Weekends Are Made For Students

Hello Again,

Finally, something worth writing about. This weekend a number of the classes we teach had their "Fall Outings." What is a Fall Outing you might ask? Allow me to explain.

One of the things that sets the Chinese university system apart is the fact that when you enter into university, you are placed in a class (based on the year you enter school and your major, i.e. 2007 English Majors, Class 1) of anywhere from 30-60 other students. And you have every single class together - for all four years that you are in school. So each class spends all of their time together and they develop a very strong group personality and very deep bonds of friendship.

Each class is also run a bit like a club: there is a "class president" and "vice president" (aka a class monitor and study monitor), and each class has a treasury of sorts. So each semester they take their class money and have a group outing where they do something special outside of the campus. This last weekend was one such time.

On Friday afternoon/evening we were invited to have a BBQ at a local park by two different classes. It was down by the ocean, and as you will see from the pictures, there were numerous small fire pits set up where we grilled chicken legs, strips of meat, vegetables, even marshmallows! (Unfortunately China hasn't yet discovered the beauty of the S'MORE yet, but we're working on them.)

Then on Saturday David and MJ and myself accompanied another two classes to Donghai Island, a small island a little over an hour from campus. There we again BBQed, cooked dumplings, played volleyball and swam in the ocean. It was a lot of fun. Being able to interact with the students outside of the classroom is one of my favorite things about China, and this weekend was another reason why.

I'll leave you now with some pictures from this weekend. Enjoy!

The Boys, preparing the Kebabs

The Lovely Ladies of '07 English Education Class 4


MJ and Students


John loves him some kebabs...


They may only weigh 90 pounds, but those girls can really eat...


Ben hearts BBQ!


Smile if you love China!


'07 English Education Class 4 w/ Teachers


'07 English Education Class 2 w/ Teachers


You might have noticed the Chinese don't really know what to do with their hands when they have their photo taken. That or they just really like peace...


It's sad that these girls probably think this is the best America has to offer...


The student who took this picture thought I looked like a father scolding his son...


"Sophie the Sun Queen"


Still wet from our swim in the ocean...
(Yes, that girl is wearing a winter coat with a fur-lined collar, and yes, it was 75 degrees out when this picture was taken.)


'07 English Education Class 3
(I tried to give them some grief for being English majors but still writing their sign in Chinese, but they wouldn't have any of it. Oh well.)