I can finally say I’ve had my first Chinese breakfast. It was very good and very healthy. I had something that tasted like hot soymilk, fried egg, and bread.

My ability to you use chopsticks is improving, and I use them with every meal.

Our class was in a different building today (June 7). The room was just as nice as the first. We studied the Washington Consensus, Chinese military and government.

Our classes are very interesting, and it’s useful to be learning this information within the country from which it came.

After class, we visited a kindergarten English class. The children seemed amazed by us. We sat in the class and observed how they are taught.

This particular day, the teacher was teaching them “cupcake,” “cookies,” “muffins,” and “chips.” The way children are taught here is very similar, in my opinion, to the way they are taught in America — they’re engaged, having fun and get rewarded.

The food is very good and nothing like American Chinese food. It’s very fresh, healthy, and hearty.

It’s strange how so many people here appear to be so skinny when they can eat so much food at one time.

A permanent Chinese influence

We got up a little earlier than usual today (June 8) and went to visit some College English classes. We split into groups.

I went to a class with two others. There were about 30 people in the class, only six of whom were male.

When the class starts, two or three people present some current events in English. Then, the instructor plays an audio file in English and asks the students to pick out key words.

After playing the file once, the instructor opens a document on the project with the words to go along with the audio.

The three of us split up into different parts of the class to give the students an opportunity to practice their English. They had so many questions about America and what makes them different from us.

They were all very polite and were very curious.

I gave my e-mail address to a few students who would like to keep in touch with an English speaker. I also feel this is a good way to practice my Chinese.

— Jake MacLean, a senior Spanish major and Chinese minor