Behind the Great Wall: In China with Dana Rettke
May 28, 2018 | Volleyball
Teaching and learning at childrens' clinic
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• Days 1 & 2 Blog
• Days 1 & 2 Photo Gallery
• Days 3 &4 Blog
• Days 3 & 4 Photo Gallery
• Day 5 Blog
• Day 5 Photo Gallery
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Hey Badger Fans!
Hope all is well in the States! As some of you know, I am in China competing with the USA Collegiate National Team, and what an experience this is going to be! I'm so excited for this amazing opportunity, and fortunate enough to be able to share this with all of you!
Follow along for the next 10 days as I try to bring you along this journey with me! This will be my first time in Asia, and I cannot wait!
Day 6
On the road again! We left Jiashan for Nanjing early Saturday morning for a four-hour drive. When we got to Nanjing, we had some down time and then were off to an elementary school to do a practice and run a clinic for the kids.
When we got to the elementary school, the kids were lined up in a tunnel and were clapping us in. They were some of the cutest girls I've seen and you could just see the excitement on their faces. Most of them were between the ages of 6 and 11, and were a part of the volleyball program at their school. They have a lot of pride in their program because the captain of the Chinese National team graduated from their school. Â
We geared up for our practice, and they welcomed us with a speech and gift exchange. There were about 45 kids and all came rushing up to all of us to give us bags, post cards, stuffed animals, and mirrors. We had some gifts in return as well. I brought a bunch of posters from this past year's team and some Wisconsin volleyball t-shirts, and they were gone instantly. They were so happy smiling from ear to ear and we were the same way, so precious!
We practiced for about an hour on the wood plank floor for all the parents and kids to see and heard the oohs and aahs with every ball we hit. Then we gave a small clinic. I have to say the girls were pretty good for being so young! I was certainly impressed. The older ones knew some English, but we mostly just taught them by playing charades, and they picked it up pretty quickly. We passed back and forth, would pass and set, did some hitting lines and taught them how to dive, which was so funny to watch them just slowly lay down or flop on the floor.
In between each drill, we got to get to know our small group a little bit. They all had American names they told me and made some more simple small talk. One of my girls named Jenny asked if I knew any Chinese. I told her I knew how to say hi and thank you, but that was about it and I wanted to learn more. Her and the other two girls then started to teach me, and of course were laughing at my pronunciation which I guess was not up to par. But it was ok! I told her I would go home practice and learn some more before the next time I came visit and that sounded like a good deal to her!
After the clinic, we got a quick tour of the school. They had this smooth rock wall with a ledge that had water in it and paint brushes on the sides and Chinese letters on the top. They said it was used for the kids to practice their writing, and I thought it was a fantastic idea. We even got to practice writing Chinese letters a little and let me tell you, it is not easy! Very detailed letters, but it was very pretty writing. There was a history room we toured that has a lot of interesting things like all the students that went there, the teachers, all the trophies they won etc.
After that, we went to have dinner with the girls and their families. They were all lined up in the front of the room and began with singing us their school song and I was almost crying it was so cute. We started to eat and they did a talent show for us! Lots of girls were dancing, singing and reading English. It was absolutely adorable!
After dinner, the kids lined up in their tunnel and waved us out into our bus, and everyone was just shocked by how amazing these kids and this school was. They were so good to us. It's times like this when you think you are really making a difference in someone's life, and are so blessed for the opportunities that I and everyone else here has been given.
Until tomorrow!Â
On Wisconsin! Go USA! Â
Dana
Collegiate National Team-China Schedule
May 21: Arrive Shanghai
May 22: Match vs Shanghai, W, 3-2
May 23: Bus to Hangzhou, afternoon training
May 24: Match vs. Zhejiang in Jiashan, L, 1-3
May 25: Match vs. Zhejiang in Pinghu City, W, 3-0
May 26: Bus to Nanjing
May 27: Open Training; Kid's clinic at Nanjing Elementary School.
