Updates from Winchester Students: Ariana Albanese

Yesterday we went to Jingshan Park in Beijing. It was a really cool experience! There were many people there all doing various activities. There was dancing, singing, accordion playing, to name a few. There was also a "Competitive Shuttlecock Kicking" tournament (which is in fact, exactly what it sounds like, it's like badminton that you play with your feet. We bought one of them the other day and we have all been practicing. I wouldn't say we are quite "good" at it--there were people in the park taking pictures of us attempting to play and laughing--but we are definitely getting some practice in.) There is also a path that you can take at the park which goes up to these ornate buildings, one of which houses this huge golden statue of Buddha. There is also a beautiful view of the Forbidden City from there. It was fascinating at the park to see so much group activity. There were people gathered in groups doing various things everywhere you looked. It is so different from an American park where every activity is individual or in small groups. It seemed a little awkward at first to join in the activity, but it became comfortable surprisingly quickly.