Naomi Meng is going to be in 5th grade at Rountree Elementary. She attends WINGS and her many interests and activities include chess, piano, violin, math, ballet and swim. She agreed to journal her yearly summer trip to China. This is her first installment.
Journal #1 Week 01 – 5/22-28/2017
Guess where I am, I’m off the ground, I see seats, there is an aisle. If you guess an airplane you are correct. I am on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner – typically used for international flight, well-known for its superior design and fuel efficiency. Every year after school ends, my mom and I go to China. All of my other family members are there. This year we left on May 23, flew from Springfield to Dallas then Beijing. This is my 10th trip to China since 2008.
Usually I love the 13 hours on the airplane because there’s a mini TV in front each of the seats and passengers can choose to watch movies, plays games, listen to music, or oversee the fly map in real-time. This year the movies were wonderful, and for the first time I found that the plane had the whole Harry Potter series! But after 13-hour non-stop flying, when the plane was landing, it was SCARY! Our airplane ran into strong turbulence over around the Beijing International Airport area, and constantly bounced up and down for about 10 minutes; it even suddenly dropped several times and that scared a lot of us. I have read books and seen pictures about airplane crashes. I was worried that our plane was going to crash! Most people on the airplane obviously didn’t enjoy the drops either. But still a few just acted as nothing was happening such as the flight attendants. Even though they could barely balance themselves, they were still managing to collect trash and do their jobs while most people felt uncomfortable. They must have gone through this many times and are used to the strong periods of turbulence. Eventually the plane landed safely, and everyone felt relaxed.
Every summer in China, besides seeing my grandparents and other family members, my mom and dad like to plan a couple of a week of trips outside Beijing in China. This year as usual, we plan to go to Xi’an – a city that has over one thousand years’ history as the capital of China in ancient times. We’ll go to visit the city and the famous historic site of Terracotta Warriors! And more exciting, we’ll take the high-speed train!
Now, I can’t wait to start my summer journey in China, and would like to write down some of my experiences for the first time in the following two months.
My first breakfast in China
Because of jet-lag, I woke up in the early morning at 3:00 am. Since Beijing is 13 hours earlier than Springfield, it was afternoon 2:00 pm in Springfield! I had to wait 4 more hours before I could go out for my first breakfast in China.
Chinese people think breakfast is very important. “A year starts with spring. A day starts with morning.” People need good breakfasts, so they can have enough nutrition and energy through the day. Last year and before, many breakfast vendors, carts, and stations used to scatter on the streets and by the bus stops nearby our neighborhood. For convenience, people can buy their breakfast on the way to work. However, this year Beijing no longer allows such vending style because it looks messy and is not hygienic enough. Instead, breakfasts are now required to be sold inside. It is the newly-open porridge restaurant that I went to this time, just across the lane from my apartment building.
Chinese breakfast has plenty of options, such as steamed buns stuffed with vegie or meat, Chinese fried dough, tofu curd, wonton, porridges, soy milk, and many more. Chinese people don’t like cold food as American people do. All of the breakfast foods here are warm, some are even hot! My first breakfast of course is my favorite: the Chinese fried dough dipped with tofu curd. Mmmmm delicious!
My New Violin & Violin Teacher
I was supposed to bring my violin with me, and only noticed that I forgot to take it after I got to the airport. Since I’ve outgrown for ½ violin anyway, my parents decided to buy a new ¾ violin for me in China. We asked my Chinese violin teacher (I took lessons from her in the past two summers) to help us pick up one. On the second day after we arrived, we went to one of Beijing’s oldest streets which is particularly famous for selling all kinds of musical instruments. My teacher brought us to a store that she has known well. All the violins there are hand-made crafts. Out of 4 or 5 violins, I chose the best sounding one I liked. The price is considerably better if I compare it to what I could buy in USA.
My teacher Miss Kim started violin at age of 3 (as many Chinese kids do), graduated from China’s prominent Central Conservatory of Music, and is now a professional violinist at China Opera Theater. I like my teacher who is pretty and has a soft voice. She is nice as well as strict to me. She always says that even if you have the talents, you will still need to practice every day. This year, I would like to learn to play a Chinese violin solo piece particularly from her. My first lesson is scheduled on June 2. I feel a bit nervous about if she thinks that my violin skills have grown since last year.