During our time in Hangzhou, we have been fortunate enough to have many natives and locals help us around while we are here. One professor named Cherry has been especially helpful, basically showing us the ropes and answering any questions we may have since the day we arrived. This past Saturday, Cherry’s daughter and her class invited all of H-23 to hang out with them! Finally, some people whose level of Chinese is about the same with mine! (though theirs is still better obviously) So we grabbed some taxis and made our way to the other campus, which was actually very reminiscent of Valpo for me. Cherry herself said so as well- maybe it was how spread out things were and the beautiful outdoor scenery (though I do think this campus beat out Valpo…)

The pretty campus scenery~

 

Once we arrived the children (about 10-11 years old) shyly greeted us. At first they mostly kept to each other and would giggle or whisper excitedly about the foreigners visiting them. We all started off bouncing a volleyball around in a circle, sort of like an icebreaker to show the kids that we were here to have fun with them.  Soon enough, game after game ensued and we ended up having a lot of fun with the kids! We played badminton, jumped rope  and even had a three-legged race. There was also a game where everyone sat in a circle and played a game of hot potato. Once you lost, you had to stand up and either sing, dance, show a talent or speak Chinese/English [obviously not the one that is your first language].

The kids had a blast with the jump rope!

Almost everybody lost.  There was everything from Tai Chi demonstration to beat boxing. What more can you ask for? Seriously though, it was so much fun being able to just relax and spend time with the kids. Once they felt comfortable, they were more than willing to play games with you or make small talk. It was a good opportunity for H-23 to have an active day as well.. we have been missing sports severely!! And while our campus has a lot of areas where you can play different sports, we have just been overall too busy/slightly lazy. So I think it was a good opportunity for both parties! (Note: In case you wondering, the title of this post is “跟小朋友们玩” (gen xiao pengyoumen wan)/ “Playing with the kids”)

...so did our big kids.