Yeah... Yeah... Yeah-eah it’s a Party in... China?
Nurie's home was in this gorgeous neighborhood with a plethora of trees.
Candid photo of the karaoke action going on.
The faces of a thoroughly engrossed group of guys watching Thor: Ragnarok.
Instead of the usual breakfast my host mom prepares me, my host sister, host dad, and I went to a restaurant at the gate of our little community. This restaurant is completely open air with two stands in the front selling food to people leaving for a full day of work. Together, we sat at one of the tables while a lady made two sizable bowls of soup. On the table was a basket of chopsticks, two spicy sauces, and Chinese sauerkraut. For breakfast, I ate this gigantic bowl of rice noodles in a simple broth with some weird spices that made my mouth tingle. It’s pretty tasty, but I still have a preference for oatmeal and fruit.
After another full day of classes and another Friday test, we practiced together with all the other students for the closing ceremony. Thursday is the closing ceremony at the school, but we head out Friday morning to Beijing. Saturday afternoon, we leave for New York, and on Sunday, we all depart to our states. Each Chinese class will put on different performances. My class is going to recite Chinese poetry and sing. There is also a fashion show at the end where each class will display one of the cultural artifacts we’ve created. My class is going to show off the beautiful masks we made this week.
After the show rehearsal, about half of us headed to Nurie’s host family’s house for an amazing party. We all piled into taxies and headed to this absolutely gorgeous community. The place we arrived at was clearly a place that only rich people could afford to live in. The homes were not apartments; they were sizable homes with large backyards and porches. It reminded me a bit of America after having only seen apartments and compact buildings for a month. After a decent walk, we arrived at Nurie’s host family’s house. Inside, there were multiple chandeliers, coaches that looked like they belonged in the renaissance period, an electric mahjong table, a whole room just for karaoke, and a large flat screen TV. The backyard had a nice outdoor sitting area, a large garden, roosters, ducks, and even a ferocious guard dog. This house is even bigger than my home in America.
We all explored a little bit, had some snacks, and tried karaoke. Then we had this delicious dinner of meat kabobs, chicken legs, other roasted meats, plates of noodles, lotus root, and water spinach. I was so ravenous I ate practically all of the spinach, some meat, whole clusters of grapes, a peach, and multiple handfuls of almonds. Soon after, a large group of us went downstairs to sing our hearts out. Ben, being fluent in Spanish, sang Despacito. Our host sisters sang some simple Chinese love songs, and one of the Chinese host brothers, being an amazing rapper and phenomenal singer, rapped some trendy Chinese music. A few people sang so loud and fervently that they lost their voices; I was not one of them. We even sang “We Will Rock You”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, and “Hello”.
After a while, I felt hungry again, so I walked upstairs for some more fruit and almonds. As I was prowling around the snack table, Nurie’s host mom came up to me and asked me a few questions, and then we took a picture together. She is a very short and incredibly gorgeous lady wearing a full face of makeup and a light blue, floral qi pao. Apparently she owns some sort of beauty company. After she spoke to me, we took a large group photo to... advertise her company? A few people, including me, decided to watch a movie, or at least part of one. It was Thor Ragnorack something or another. Gradually, everyone gathered around. The boys got really into it; they were watching the TV so intently I couldn’t help but take a picture.
I’m generally not a party person, but this was truly my kind of party. It wasn’t too loud or too crowded. There were multiple places you could hang out and plenty of food options. In addition, all the people at the party were people I would willingly hang out with. A lot of the people who didn’t come to the party are part of this clique. They’re not necessarily unfriendly, but there’s just this general vibe that you’re not invited if you try to insert yourself into their conversations.
Smiling as always, my host dad picked 吴璨 and I up. We headed home, I showered, and then passed out a little past 11:00 pm. Almost forgot! To make this day even better, my host mom gave me jasmine and green tea and two little containers to put them in. I don't think I can ever stop saying thank you.