With the very final test coming up and our time in Beijing coming quickly to a close, the day’s schedule was particularly light in order to give students enough time to see parts of Beijing they haven’t seen before, hang out with each other and study.
After the morning’s regular language classes, students went to the soccer field for their final kung-fu class. Students reviewed the routine that they’ve slowly been learning over the past few weeks. After enough practice, everyone went up front in pairs and did the routine in front of the entire group. Once everyone had done the routine to the instructor’s satisfaction, the teacher then introduced students to another type of Chinese martial arts: tai chi. The teacher did a short tai chi demonstration and then taught the students some basic movements. Since this was the final class, there was only so much tai chi they could learn, but definitely enough for them to get a feel of what tai chi is and how it differs from kung-fu.
After lunch, students had the option of practicing their routine that they would be performing at the upcoming farewell banquet. They could also go home and spend time with their host families or do some last minute gift/souvenir shopping for friends and family.
The next day, Thursday, followed a similar schedule. This morning, students instead had their final paper cutting class. Students learned how to fold and cut out even more patterns than last time. First, they learned how to cut out a double happiness symbol which looks like this: 囍. It is named as such because visually, it is made up of two 喜, which means “happy” or “joy.” The double happiness symbol is usually used often in Chinese weddings. The teacher then told students the story called Liang Zhu, which is considered the Chinese equivalent of Romeo and Juliet. One of the major symbols in the story, and also Chinese culture, is the butterfly, which represents love. Students spent the rest of the class cutting out butterflies using the patterns the teacher gave them.
Once again, for this afternoon, students could continue practicing their talent show performances, do some more shopping or explore more of Beijing.