ACE/China Week Prep

Contrary to my last post, I actually do have time to write before leaving for China.  We're leaving tomorrow at 9am, but we still have so much prep work to do.  Before I talk about all of that though, I'm going to rewind to last weekend and the great cultural evening.

At my school, each continent/cultural group hosts a special dinner/dance/play every other year.  So, last weekend was the first cultural evening of the year, and was hosted by the Africans of the school.  They put so much prep work for it, always planning, rehearsing, and promoting the event, and it really paid off.

The day before the event, the group staged publicity events, painting people's faces and staging an African dance flash mob.  Then, they announced the different costume themes for each block the next day.  My block, Block 1, was assigned African Idol (famous Africans), while the other blocks had African warriors, wildlife, and royalty.  The entire atmosphere on the campus changed as everyone was so excited for the next day. 

The next day, I finished some studying before prepping for the evening.  I had no clue what I could wear for my theme, until my friend Munya recommended that I dress up as a famous football/soccer player from his country, Zimbabwe.  He lent me a jersey, cleats, and long socks. I thought I was ready then, but then someone told me that I was underdressed and offered to paint the Zimbabwean flag on my face.  I agreed, but was slightly concerned regarding my failed history of facepaint.

Munya, the Zimbabwe Flag, and me

Anyways, it turned out really well and everyone headed to the canteen for a fancy dinner prepared by the African students  There were dishes from around the continent, all in a room filled with African decorations and flags.  After we all finished eating, we took the oh so common LPC photos.  Basically if you bring a camera near any group of students at my school, every person rushes to be in, just so everyone can see their face on Facebook later. 

Our African outfits

When all the photos were done, everyone headed out to the assembly hall for the play.  For the next hour and a half, the students from over 20 African nations entertained us with a show celebrating Africa and its people, while making fun of common stereotypes.  It was hilarious and so well rehearsed, and the entire student body rushed the stage to congratulate the actors when the show was over.

Part of the play (photocred to Arzucan Askin)

The evening concluded with a canteen party (the LPC way of saying a dance).  Even though only 250 people go to LPC, the dance was a great time, since almost everyone goes.  We were dancing till almost 1 until we headed back to our dorms, chatted for a while, then finally went to bed.

The school week following was relatively uneventful, with the usual barrage of assignments: a Spanish test, a geo test, an English paper, etc.  However, all the first years were getting excited for our China week trips the next week.  We had to prepare lesson plans and skits to present to the kids, so we can teach them a few vocab words.  All of our ideas about teaching the kids were crushed yesterday when in final rehearsal for our project, our group leader yelled at us all, and told us how horrible our presentations were.  Such motivational words!  I'm still excited for the trip, and we all are prepping more today and rewriting our lesson plans, but I'm slightly concerned we may get locked into our hotel rooms, forced to practice our plans instead of experiencing China.

Necessary rooftop break after the terrible rehearsal

 

Now, I have to pack up the rest of my stuff, get a little homework done, and eat lunch, so I've got to go now.  I won't be reachable on Facebook (blocked by China!) or any other form, since I'm leaving my laptop and other technology behind.  Next week will definitely be quite a learning experience!