Tomorrow I will be heading to Beijing and I am extremely excited! When I was three years old, I loved History channel documentaries and I loved watching documentaries specifically on the world wonders. I can hardly believe that Saturday I will be seeing one of them- The Great Wall of China. I am also extremely excited to see the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace. There is a rumor that there is a Starbucks in the Forbidden City and if there is I want to get a Forbidden City mug from there because I collect Starbucks city mugs.
But leaving for Beijing is bitter sweet. While I am excited to go and experience the capital of China, it means that this is my final time teaching the No. 9 students English. I am really going to miss seeing their faces when the Duke students enter their classroom and they light up. I’m not sure how much English I truly taught them, but by the end of these classes I can definitely tell a difference in their confidence level when speaking oral English. A girl in my class today who normally never speaks unless prompted to do so answered a very difficult question in English and I gave her a high-five. I was so proud!
Now that English classes are over I can put 110% of my energy into teaching my jazz class for the final performance. This week some of the Duke students and I went to a costume shop to look for costumes for our class. I was able to find some Hawaiian themed costumes that could be used for both boys and girls. One of my sweet students, Vivi, told me about a website where a Moana costume can be ordered (the song my students are dancing to is “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana) and I am hoping that one can be ordered. My idea is that I will be dressed as Moana since I am only dancing at the beginning and the end of the dance and that way one single student isn’t singled out as being the “favorite” by being Moana. The girls really want a Moana since they loved the movie so I hope I can make this happen!
I am also starting to get very sad at the thought of going home and leaving my host family. I love my host family so much- Amy is such a joy to be around, my host mom is so sweet and my host father is so warm and welcoming. I am also going to have an extremely hard time parting with the two cats, Kimi and Bizzi. Kimi is always by my side and involved in what I am doing and Bizzi was very shy at first but has now warmed up to me. I feel so at home with everyone and I hope that one day they can come visit me in America and I can make them feel welcome in my home. I also want to come back and visit China to see them and maybe I can go to Shanghai with Amy because we both have never been!
