Zhengzhou No. 96 Middle School, Henan province

This was my FAVORITE part of the trip so far! We headed to a public middle school in the morning and were welcomed by hundreds of smiling excited middle schoolers!  

Students greeted us and entertained us as a large group by perfuming some songs that represented Chinese culture.  

I felt like a celebrity in the school (some students haven't seen a blonde hair/blue eyed Amerocan before) and the students were giggling with excitement to take a picture with me, it was adorable!  

After the musical performances we moved to the outside for tai chi demonstrations.  Then we moved to their gym to watch a Shuttlecock game.  We got to practice it ourselves and play our own game with the help from the students.  Shuttlecock is like hackeysack with feathers that uses a net, like badminton. We were given shuttlecocks to bring home so now I am determined to practice!  

We the traveled throughout the school to get demonstrations in calligraphy and paper cutting. Students were asking for our autographs and our business cards to be our pen pals, and kept lining up to take pictures with the "beautiful Americans."  Many students made a present to hand out to one of us, and I am coming home with calligraphy, paper cuts, origami, and some other very cute handmade gifts.  

Then we went to a tea demonstration, and then to classroom visits. The classrooms look similar to American classrooms , but there are more students 40 average) and all the students were on their best behavior. They were all also equipped with smart board projectors, and many posters in both languages.

Everyone left feeling re-energized and happy, for it was such an amazing experience to be welcomed and entertained by such wonderful and cute students! Next stop, Shaolin Wushu Vocational Institute (aka Kongfu school!)