Giving Back II

After a weeks worth of planning, the we (the TFI team) came up with exciting activities for the children at the Hangzhou ShiHu School, namely, a Paper Aeroplane Folding competition and a “Seaweed” Dance. The kids were extremely happy to have us around and we all had a good time playing and interacting with them. It warms my heart to see my peers enjoy giving back to the community.

The kids were very open to new activities and willing to learn. A boy by the name of Yong Kang was very eager to learn English from me. Although he was only 8 years old, his Mandarin was way better than mine. As I taught him English words from a storybook he found, he taught me some Chinese. Amazing.

Music

This came to me as a shocker to me: Most of the students here listen to English songs and  man do they ROCK to it. I was walking back from the International Design Center when I happened to chance upon an open air concert along the way. Bands were covering songs from Queen, Led Zeppelin and Guns N’ Roses. The energy was amazing.

Looking at this reminded me of the school bands in SUTD and how much more they could become if they had the same equipment as they do here in ZJU.

Cycling

Knowing how to cycle is a essential skill to have here and I am glad that learnt how to at a young age. The bike sharing system here is very widespread – bikes can be found at least every 10 meters where ever you go. This makes it extremely convenient to go to places that are nearby. Most of us use the HelloBike Platform where we only have to pay 15 Yuan for Unlimited use of the service for 3 Months!