by Marlie Armstrong
Today is our first full day with our exchange students! After exciting activities on Day 5, there is more to come! I first started the day with eating breakfast, which was a traditional breakfast spread. Unfortunately I wasn’t too hungry, so I couldn’t try it. So instead, I just had toast with jam. Next, we headed out the door on our way to an amusement park with Evelyn, Sophia, Maiya, and their exchange students!
This amusement park we went to was called Zhengzhou Fantawild Dreamland. It’s similar to Disney in terms of atmosphere, design, and family oriented attractions. Something cool we noticed while waiting in line, was that they had benches. This is insane coming from someone who likes rollercoasters, but hates standing in line! Not only did we go on roller coasters, but we also went to “shows”, which were 3D showings of different stories. The first one was of Ne Zha, who is a deity in Chinese mythology. Next we watched a show of the history of China, showing different timelines and civilizations. Lastly, we saw a 4D show about wizards. But all in all, it is a family oriented amusement park with lots of fun attractions for people of all ages. After this, we headed home to relax before dinner!
Later that evening, we were back out and headed to dinner for hot pot with my exchange student and her extended family. I’ve had hot pot before in NC and Beijing, but this is different. It’s different because we had Henan Traditional Hotpot 🫕🫕! We had meat like beef, tripe, and chicken. We also had different soups like chicken mushroom and tomato soup. One thing I noticed was that when someone wants soup, a waiter has to come by and do it for them. This is a lot different from American hotpot, where you have to do everything yourself. We had a lot of good food and I really enjoyed it.
We ended the night by boating along with Evelyn, and Dolla(her exchange student). It’s really fun to see my friends on this exchange trip, especially times like these when we’re apart. Overall, it was a fun first day!
Not only did my friends and I do fun things, but other students did as well. For example, Noelle and Maya went berry picking! Also, the guys in our class had a fun basketball game against their exchange students and other students at our sister school (CA won of course)! Even thought everyone was apart, we still found a way to enjoy the exchange and have a great time!
