Jermaine Francis II: China

The MBA students group
Left to Right: Charles, J.B., Me, Robert, Troy

After playing basketball at Beijing No.4

             My summer experience in China was outstanding. After our exhausting 12+ hour flight, we finally touched down in the Beijing airport and were met by my host student Nick Yang. We then proceeded to his school Beijing No.4 to meet the other host students and the faculty members who made our trip possible. At first I was overwhelmed by the amount of people and severity of the traffic in Beijing, but over time I came to love the liveliness of life in the city. After touring the school and getting acquainted with the students and everyone getting a chance to display some of our basketball skills, we all left for dinner with our respective host families.

Beijing No.4 students doing morning exercise

            Waking up after an enjoyable night spent eating heaps of traditional Chinese food and everyone laughing at my attempts to communicate with Nick’s mother, who speaks no English whatsoever, made me excited for the second day. With it being most of the students’ second to last day of school, there was not much going on in class. We sat through an English & Literature class and then the rest of the day consisted of watching movies in study hall and more basketball on the school’s outdoor courts. Nick, his girlfriend Kachina, the other students and host students, and I all left school to eat at a very good Chinese Mexican restaurant. Afterwards, Nick and I returned to our shared apartment and spent many hours playing NBA 2k14 and FIFA which concluded another day in Beijing.

Nick, his parents, and I after dinner at a Beijing duck restaurant

Nick's parents and I on my last day in Beijing

            Later that week I finally got a chance to play against some of the best basketball players in China. Beijing No.4’s basketball team is the best in the country and also has most of the top players as well. Nick and I had lunch with his friends at a Chinese BBQ and then went to a community center where we found more of his friends from his school basketball team, including the number one player in the country (nicknamed “Baby Lebron”). We divided teams and I was assigned the job of guarding the 6’7”, 240 pound, half-Chinese half-African bulldozer. It was a heated back-and-forth battle between us with just about every person in the gym watching as we took each other one-on-one, and at the end we had to call it a draw with the intent to settle it at practice sometime soon.

            Definitely my favorite part of my stay in China (besides the food) was seeing the many scenic and historical sites. During our stay we visited the famous Forbidden City & Emperor’s Garden, Tiananmen Square, Lama Temple, Summer Palace, Chinese National Museum, Olympic Park, Beijing’s Tsinghua University, and the Great Wall of China. The colorful buildings and intricate Chinese architecture were a great complement to the history behind the structures.

 

A pond in China's Summer Palace

Outside of The Forbidden City

Colorful Chinese gazebo

The Great Wall of China

            After our stay in Beijing came to a close, we then traveled by bullet train to Shanghai. At first, I was not excited to have to stay in a whole new city with a whole new host family, but my host student Andy Cao and the generosity of his family quickly allowed me to shed any nervousness I had about this trip. That night we toured the beautiful city of Shanghai via a boat ride on the river. While in Shanghai we visited the Shanghai National Museum and took a train to the city of Hangzhou to see the famous West Lake and XiXi National Wetland Park.

 

Andy, his mother, and I in the train station at Shanghai

Selfie with my Shanghai host family

The beautiful city of Shanghai

XiXi National Wetland Park

(same as above)

            After a short stay in Shanghai, we traveled back to Beijing to enjoy one final meal with our Beijing host students before our departure the next day. We shared our goodbyes and promises to keep in touch and see each other again, and with that, our stay in China had come to a close.

            My stay in China was life-changing and one that would not have been possible without the generosity of the Wilson family. I want to express my sincere thanks for everything they do for MBA and in making trips such as this one possible. I will always remember the friends, food, and culture that I experienced all while improving my abilities in Mandarin Chinese. I would also like to thank Mr. Gaither, Señor Paolicchi, and Zhang Laoshi for all they do in organizing these events and giving us the tools to succeed in our language studies. Lastly, I want to thank the students and faculty of Beijing No.4 high school, my host students Nick and Andy, my host families, and anyone in China who made this trip one that I will never forget. This trip will definitely not be the last time I travel to China!