Tyeisha Walton - May 3, 2010

I am excited to tell that my time here in China has been an adventure. I enjoy learning and exploring every inch China has to offer.

 As you know, I am enrolled in three different Chinese classes. All three classes have been a challenge that I have grown to appreciate. Each teacher is as helpful and ready to provide me with the best methods and the best learning tools I need to strengthen my Chinese. With their professional assistance, I can not only learn the language, but also I can claim it as my own. As an intern at the Sheraton Hotel, my most recent assignment was to create a PowerPoint presentation that markets one of Nanjing’s most exciting events, the Dragon Boat Race. The presentation went very well, and I look forward to great feedback in response. Most recently, my colleagues, Rodney Wince, Patrick Shell, and I were fortunate enough to get a chance to volunteer with a local radio station to visit a middle school in the Northern Jiansu Province of China to teach English to seventh graders.

After a mere three hours of traveling, we finally reached our destination. They greeted us as celebrities from the time we stepped off the bus with a red carpet arrival, cameras and media everywhere, and hundreds of children cheering and singing and playing their welcome drums. The red carpet led us to the school gymnasium where we were welcomed by many more students and the school administration. After being welcomed and introducing ourselves as not only foreigners, but also Americans, we received a standing ovation. I truly felt an outpour of love and honors fill the room. The students gave several performances, including instrumentals, singing, and a play. We even got a chance to participate in different games and dances with the students. After each event we joined in on, we were swarmed with dozens and dozens of students at once asking for our autographs. As one can imagine, this was quite a feeling! After this portion of the trip was concluded, we left for a local restaurant for lunch where we were greeted with fireworks. This was quite the honor. After lunch, we traveled back to the school as we prepared our classess.