August 19th

Everyone woke up early today for a “Life Forum” about the college entrance examination.  After a delicious breakfast of xiao long bao (dumplings), we headed for the outdoor auditorium at the school where about 600 seniors were sitting in orderly rows.  Each Chinese team member spoke about their college as well as skills required to do well on the exam.  Max, Athena, and I just introduced ourselves because we hadn’t take the test.  I left early to be Max’s TA for his class on English pronunciation with the students.

I then taught the students about American college life.  I overviewed the U.S. educational system then explained the many activities to participate in while at school.  I talked about dorm life, homework, classes, and of course, food.  I ended with sharing some personal experiences I have had at Stanford.  At the end, the students practiced singing “Hanuka Matata” from The Lion King.

After class everyone went to lunch and then Jeannie, Athena, Angela, and I went shopping!  We took a cab to the opposite side of DaTong and got out at a traditional outdoor market.  You could buy warm corn, all types of beans, various baked goods, and several lunch dishes.  It was so colorful, though the pig heads were a sight to behold.  We went inside the mall so Angela could buy a jacket.  I witnessed the art of bargaining, though she never did end up buying anything. J Afterwards, we got some ice cream at the grocery store and I bought some incense for my Dad.

We had dinner when we got back and then went for a walk around DaTong.  We walked left out of the hotel and saw the pretty mountains and a section of the Great Wall! We passed by the square at the center of town later and danced for a bit.  I had a ton of fun, though it was quite hard to pick up the dance moves because they changed every few minutes.  The dance was to techno music and involved spinning and kicking.  There were also traditional Tibetan dancers and karaoke. I bought some cotton candy which was delicious, though looked like giant cotton ball1  We headed back to the hotel for an early night to prepare for mountain climbing in the morning.

Zai Jian!