtown Chongqing. Wow. The third destination of the day was very comparable to New York City! In fact one of the skyscrapers says New York, New York in Chinese characters. We arrived in a large square with a monument in the middle, surrounded by large stores housing big name brands such as Gucci, Armani, and Louis Vuitton. This monument used to be the tallest structure in the city in the 1980s but now it is surrounded by skyscrapers and so much growth for a short period of time. Apparently there are 6 of these large squares in the downtown area now. We explored one of them and hardly broke any ground in the two hours we were there so you can imagine how huge it is! There were large malls next to large malls, tall business buildings, fancy restaurants, and some of the most expensive products I have ever seen! The mall I went into had 7 floors of name brand designer stores. It was fun to look and see how the other side lives but there was no way you could buy too much there!

Our fourth and final spot was the Chongqing tourist center. This encompassed beautifully built traditional buildings, a small water fall, a pirate ship, shops, restaurants, statues, carvings, and of course tourists. My dad always jokes and says my mom and I can find a Dairy Queen no matter where we are and I found one! I enjoyed a nice kiwi blizzard while taking in the wonderful view of the city and rivers. The point where two rivers converge was insight and you could faintly see the difference in the colors of the rivers as they met. We also saw several large opera houses, and a temple where the famous Chinese movie, Crazy Stone, was filmed. 

I could have spent a day at each location separately and still have not been satisfied. There was an immense amount to see! An hour later and we were finally back to the Univeristy to get ready for another long day! Tomorrow we visit a kindergarten, have a seminar, and travel to a financial firm. It should be another day of learning!

Things I learned today: 
- KFC still tastes Chinese. 

Our day trip to Dazu Rock Carvings was great! Along the route you can see cities being built up with cranes on practically every building, travel through long tunnels, and of course see the beautiful mountains. In smaller towns restaurant workers stand outside motioning people in cars to come eat, people gather to celebrate events, and workers go about their day. 

The rock carvings and the surrounding area are very beautiful. We were lucky to have a tour guide and each of us were given headphones to listen. The stories behind each piece are very fascinating and make me want to do some more research on Buddha. For instance, did you know that Buddha was born out of his mother's armpit or that there are 18 levels of hell! (You'd better behave!) The carvings are very intricate and well designed. Some were very colorful and others were solid. It is pretty awesome to be able to see a part of Chinese history first hand and experience it! I can't wait to share with everyone at home! 

Just like any other tour they ended and left us in a gift shop! And right outside the gates are rows of shops with all kinds of stone carvings and traditional gifts. Owners approach you trying to sell their product and are very persistent. I tried my hand at bargaining and I brought one lady down 200 yuen! I was happy with my success and I think my family will be too! 

We ended the night with some Muslim food in Chongqing which was very good! The potatoes and noodles reminded me of home cooked food. On TV Jessica and I found Chinese Idol and the movie Hop. In the previous nights there has been an English movie playing (Finding Nemo, Alvin and the Chipmunks) but tonight's movie was in Chinese. 

Things I learned: 
- Chinese parents can interfere with marriage, careers, and schooling. 
- Politics (Who you know) is very important in finding a job.

Time was the subject of study today in language class and it has made me realize how fast our time here is going. It's hard to believe we only have week and two days left in Chongqing! We also went over our interviews we conducted yesterday. Everyone shared some unique information. 

For lunch five of us ventured out on our own and went back to a restaurant we ate at a few days ago. The owner immediately recognized us and knew what we wanted to order. I've always wanted to walk into a place and have the worker know my order so that was fun. Across from the restaurant is a small coffee shop which makes wonderful vanilla milkshakes for dessert! After all the food we hit up the bank and the grocery store. I found out you have to be quick in the grocery store or you will be cut by an old lady! It's not uncommon to cut in line here in China and you have to be fast with what your doing so you don't get in the way!

