So we’ve had a couple of Chinese exchange students living in our house for a few days now.  Shen Zhexin and Gong Xiaosui from the city of Loudi in Hunan Provence in China.

They are really nice kids.  Like, really really nice.  We had two of their classmates over today to play basketball and football and such.  Wanna know how nice they are?  Their idea of trash talking is one of the boys, gestured to a chair and said “Ladies first” to another boy.  Gales of laughter, and what I can only assume is the Chinese teenager version of “oooo!  SNAP!” ensued.

The target of the jibe laughed loudest of all.

All of the students speak English beautifully.  We have no problem understanding them.

They are very kind and assure me that my Chinese is very good.  Their teacher is also kind, but is also helpful in correcting me, so I know that the boys are just being nice.

Also, when Grasshopper had to take a bathroom break for basketball, they asked me to stand in for him, so I did.  Adventure Boy passed me the ball and I made a break for the basket.  Both Shen and Gong rushed me, and made a great show of trying vigorously to take the ball away from me…yet never came close.  I shot and scored a basket.  They congratulated me.  I pretended that I was completely unaware of their subterfuge.

Grasshopper is already talking about how sad it will be to see them return home to China.  He said “They don’t let me do anything for myself, they just treat me like a little brother.”

It’s been a lot of fun.  We’ve learned a lot.  Primarily, our children have learned how easy they have it.  Shen and Gong begin school at 7:00 in the morning, and continue until 10:00 at night.  They are not allowed to play video games at all.  Their summer vacation is only one month long (half of it, they are spending here, studying American culture).

Shen and Gong are very lively and engaged in everything.  However, when there is nothing going on, Shen falls asleep.  But as long as there is anything to learn or something new to do, he is awake, alert and absorbing it like a sponge.

Adventure Boy and Grasshopper have probably played more basketball in the last few days than they have their whole lives.

Anything we show them , or do with them is always greeted with exclamations of “lovely” “wonderful”,  “I like it” and such.  It has been quite an intense few days, but everything is going very well, I think.