The students were able to attend two classes Monday morning;
Logistics Management and Chinese Language. In the afternoon, our group visited Grand
Skylight International, a 5-star hotel, located in downtown Nanchang. After the tour of this amazing hotel, the ECIT
Ancient Folk Music Club hosted a music interflow concert for us on campus.
There were nine different student performers that played for us. The music was beautiful and I really enjoyed
hearing the more traditional Chinese instruments. Freshman Emily DesJardins volunteered to
try playing the violin with the student performer. Senior Vashia Gordon was taught how to play
a “gu zheng”, a 25-string plucked instrument. Both did a great job and got big
laughs and applause from the entire crowd.
Latest photo galleries from the trip
Later that night we had the chance to make our own dinner in the cafeteria at ECIT. We made our own dumplings with the ECIT kitchen staff. A small group worked on making the dough and the rest of the group gathered around a large table to assemble the dumplings-rolling out the dough, cutting, filling and pinching shut.
Immediately following dinner, four of our student-athletes; Rachael Millner, Kayla Clark, Teaira Miller and Aimee Thrune, were selected to participate in a volunteer activity at Liansong Middle School. This is a boarding school for underprivileged kids, located within walking distance of campus. We were amazed that at 7 o’clock at night the kids were still in the classroom studying and focused on schoolwork. About a half a dozen ECIT students that are regular volunteers at Liansong escorted us to the classroom.
After a brief introduction, we joined in to play games with the Chinese students. We played charades to help teach them some new English words. We acted out a word or phrase; such as jump roping, and the students had to answer in English. We also taught them the banana cheer song, which they enjoyed dancing and acting crazy with the Muskies. The last game we taught them was Heads-Up 7-Up. This entire experience was eye-opening and I am so grateful for our ECIT hosts to set up this awesome opportunity to give back to the local community.
Latest photo galleries from the trip
Later that night we had the chance to make our own dinner in the cafeteria at ECIT. We made our own dumplings with the ECIT kitchen staff. A small group worked on making the dough and the rest of the group gathered around a large table to assemble the dumplings-rolling out the dough, cutting, filling and pinching shut.
Immediately following dinner, four of our student-athletes; Rachael Millner, Kayla Clark, Teaira Miller and Aimee Thrune, were selected to participate in a volunteer activity at Liansong Middle School. This is a boarding school for underprivileged kids, located within walking distance of campus. We were amazed that at 7 o’clock at night the kids were still in the classroom studying and focused on schoolwork. About a half a dozen ECIT students that are regular volunteers at Liansong escorted us to the classroom.
After a brief introduction, we joined in to play games with the Chinese students. We played charades to help teach them some new English words. We acted out a word or phrase; such as jump roping, and the students had to answer in English. We also taught them the banana cheer song, which they enjoyed dancing and acting crazy with the Muskies. The last game we taught them was Heads-Up 7-Up. This entire experience was eye-opening and I am so grateful for our ECIT hosts to set up this awesome opportunity to give back to the local community.
Tuesday morning the girls were back in the classroom, with another Chinese language class and a business management class. In the afternoon, we all attended a discussion with business majors. We had a few hours to get to know them and ask questions. Lexie gave calligraphy a try with one of the ECIT students and Teaira amazed the group with her dance moves she displayed with the host Andy. The girls and I also attempted to sing our trip theme song, “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey.
Tuesday evening, we played our last game here in China vs ECIT. There was a ton of support from the student body and staff of ECIT, which made it an incredible experience for our team. This was probably the most evenly matched game we played in China and I really enjoyed watching our girls compete.
We will be wrapping up our trip here soon and heading back home. I will blog again to tell you all about our last few days here in Nanchang and Fuzhou. Thanks again for following us!
Coach Vande
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