- Today, we learned a poem by Li Bai, which is called “Thoughts on a Still Night.” I enjoy this poem very much. Basically, it is about a person who sees the moonlight on the ground of night. He believes, for a moment, that it is frost, which reminds him of his home. This makes me think of when I lived in Alaska. It is a place I miss dearly, that I will always remember. Sometimes, I long to go back, but then I remember why I left. – Katrina
- Today we did various things in Chinese class. We learned about various names for different colors and body parts such as the hair, shoulders, and mouth. We also learned the way to say “this/ that is ___” and “what is that?” We also learned about the Chinatown area in Owensboro and large Metropolitan American cities. We also learned about the legend of the white snake woman, in which a white snake becomes a woman, married a guy who then dies upon finding out that she is a snake. – Andrew
- Chinese class was very fun today. Our class learned a bit ore about Chinese literature, which included poetry and mythical stories. We read a poem by Li Bai: an ancient Chinese poet whose works could be compared to Robert Frost. His poem titled JiYe Si, or Quiet Night, was the one that we viewed. I very much liked this poem, which was written about his homesickness. We also learned that many peots drank heavily, and would eventually pass due to their habit. As for the story, we acted out Lady White, a story in which a white snake becomes a woman and falls in love with a human man. We were able to watch an excerpt from a Beijing Opera based on this story. I enjoyed observing the differences between operas I have seen before and Lady White. I’d love to see more of it. – Tori
- Today was fun. It was in Ransdell Hall, so it was a pretty short walk which was even better. We looked at a bunch of pictures of the beautiful Shenynag. Most of the palace work was incredibly intricate. We saw what looks to be a Concubine’s house, paintings of nobles, and a throne room with roughly 200 hundred Chinese characters behind it. We’re also collaborating with Humanities to do a play about a woman who turns into a snake. Tori will play snake woman. Much fun will ensue. – Graham
- We learned about Chinese cities, like Kunming. Kunming is famous for its stone forest, which resemble stalagmite sprouting from the ground like trees. Also because of the cool climate in Kunming, flowers grow in abundance. They’re relatively cheap in China, but they’re also exported for sale at a much higher price. For Taiyuan, another city, Yany Jia Chi was practiced.
Another landmark is West Lake, regarded as one of the prettiest places in China. Pedestrains can stroll across the Broken Bridge. – Sarah