你好，南京！(Hello, Nanjing!)

Today was the second full day of the Chinese Language & Culture program in Nanjing. Before the program started on Monday, June 10th, all students and program leaders arrived from the United States and were greeted by CIEE staff at the airport. After getting to the study center, the students met their host families and went home with them for the first time. 

The next day, students came to the study center excited and ready to learn more about what the program has in store for them. During orientation on Day 1, students got to learn more about the city of Nanjing, the CIEE faculty and study center, and general tips for staying safe and healthy in China. After learning about the program, we all walked to the famous Zifeng Tower in downtown Nanjing, which is the 7th tallest building in the world. There, we had our first group lunch together, and everything was 特别好吃 (extremely delicious)! 

After group lunch, students were sorted into 1 of 3 levels for their Chinese studies. The next day, students took their first Chinese class at Nanjing University in the morning and participated in their first community conversation activity in the afternoon. Of course, they were treated to another fabulous group lunch before introducing themselves to local people in Chinese. They were also given an introduction to the layout of downtown Nanjing by the CIEE Nanjing Director, Fu laoshi. 

​Today's community conversation activity took place at Chinese Walmart (沃尔玛), where students went up to shoppers and salespeople to introduce themselves and learn some information about the locals. The first community conversation activity can be nervewracking, but everyone finished and had a positive attitude. Needless to say, students are excited to keep building their Chinese skills so they can get better and better at speaking Chinese with members of the community.

After finishing the community conversation activity, students engaged in a debrief about the differences between Walmart in China and Walmart in the United States. Some things that students noticed were that the Walmart in China sells all kinds of foods, including whole ducks, live fish, animal feet, pigeons, and lots and lots of yummy-looking snacks. They also thought the Chiense Walmart was cleaner, more organized, and had fresher food to offer. They also thought it was cool that there were two floors inside the Walmart in China and that they had to take an escalator to get to each floor. 

Tomorrow, students will come back for their second Chinese class and community conversation activity after doing some review at home with their host families. We're looking forward to seeing how much more they'll learn and experience in the days to come! 

All Photo Credit: Ruthie Stein, Program Leader