Participating in the lecture demonstration was an adaptive experience. We felt as if the Chinese students enjoyed watching us demonstrate our warm-up and choreographic pieces. Doing the moving sculpture with the Chinese students was exciting because many of the students wanted to be involved and move with us. Performing our collaboration was invigorating because we were able to share what we created with the students, and they enjoyed watching our pieces and interpreting their own meaning.
—Savasia, Junior, Fashion Design
Being in Beijing thus far has been an outstanding adventure, from the different foods that we tasted to the shopping we experienced. Today a group of us went with our Chinese partners to do a little shopping.
Our first stop was the mall. Some stores there were very similar to stores that are in the U.S., but of course their names are different. I am a lipstick fanatic, so I was definitely looking for a Chinese lipstick. But I quickly noticed that most of their makeup brands are the same as what we have in the U.S. This surprised me because I didn’t think they would embrace so much from the U.S. Another thing that I noticed was that things are inexpensive here, meaning USD is more valuable. I know this now because after the mall we all took the subway—which was a fantastic experience—and went to the Olympic Park (where the Olympics were held in 2008). I went to a gift shop there and spent a total of 256 RMB, which is equivalent to about 38 USD. With that amount of money I bought 4 bags, 3 lipstick holders, 3 small mirrors, a Chinese plate, a key chain, a small Chinese bottle, and a Chinese pen, which I thought was absolutely amazing. You cannot beat that.
Today was great, and I had a great time with the Chinese students. They are so caring and are always making sure that we are having a good time, which I appreciate very much. I am so grateful to be able to come on this trip and have this opportunity. Thank you AADC and OVPDEMA for this incredible experience!
—Lauren, Senior, Health Administration