The afternoon seminar has been my favorite so far because it was very hands on. We learned about Chinese paper cutting and knot making from a very experienced artist! Art has always been one of my favorite subjects so I especially enjoyed these activities which allowed us to express our creative sides. She showed us some of her wonderful handmade pieces and I was in awe! Paper cutting and knot making is one of UNESCO's recognized heritage/traditional practices. Each design has its own meaning. The first one we made was very symmetrical and can be found at weddings. We ran out of time to make bracelets but in Chinese history every girl wore one for protection and good luck. Instead we made small key chains which were very complicated to make! 

Finally we had some spare time to have a night out with our language partners! They treated us to a wonderful meal (the spiciest one we've had yet) and accompanied us as we browsed through some shops. I was able to talk with a lot of the girls and ask some questions. We talked a lot about relationships and weddings as most girls would do! I didn't know very much about Chinese weddings but I found out they only need a wedding certificate to make it official which is received from the civil administration. They have a ceremony but no one is in charge like a religious pastor. Afterwards they take a lot of pictures and have dinner with friends, family, and teachers. They have a party, sometimes at the parents' home. This all sounded very similar to weddings in the US. They told me about how a couple of students have gotten married on campus and traveled around on the school bus to show their joy and happiness. I was also surprised that women have to be at least 20 and men have to be at least 22 to get married in China. Divorce is also frowned upon and divorced single mothers are discriminated against. 

It was interesting to hear and learn that I have a lot in common with many of the girls. One girl likes to joke around with her friends like she saw me do with Isaac and Tiffany. Another girl shared my feelings on the seriousness of relationships. I have heard almost all of them talk about how fast school is going by which is a sentiment I have. They worried about security on campus just as I do (they look for lighted streets and like to have a guy walk with them). It is cool to see how much we are alike even though we live thousands of miles apart; we still have similar thoughts and feelings! 

This weekend we are off to explore downtown Chongqing and the Dazu Rock Carvings! 

Things I learned today:
- Many adults study at the university but they are in separate classes pursuing different degrees. 
- There are more men who cut hair (barber) than there are women who cut hair. 

We had two doses of Chinese language class today so we hit the streets to practice our skills for the afternoon session. The task was to interview 5 strangers on the streets and use the questions we learned to gain as much information as we could. Tiffany and I worked together to find friendly people who weren't too busy to share with us. The people we interviewed were very nice and seemed happy to help us when they realized we were beginners. I think they were so nice because we are making an effort to learn their language and more about them. One even wanted us to teach her a little English! This was a fun task and allowed us the opportunity to speak with native speakers and hear their tones and different dialects. 

On our walk back from lunch, after our interviewing, we took a few minutes to look around the park. There were benches to rest, statues, many trees and plants, and a few pieces of playground equipment. The equipment for the children all seems to serve a purpose for exercise and each piece is designed to work a specific area of the body. One piece allowed you to rotate and twist your hips while another allowed you to work your legs and looked like exercise equipment you'd see in the US. It is cool to see how eager the children are to wave and say hi to us; they are always full of smiles. 

I participated in the daytime rest period but instead of napping from 12-2:30 during the normal resting hours, I took a nap from 5-6:30. I can see how the rest times are needed here with the early mornings and late nights. Everyone is so busy and working hard so the designated time to relax and reenergize is appreciated. I was able to learn some more about the Chinese culture tonight when we attended our language professors class. The class is one he teaches a couple of days a week for his Chinese students who are studying to become English teachers. We did a question and answer session and both parties were able to share and inquire. Some of the things I learned included:

- The campus is broken into two large sections the North and the South. It is also divided into 5 different areas of housing which are named after gardens. (Ex: orange garden, peach garden)
- The month of May is the singing month and there are a lot of competitions.
- The students have a very open attitude towards dating. One girl described it as wonderful and romantic while a boy described how couples are important and make a difference. Couples go to the movies and hang out like Americans do. The students are accepting of gays and lesbians. 
- Their biggest challenge when learning English was learning the grammar and being able to comprehend long papers. They have been studying the language for more than 10 years. 
- There are varying reasons for why they are going to be teachers. Some had no choice, were influenced by parents, or didn't receive high enough test scores to be in the major they wanted. While others really enjoy working with children and love education. There are two advantages to being an English teaching major: 1. Teaching is a combination of many jobs like psychology, etc. 2. You have a lot of choice in what you want to do with your major (be an editor, a mother, researcher, etc.)
- The tuition is only 4000 RMB and housing is only 1200 RMB, totaling 5200 RMB ($838.71) for one year, plus some students receive 600 RMB a month for living expenses.
- They are accepting of the censorship placed by the government on Internet use and understand why it is needed. Some believe it has prevented them from having a "lost generation." They also think things might progress too quickly and chaos will erupt. They would like to be more in the middle of the spectrum (china is on one end with censorship and America is on the other with none). They like how China is continually developing and advancing. 
- The key universities in China are located in the developed cities like Hong Kong and Beijing.
- Students need 165 credits to graduate (classes are 2, 3, & 4 credits). 
- 18 weeks is one semester. 
- They have too many national heroes to talk about in just one class period. Out of the thousands they have in their rich culture and history they provided examples of: Lin Ze Xu, Cau Xue Qin, and Bruce Lee. Their heroes are people who have defended against enemies and saved the nation or who have protected the culture. 

Everything we learned was either a personal view or group opinion. Most was personal preference and will vary. That was just a two hour class and we gained quite a bit! 

Things I learned:
- Friends (girls) walk hand in hand or arm in arm. 
- Alway bring a laptop so you have something to connect to the Ethernet cord for Internet; otherwise you have to pester others to use theirs. 
- Couples meet on the football field to sit at night and hang out (they bring blankets to sit on and the field will fill up). 
- Many people will go out of their way to help you and make you feel more at home. 

Ahh! We ended the night on a scary note when a cockroach tried to accompany Jessica in the shower! She was very brave; I would have been out of there in a heart beat! The boys came to the rescue and removed it for us. It's a good thing we work so well as a group! The rest of the day was on the other end of the excitement spectrum. We had a very relaxing, much needed day to recuperate and rest. 

We started the day with language class and as usual I took a lot away from it. It is progressively getting harder but I like the challenge and find most everything useful. The weather took a dramatic turn and it was quite chilly today with some light sprinkles. I should have listened to my mom and packed an umbrella but I hope in the days to come I can find a fancy one like all the girls carry here. I really like the ones with lacing around the edges. If I find one for rain and sun I will fit right in!

We are lucky and keep finding delicious new foods that tend to hit the spot. Fried rice and sweet and sour pork filled our bellies today for lunch and kept us energized for the afternoon seminar on Chinese music. We listened to a variety of traditional instruments play some beautiful songs then the rest of the day was ours to explore on our own, find food, and bargain for goods. 

After going out a few nights, I have noticed that on a typical night you will see adults dancing on the streets. It's like line dancing where steps are synchronized and people follow along. Mainly elders participate but it is fun to watch and many couples can be found hand in hand with a partner. I think this would be fun to do at home! It's a very wholesome activity and is done for exercise. You will also see a lot of street venders. Most items being sold are necessity items like socks, underwear, fans, vegetables, fruit, and other small, easily carried items. Clothes, jewelry, and shoes are laid out on blankets or small carts are full of miscellaneous items. Venders sell food under small tents or on a cart. Street food can also be found in small shops with a few tables inside and out. We have only seen a few franchises like McDonald's, KFC, and a drink shop. For the most part, local individuals sell food.

Most of the people you will see are very fashionable in their heels and dresses. Many wear nice clothes for a night out for dinner or shopping. The people maneuver around each other easily and travel at a relaxed pace. Its customary here to arrive anywhere from five minutes early to ten minutes late. I'm starting to learn where all the nooks and crannies are on the sidewalk. Trees, branches, people, steps, animals and other random things all present obstacles on a daily basis. You never know what you'll find happening on the streets in Chongqing and you have to embrace all the stares you get!