Chinese Visit

Last Friday, our Creative Writing class had the pleasure of meeting several Chinese students at MSU. I met Jenny, a graduate student at MSU. I learned that she previously attended Qingdao University in China. We did a get-to-know-you activity, in which we learned several things about each other. I learned that she likes bunnies, Lord of the Rings, Modern Family, and reading. She felt like two fish represented her personality because it is her Zodiac sign. I don't know my Zodiac sign, so I said that I was represented by a horse because I have long hair like a horse's mane. I also said I was like a book because I'm more reserved. Furthermore, I shared that I like the tv show Downton Abbey, and I also like Lord of the Rings.

Next, I took her on a tour of the school. I showed Jenny the science wing, the student center, the library, the orchestra room, the weight room, and several other spots in the school. It was difficult because there were a lot of classes going on and I didn't want to interrupt. She seemed interested in the fact that we have extracurricular activities at our school. Apparently, her school did not have sports and there are special schools in China for sports. When we got back to the room, she tried to teach me a little bit about the Chinese language. Apparently, in China, where and how you enunciate is really important. She said it is difficult to understand English sometimes because of the different places different people put the stress in the same word. In Chinese, they have the four tones which are different vowel pronunciations. It was hard! I probably made her laugh with my awful pronunciation.

I'm glad that I had the opportunity to meet Jenny and the rest of the crew that visited us. It was very interesting to learn about different cultures. Sometimes, the things we said to each other were lost in translation and it was hard to tell if she was completely understanding what I meant. Nevertheless, her English was really good and we had a very interesting conversation. If we had had more time, I would have liked to learn more about Jenny, because a lot of the time was spent talking about Kickapoo. I also would have liked to get better at the tones. I definitely need more practice!