My Winter Camp Experience
I went to the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics Core-Volunteer Foreign Languages Winter Training Camp during the first week of our winter break. It was pretty much a coincidence that I could go there, and I had doubt before I made that decision since I had no idea what it would be like. But I don’t regret going there.
Actually I didn’t learn much during that week since they just taught some very basic things of English, like pronunciation. What impressed me most was the atmosphere and the friendships we formed. The teachers were so enthusiastic, it’s totally beyond your imagination. We got up at around six in the morning, then an unimaginable busy day started. We had to get to the classroom before seven, then it’s morning exercise time, mostly jogging, under the leadership of an “officer”. It was a semi-military winter camp. Even when we went to the canteen we marched in procession. We had four quizzes each day, before the three meals and one before going back to dorm at around 9:40 pm. Very tight timetable indeed.
Thought it was not that comfortable living there, a suburban university of Beijing, I enjoyed it. Even when I met a stranger in the canteen or down the hallway we usually would smile at each other. It’s such a wonderful experience. We learned we are not just volunteers of the Beijing Olympics, we are also the face of China.