 Quake victims enjoy 1st class of day care with Russian hosts
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-24 07:32
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia: "Katya, Vika, Ksyusha, Huang Lin and Zheng Xiaopeng!" Zheng, the boy who captured the imagination of Chinese with his heroic rescue efforts following the May 12 Sichuan quake, shouted out his own name during his first class in a Vladivostok-based child-care center in Russia. Playing the game "Remembering names", Zheng, like every participant, was required to tell the name of all the students who spoke before him, apart from his own and the teacher's. Together with a group of other Chinese students from quake zones, Zheng was sent to the Russian city as part of rehabilitation efforts at the invitation of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The naming game, said his teacher Katya, was meant to help all the students get acquainted with each other as soon as possible. The class was made up of pupils and students from different ethnic groups in China. Many did not have adequate time to get acquainted and it was not unusual for the students to forget each other's names during the game. Some managed to read from others' name cards, while others remained clueless and muttered in desperation to try and pass the stage. The class would burst out in laughter over their vain attempts. Finally, Yang Zhichuan, a Qiang-nationality student from Qushan Primary School in Beichuan county, one of the hardest hit areas during the quake and the last to play in the game, succeeded in naming all 25 students and three teachers of the class, earning wide applause. After reviewing all the new Russian words they had learned the previous day, the students started a new game called "electric current". Everyone stood in a line and held each other's hands. With a firm grasp from a classmate on one side, students needed to pass the "power" to another student with an equally hard grip - "transferring" the electric current. Students were visibly excited by the game and those at the back of the line started to take pleasure in exaggerating their body movements; shrugging shoulders and throwing arms, as if they were really hit by a powerful current. When the clock struck 10am, the Russian music teacher arrived with a guitar. All the students got quiet, before greeting the teacher with a Russian "hello" in unison. Xinhua
(China Daily 07/24/2008 page7) |
