Today we were escorted by another member of the International Cooperation Office, Crystal.  This morning we had breakfast around 8:30 and were in our Chinese language class by 9:30.  Here Professor Jean taught us simple words and phrases such as money, mother, father and child.  After class we had another great meal followed by a little downtime.  We then had a continuation of Chinese language that ended with activities in making Chinese Lucky Knots and Double Happiness cut outs.  This followed by a very interesting class by Professor on Chinese Culture to include such things as the significance of numbers, animals, religion, colors, zodiac, etc. .

Our evening agenda was free so we decided to venture out into the “city” to get our first real taste of Asia.  Sanda is somewhat of a suburb of Shanghai (about 40 minutes out) but we wondered into the surrounding city and found many interesting things.  Right after we exited the campus we ran into a former exchange student, Yoquin (Wing), and she walked around with us helping us to bargain and to keep us out of trouble  J I think what surprised us the most was not only the amount of street food vendors but also how many of them put up tents and provided patio type furniture for their patrons. It was also interesting to see they just pile their trash, bagged and un-bagged, along the curb for someone to retrieve in the middle of the night.  

Upon our arrival at the Shanghai Airport we were greeted by a familiar face, Mandy from the International Cooperation Office at Sanda University. Sanda provided us with a university bus to take us to the university.  Along the way the entire group was in awe as drove past residential areas – the houses were in such close proximity to each other and many were is various stages of construction or renovation.  Our first order of business was lunch; our first real Asian experience with food was awesome!   After lunch we were introduced to five “student buddies” (Sophie, Tony, Doris, Serena, and Clairy) that will be attending Lander in the Fall!  After our tour we attended a presentation by Sanda students where they shared things such as Chinese cultures, foods, festivals, etc…  We were all pleasantly surprised at how well the students spoke English!  After their presentation we shared our presentation about Lander and were then treated to entertainment by two of their students in the form of traditional Chinese guitar-harp-like instrument and also a marvelous piano piece.  We learned that this week is the beginning of “Labor Day” in China which means a six day break for the University and a three day break for most others.  Because of this students on campus are scarce.  We then had another great meal and retired for the night about 6:30.  It was along 48 hours or so but the delegation pushed through like real troopers!

The 10-member Asia Summer Study Program team arrived in Shanghai, China which is their first destination of the study tour in the morning of Sunday, April 28. Within a day, each student participant made a presentation about Lander University and topics related to American culture. In return, Sanda University students presented Chinese culture, language and even Chinese traditional music performance. 


Please follow up Ms. Emily Ashley's first blog positing by clicking HERE. Emily says "I saw this quote in the airport in China and thought it could not be more true:
"Education is the wisest investment.""

And we're off!

We made it to Atlanta via a Chick-fil-a' stop in Commerce - luckily we managed to NOT go shopping!  When we arrived at the airport we had a little issue; the door to the luggage compartment would not open.  After MUCH persuasion 
with the "lug nut star" we got the door open. Check in and security was a breeze. Now we patiently wait for midnight to board the plane. So far so good!