7/17/18 -- Chinese Calligraphy (书法）

On the 17th of July 2017, the second session of CIEE's Shanghai Language + Cultures program learned Chinese Calligraphy, known in Chinese as '书法' pronounced shufa. The day started off as normal, with language classes commencing at 9 AM like they do every day Monday-Friday. 

This is my Chinese teacher, 金老师，and my program leader Justin! Today, 金老师 taught us about how to order at a restaurant, like how to say 'I am a vegetarian' and 'would you give me a recommendation?'. We sang Chinese songs, too, like we do almost every class to prepare for the oncoming karaoke battle between levels-- level 2 will win!!!

During lunch, everybody eats what they want to. Some people go to the cafeteria on-campus and some people, like myself and my friend Samaia, go to Global Harbor, a nearby mall with all the food selection in the world. Today I ate at a cute little Chinese bakery called BreadTalk, which we had a heck of a hard time finding, but really enjoyed. After lunch ended at 1:30 we met in a building on campus to do the cultural activity of the day: Chinese Calligraphy!

At first it seemed really daunting, and then after we learned it seemed even more daunting. It seemed impossible to produce such beautiful characters, especially for somebody like me with no artistic ability, but the teachers walked around and helped us, giving pointers and demonstrations, and then it didn't seem so impossible. It was still very hard, and sometimes frustrating when characters wouldn't come out right or you didn't have enough ink or made the wrong brush stroke, but at least we could all laugh about it when we messed up.

These were some of my characters I practiced. The one on the left (or rather on the bottom, as this blog formats it) was the one I was most proud of... unfortunately I was not able to replicate it for the finished product! At least I have this picture to be proud of. I'm hoping to continue practicing this once I return home-- it might be hard to find the right supplies, but it seems like a skill I'd love to be able to master.

After the cultural activity, a lot of my classmates went to the mall, but my roommate Kelly and I went home so that our host mother could teach us how to make dumplings! It was delicious and we got to eat the fruits of our labor once they were finished. They were made of pork and carrots and spring onions among many other ingredients, and I can't wait to make it for my friends and family back at home.

Today was a fun day, just like every day we've had here so far. Getting a glimpse into the world of Chinese Calligraphy was fascinating, and it sparked an interest in me I didn't know I had. Every day here I'm so excited for what the next day will bring!

(Written by Brittany M.)