Last Sunday I started playing volleyball at the Nanjing International School. I finally decided to play at this school after hours of looking for a volleyball club somewhere in the city, and having no success. That actually surprised me a lot-- not finding a volleyball club. It was a very fun Sunday. It felt so incredibly good to play volleyball after such a long break. At this "open clinic" were people of all ages from all over the world, but we all spoke English together. It was very funny to play with them because, not to brag, but I was better than every single one of them! They were all very nice though and the woman who lead us kept saying I should transfer to their school and play for them. So that was very fun! But on the way back to the metro station I got caught in a rainstorm and by the time I got to the station, it looked like I had taken a shower in my shorts and t-shirt.
The next day, Monday, I had my first day of school. I have to get up pretty early, which sucks-- probably around 5:30, because we have to leave at 6:40am. When I got to school I had to introduce myself to my class, which was fine. I have a very happy and lively class so they were very nice. The classes themselves were a whole different story. First of all, I cannot understand what the teachers are saying, so I just sit there. There are pro's and con's to that. The pro's are that I don't have to do the homework or take the tests yet because I can't read anything. The con's are that it is extremely boring just sitting there all day, and I am completely exhausted by the end of the day... so much so that I just lay on my bed and fall asleep when I get home. I usually bring something little to study during the classes, but as one of my amazing best friends pointed out, you learn by listening, and slowly you start to recognize the patterns and words, and then you can put it together. So that is what I am doing, and I start Chinese language classes on Monday.
So Tuesday I had my second day of school and that was a little better, still completely exhausting, though, mentally and physically--but I had a better time. On Tuesday I also decided that I would indeed help to be a Youth Consultant for the Youth Olympics in Nanjing in 2014.
Wednesday was the most entertaining day. First, of course, my alarm didn't go off so I got ready in 10 minutes, which was a record for me. During lunch I was talking to the exchange student from Venezuela, and a bunch of boys in his class came over and started bombarding me with questions. That attracted quite a crowd and so I spent the entire lunch talking to them. They were extremely nice. The only problem was that now that I gave my number out to people who's names I can't put to a face, they text me and I have no idea who they are. For example: "Hi Grace, this is Rain from class 7." (I'm in class 6).
"Oh... yeah I totally remember who you are..." but I actually have no idea.
Then on Wednesday night I went to dinner for the Youth Olympic Games (YOG). There were 12 of us teenagers, each with a translator, and we pretty much just ate dinner and then went home. There was an American boy who was 2 years younger than me I think, and he was very nice.
The next day, Thursday, we went to the Olympic Stadium, and I got to miss school. It was a very, very nice stadium. We got to meet the 1996, and 2000 gold metal winner in Badminton, which was cool. Then we went to Nanjing Foreign Language School and survived a pretty boring meeting. That night we got to eat dinner at the Confucius Temple. In ancient China, the emperor would have 100 tiny dishes of food and take one bite of each. So we chose 16 little dishes to try, and 16 big dishes. After we had all tried the 16 big dishes they started in with the little dishes, but we were all full already. At about the 5th tiny dish we were all laughing hysterically because they just kept coming, and some were really weird. It was so funny! Afterwards we took a boat ride on the river, which was very beautiful. I conveniently forgot my camera when we did all of this. That night I (amazingly) made it back to my home with only a taxi driver who didn't speak English and this random Chinese guy who didn't speak it either. I consider that to be a huge success!
Another interesting thing about China is that the Chinese say their first name after their last name. So because of this, everyone in China sees my full name, India Grace Medaris, and then they disregard the Medaris part, and think that my name is Grace. As a result, everyone here calls me Grace. So, now I just tell people that is my name, to avoid any confusion. It is very weird to be called that because back at home only my aunt calls me Gracie, but no one else does. Now, every single person here calls me Grace, and introduces me as Grace. I always have to remember that it is me who they are talking about.
So, Friday, other youth consultants and I went to this other famous temple which was cool, but there wasn't much to it except tons of stairs to get into to it. Then we got to go to the wall of Nanjing, which was very pretty. There was an amazing view from it over lots of Nanjing. On the wall of Nanjing we had the official conference for the YOG with the Executive Chairman (or something like that). It was a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be. TV stations had their cameras all over and there were tons of photographers around. They kept wanting interviews with al of us, and group pictures too. I have thus officially decided that I never want to be famous enough to have camera's constantly following me. It kind of drove me crazy. I don't think I will smile or take another picture ever for the rest of my life.
Then we had to give speeches about sports and stuff like that. I was super nervous, but the "Executive Chairman" said he really liked what I said, so I feel happy. He was also interested in the fact that I was an exchange student and so he asked me some stuff about that, which I always love sharing. So I thought it was a pretty good night overall. I really didn't know at first that it was such an important thing to get chosen, but I guess it was.
When I got back home my host sister was gone and my host dad had a friend over who was very nice. It was very funny because neither of them spoke English so when they made me noodles, they had to act out how I should put stuff on it. It was quite entertaining, and sweet.
Saturday I don't know if I am doing anything, but Sunday I am going to Volleyball, which I am excited about. I hope that I have more stuff to write soon.
Zai Jian!