May 28: Train to Beijing
May 29: Match vs Beijing BAIC in the morning. Great Wall and Olympic Site in the afternoon
May 30: Morning sightseeing at Tiananmen Square & Forbidden City. Match vs Hebei in the afternoon (in Beijing)
May 31: Fly home from Beijing and get home the same day
Â
• Days 1 & 2 Blog
• Days 1 & 2 Photo Gallery
• Days 3 &4 Blog
• Days 3 & 4 Photo Gallery
• Day 5 Blog
• Day 5 Photo Gallery
Â
Hey Badger Fans!
Hope all is well in the States! As some of you know, I am in China competing with the USA Collegiate National Team, and what an experience this is going to be! I'm so excited for this amazing opportunity, and fortunate enough to be able to share this with all of you!
Follow along for the next 10 days as I try to bring you along this journey with me! This will be my first time in Asia, and I cannot wait!
Day 6
On the road again! We left Jiashan for Nanjing early Saturday morning for a four-hour drive. When we got to Nanjing, we had some down time and then were off to an elementary school to do a practice and run a clinic for the kids.
When we got to the elementary school, the kids were lined up in a tunnel and were clapping us in. They were some of the cutest girls I've seen and you could just see the excitement on their faces. Most of them were between the ages of 6 and 11, and were a part of the volleyball program at their school. They have a lot of pride in their program because the captain of the Chinese National team graduated from their school. Â
We geared up for our practice, and they welcomed us with a speech and gift exchange. There were about 45 kids and all came rushing up to all of us to give us bags, post cards, stuffed animals, and mirrors. We had some gifts in return as well. I brought a bunch of posters from this past year's team and some Wisconsin volleyball t-shirts, and they were gone instantly. They were so happy smiling from ear to ear and we were the same way, so precious!
We practiced for about an hour on the wood plank floor for all the parents and kids to see and heard the oohs and aahs with every ball we hit. Then we gave a small clinic. I have to say the girls were pretty good for being so young! I was certainly impressed. The older ones knew some English, but we mostly just taught them by playing charades, and they picked it up pretty quickly. We passed back and forth, would pass and set, did some hitting lines and taught them how to dive, which was so funny to watch them just slowly lay down or flop on the floor.
In between each drill, we got to get to know our small group a little bit. They all had American names they told me and made some more simple small talk. One of my girls named Jenny asked if I knew any Chinese. I told her I knew how to say hi and thank you, but that was about it and I wanted to learn more. Her and the other two girls then started to teach me, and of course were laughing at my pronunciation which I guess was not up to par. But it was ok! I told her I would go home practice and learn some more before the next time I came visit and that sounded like a good deal to her!
After the clinic, we got a quick tour of the school. They had this smooth rock wall with a ledge that had water in it and paint brushes on the sides and Chinese letters on the top. They said it was used for the kids to practice their writing, and I thought it was a fantastic idea. We even got to practice writing Chinese letters a little and let me tell you, it is not easy! Very detailed letters, but it was very pretty writing. There was a history room we toured that has a lot of interesting things like all the students that went there, the teachers, all the trophies they won etc.
After that, we went to have dinner with the girls and their families. They were all lined up in the front of the room and began with singing us their school song and I was almost crying it was so cute. We started to eat and they did a talent show for us! Lots of girls were dancing, singing and reading English. It was absolutely adorable!
After dinner, the kids lined up in their tunnel and waved us out into our bus, and everyone was just shocked by how amazing these kids and this school was. They were so good to us. It's times like this when you think you are really making a difference in someone's life, and are so blessed for the opportunities that I and everyone else here has been given.
Until tomorrow!Â
On Wisconsin! Go USA! Â
Dana
Collegiate National Team-China Schedule
May 21: Arrive Shanghai
May 22: Match vs Shanghai, W, 3-2
May 23: Bus to Hangzhou, afternoon training
May 24: Match vs. Zhejiang in Jiashan, L, 1-3
May 25: Match vs. Zhejiang in Pinghu City, W, 3-0
May 26: Bus to Nanjing
May 27: Open Training; Kid's clinic at Nanjing Elementary School.
May 28: Train to Beijing
May 29: Match vs Beijing BAIC in the morning. Great Wall and Olympic Site in the afternoon
May 30: Morning sightseeing at Tiananmen Square & Forbidden City. Match vs Hebei in the afternoon (in Beijing)
May 31: Fly home from Beijing and get home the same day
Â
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