I am almost positive that the mother, Emma, didn't tell her son, Zach, and his friend, David, that their teacher would be coming along for the day's activities. Emma picked us up from the school and then we went to pick up the rest of the bunch. When the little boys got in the car, Emma explained to the little first graders that we, their foreign teachers (who sing songs and shout 'anjing' --anjing means quiet in Chinese-- all 40 minutes of class) would be joining them for the day. She then asked my two students if they were happy about it. One shouted, "No!". Can I blame them?? If my mom had tricked me into spending a day with one of my teachers, I would have hated it too.
They took us to lunch at a place called Pizza Fun. It was a buffet full of pizza and other random Chinese food. Let's just say I was in heaven. I love Chinese food but when you get a chance to eat Western food here, you don't pass up that opportunity. I am sure that they thought we were pigs. I made the mistake of eating a piece of pizza with my hands but when I saw that it wasn't the social norm, I quickly switched to my fork. Yes, this restaurant had forks, spoons, and knife. I wasn't quite sure what to do with them.
We then traveled a little ways to go pick strawberries. The strawberries were in little green houses and I had a blast. In America, I always tend to go for the biggest, reddest strawberries I can find. I was told that the small ones are the best ones here. I am not entirely sure if that is true or I may have been told that because all they really had were small ones. Regardless, it was a fun outing!
I thought that is where this day out with my students but I was sure wrong about that. They then took us to an ancient town. I had head about this ancient town and had planned on going sometime but it sure was fun to go with them. I was told that this town was built around 1370. It is so old but it was awesome! There were so many fun little shops all along the sidewalk. Emma and her husband kept buying us things to try. Half of the time I had no idea what I was eating. I enjoyed most of it but there were a few things that I wasn't so sure about. I have never been so full in my life but that didn't seem to matter. They kept buying us more and more things. I am not kidding when I say that. It is the truth. We were sent home with a backpack full of goodies. On the way home they even stopped at a bakery and bought us another bag full of baked goods. I am pretty sure he bought one of everything in that little store.
So, I am pretty sure it is true when I say that I have met the nicest people in all of China. That isn't a joke. Emma and her family were the greatest! They were so kind to us and so giving. I love that there are nice people all over the world but I really just might have to say that the nicest people live in China. So many kind strangers have helped me in more ways that I can count. They treat me so well and I will never be able to repay any of them. It does make me want to pay it forward and pass on the kindness that everyone here so freely gives. I love it. I am determined to be a better person. China has made me realize that what I have previously thought was good, is not good enough. I can be better and I will be better.
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